John Burroughs student Kennedy Holmes (pictured at top) has been wowing national stage and screen audiences with her vocal talents, and she recently entertained hometown guests at the Arts & Education Council’s St. Louis Arts Awards. A former Muny Kid, Holmes is the youngest contestant (and only St. Louisan) to make it to the finals on NBC’s The Voice. She performed at the AEC event alongside jazz pianist Peter Martin and 11-year-old classical pianist Jerry Chang. Singer and actor Ken Page received a Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award, and actor Bryan Batt of Mad Men fame was on hand as well.
St. Louis Earth Day is turning over a new leaf with a new name: Earthday 365. The reimagined moniker celebrates the fact that the organization has morphed from planning activities solely on Earth Day three decades ago to its year-round efforts today. The nonprofit’s annual local event still will be known as the St. Louis Earth Day Festival, held April 27 and 28 in Forest Park.
In 2018, Siteman Cancer Center received a $4.5 million leg up from Pedal the Cause, an annual cycling fundraiser that has tallied a total of $24.3 million in donated proceeds since 2010. The money will fund a number of research projects for conditions like acute myeloid leukemia and breast cancer. This year’s Pedal the Cause takes place Sept. 28 and 29 and kicks off at the Chesterfield Amphitheater; participants can register at pedalthecause.org.
Marti Simon of Ballwin (third from right) knows what it means to get a second chance. She’s the recipient of Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s 10,000th transplanted organ since the medical center began performing the lifesaving surgeries 55 years ago. Simon and her kidney donor joined the Washington University medical team at a special celebration of the milestone.
