Great Mills, MD – Organizers say the tallies are in and the Seventh annual Bluegrass for Hospice raked in $27,450.99, bringing the total amount the event has raised to a whopping $153,000 since 2009.

For bluegrass enthusiast Jay Armsworthy, such benevolence sprang from watching a relative receive hospice.

“In 2007, I had hospice care for my grandfather,” he recalled. “He was in the hospital, near the end of his life. He couldn’t stay in the hospital. He wanted to end out his final days at home. I contacted hospice and they went over and beyond right then and there, every hour, every minute. When he passed, I asked myself, ‘what can I do?’ I thought about Bluegrass for Hospice. Someone had done it in the past and let it go. I decided I wanted to try it. I contacted the folks who had done it before and hospice and they had no problem with it.

“When I did it in 2009, we raised $8,000,” Armsworthy added. “I thought, that’s pretty neat. The next year, we raised $16,000. Hospice liked what I did. It just grew from there.”

The numbers grew as well. Last year the event set its high mark at $29,000. This year’s total of $27,500, while the second-highest total, was actually down a little from 2014.

Armsworthy noted that many volunteers and sponsors contribute time and resources to Bluegrass for Hospice, but there’s always more that needs to be done.

“We’ve had a lot of volunteers through the years, but sometimes I had to do things by myself,” he admitted. “At least two weeks before the event my wife is pretty busy putting the silent auctions together. It’s overwhelming, the support. So many people came forward and wanted to help. I get kind of sentimental talking about it, because so many people wanted to do it. When we started out, it was just me and a couple of people doing door prizes.

“It was always a challenge,” Armsworthy stated. “Every year when it’s done, I’m asking, ‘What can I do better?’ I like to get some headline talent, trying to make it more impressive.”

This year’s second-highest total was impressive, considering that last year the Seldom Scene headlined the event and this year’s program lacked the headliner 2014 boasted.

“We decided to go all out and get some help,” he said, noting that the $15,000 in sponsorship helped immensely this year.

“Thank you to the Amish/Mennonite Community; my mom and dad—Johnny and Lorraine Armsworthy; Jim and Martha Bailey; Tony and Cindy Beakes; Joe and Denise Bragg; Michael Bragg; Synda Buckmaster; Wendy Burch; John Cameron; Nina Campbell; Chesapeake Wholesale; Jeanne Davis; Linda Davis; Kimberly Dennis; Larry Dorsey; Pam Ferris; Laura Goode; Suzanne Henderson; Barry Hillian; Michael Hoopengardner; Toni Long and the Third District Optimist Kruzin Kafe’; Emily Jackson; Debbie Johnson; my number one sound man, Troy Jones; Bubby Knott, for letting me invade the Flat Iron Farm for a day; Max McConnell; McCormick Spice Company; Tami McGinnis; Ashley Morgan; Debra Morgan; Nga Nguyen-Felton; Charles Nickless; Elisa Norris; Woody Norris; Old Line Bank; Jesse and Kerry of the Printing Press for their continued support and dedication to this event; Vince and Pat Roche; Barbara Robinson; Sheetz in Great Mills; Jonathon Skrabacz; Jack and Peggy Tippett; Ed Vogt of Eastern Shore Bluegrass; Tina Williams; Matthew Won; Frannie Woodburn; Mickey at Flat Iron Farm; and last but certainly not least, my wife, Michelle for standing behind me through it all and helping to pull it together during the final days,” Armsworthy stated.

Although the event was held Oct. 24, it took a couple of weeks to get the final numbers.

“So much money comes in at the last minute,” he said.

Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com