R30 / 30th Anniversary Blue Sticks
Limited Edition of only 30 Pairs
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A letter from ... Mark Petrocelli Domestic Sales Pro-Mark Corporation The history of the "Blue Ink" 30th Anniversary Limited Edition model: When RUSH announced that they were going to go on tour to promote 30 years of being a band it was decided by myself, Pat Brown (Pro-Mark Director of Sales and Marketing) and Kevin Radomski (Director of Artist Relations) to do something really special to help celebrate this accomplishment. The three of us kicked around ideas that would ultimately lead to us doing a charity auction that would include 30 pairs of sticks actually played by Neil during the 30th Anniversary Tour.  In conjunction with a well know drum artist and fabricator named Johnny Douglas, Jenifer Tooke (Pro-Mark Artist Services) and Neil came up with the 30th Anniversary logo for the sticks. 30 pair were printed and sent off to Neil to actually use during the 30th Anniversary tour.  Each pair that was auctioned off came with a numbered signed certificate of authenticity that Neil and the owner of Pro-Mark signed.  The package also included an exclusive photo taken by Andrew MacNaughton, an embroidered velvet bag and a silver embossed certificate cover.  Each auctioned pair also came with some additional Pro-Mark goodies and Neil's "A Work in Progress" DVD by Warner Bros. The auction was conducted on our website.  The auction ran from late 2004 and concluded January 1, 2005. The #1 certificate came in a shadow boxed frame with all of the above mentioned items and an actual show played snare drum head from the tour.  The RUSH organization also threw in some RUSH swag for the top 5 auction winners. The #1 bid was for $5000.00!  The last pair sold for $1,000.  All in all we raised $60,000.00 for Child Advocates. Child Advocates was picked for this reason.  We really did not know what charity to contact.  I contacted the local cancer organization but really was not feeling a connection; it was the easy choice to do.  About two days later I saw a report on the local news about a young man named Derrick Davies who had been employed with an IT company and decided it was time for a change.  He wanted to make an impact in kid's lives and decided to go on a hike of the Pacific Crest Trail.  The trail starts in Mexico and goes up the west coast into Canada. What I took away from the story was someone that wanted to do some soul searching; much like Neil did during his trials and tribulations.  The fact that he ended his hike in Canada made perfect sense to me.  The next day I contacted a woman named Dena Miller at Child Advocates and the rest as they say is history. Mark Petrocelli November 2005