For more than 10 years, the Cherry Pistols have been a popular party band in Missouri, playing a variety of rock, pop and funk songs from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

On April 1, the Jefferson City-based band plans to perform at a fundraising event Grow2Gather is holding in the Merchants Building at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. It is called Grow2Gather Presents the Cherry Pistols.

“We’re just going to dance the night away,” Grow2Gather manager Amy Johnson said.

The Cherry Pistols, whose members are Mike Kivett, Jay Pelzer, Quinten Rice, Tom Reichart and Rich Whalen will make their second appearance at the Fairgrounds. They performed there on the final night of the Montgomery County Fair on July 23.

“We had a couple of bands that we were thinking about inviting,” Johnson said. “We took a vote and, unanimously, everybody wanted the Cherry Pistols. That’s how that came about. We saw them at the fair. Others in the community talked about how great they are. We thought it would be fun.”

Johnson said she enjoyed her time seeing the Cherry Pistols perform.

“I was really impressed with them,” the manager said. “They’re a lot of fun. They played a lot of music from my high school days. It brought back memories.”

Tickets are on sale for $30 per person and $225 for a table of eight. They will include street tacos, a dessert that will be made by Hen & Chicks in Wellsville and raffle tickets. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the dance will run from 7 p.m.-11 p.m.
A live and silent auction also will be held at the event.

Johnson said her store is looking for someone to donate items for the auction as well as individuals or businesses who could sponsor the Cherry Pistols.

“We have an amazing amount of community support that we’re so thankful for,” Johnson said. “We have local civic groups that have donated baskets. For the silent auction, we have amazing business owners who sponsored the band for us.”

Located in New Florence, Grow2Gather is in its fifth year of business, selling craft supplies and home décor. Two years ago, it teamed up with Sacred Groundz, a non-profit organization from St. Charles, to build a coffee shop.

“We would not be nearly successful as we are without the support of our community,” Johnson said. “Montgomery County has been very kind to us as well as surrounding counties.”

Now, the store is looking to replace a heating and cooling system, which is why it decided to have a fundraising event with the Cherry Pistols.

“We found out in January that our big heating and cooling system is going out,” Johnson said. “With us not being state or federal funded, we’re completely self-funded. We needed to come up with a way to help offset that cost. We’re also hoping to possibly achieve a laser to provide more jobs for more things for our team members to do.”

Grow2Gather is currently selling raffle tickets at its location on 493 Booneslick. Call Johnson at 636-357-2312 (cell) or 573-835-4769 (store) for more information.