MOOSE JAW — River Street Promotions presented Prairie South School Division (PSSD) and Holy Trinity Catholic School Division (HTCSD) a donation of $45,000 on May 21 to support a shared mental wellness fund.
The funds were raised from an earlier performance of “A Nashville Christmas” which was shown at the Mae Wilson Theatre on Dec. 8, 2023.
At A.E. Peacock’s auditorium, River Street Promotions began with a documentary showing titled “Music City in Moose Jaw” which documented the events leading up to the December showing of A Nashville Christmas.
A Nashville Christmas was hosted by acclaimed filmmaker Joel Stewart and put on by River Street Promotions. The concert’s aim was to raise funds to support River Street Promotion’s youth mental wellness fund.
Prior to A Nashville Christmas, River Street Promotions hosted a few smaller shows presented by high school students.
“Part of doing the high school shows… (included) a little documentary about the artists' messages, and just some clips of their songs,” explained Jared Mathiesen, a co-producer of the documentary.
The purpose of the documentary was to spread the same positive messages to students who weren’t among the 800 or so who were able to attend in person.
As well, Mathiesen said, the film aimed to “document the two days in December.”
The documentary film captured the artist’s message behind A Nashville Christmas. The concert itself featured five award-winning singer-songwriters from Nashville, TN – Emily Shackleton, Jenn Bostic, Johnny Mo, Sarah Darling, and Lindsay Ell, who each invested time in high school students across southern Saskatchewan.
Among the messages behind the concert was a call for students who are feeling hopeless to reach out and ask for help rather than suffer in silence.
The $45,000 raised from A Nashville Christmas has now been added to River Street Promotion’s youth mental wellness fund to be distributed as both school divisions see fit.
River Street Promotions is a volunteer-driven, non-profit organization promoting local mental health initiatives through entertainment programs.
Its ongoing youth mental health and well-being fund is accessible by both the PSSD and HTCSD for projects focused on wellness that include unique, tailored spaces for students to take a break from screens and facilitates face-to-face interactions, among other programs ranging from physical activities to guest presentations.
A Nashville Christmas was made possible thanks to the Moose Jaw Co-op and the Co-op Ethanol Complex who were the concert’s title sponsors.
“Those two companies were huge in getting this done,” he said. “And just the support from the school boards…. (and) the artists for coming up and telling their stories…
This message of appreciation included Joel Stewart, Sean Smith, and Lisa Fryklund, who each contributed their filmmaking and artistic experience.
“(I just want to say) thanks to everyone that was involved. There’s a lot of people (behind the concert and the film) and the credits are super long,” Mathiesen continued. “It took an army to pull it off.”
Although the main purpose of the documentary is to spread the mental health message to those students who were unable to attend in person, Mathiesen said the film may eventually be released for the public to view. This, he noted, is pending a few details including copyright legalities.
A copy of the film has now been distributed to both school divisions.
“(The documentary film) will be a thing that, I think, will stand the test of time,” Mathiesen said. “So, if (educators) want to show it in two years to their students, they can.”
For more information about River Street Promotions visit RiverStreetPromotions.com.
