Sharon Allen will play an annual benefit show at Joe’s Bar in Boulder Creek on Dec. 14. (Sheila Lee Prader)

“We play blues all night long,” said Allen, a longtime musician in Santa Cruz County. The benefit show for Valley Churches United has happened nearly every year since the organization was formed in the early 1980s. 

“It’s fun, it’s upbeat,” Allen said. “We’re there to have people dance and sell raffle tickets and come together in community spirit and have a memorable holiday experience.”

The event starts at 6 p.m. with a ham dinner. Normally, Joe’s doesn’t serve homemade food. But “we pull this together somehow,” even with a kitchen “about the size of a postage stamp,” said Gina Trepagnier, who owns the bar with her wife, Diane Stasser. Trepagnier said she usually cooks herself, but that this year the bar manager plans to do it.

The music gets going around 8:30 p.m., with periodic pauses to award raffle prizes donated by local businesses. Then, at evening’s end, everyone holds hands as the band sings an a capella version of “Silent Night.” 

“I cry every year, as do others,” Trepagnier said. “Giving back to the community is a huge part of what my wife and I are about.”

Allen also said she likes giving back. “The San Lorenzo Valley is all about community,” she said. “It’s supportive. It’s tight. People watch after each other.”

Allen and her band, including Mike Mongiello on electric guitar, Charlie Wallace on steel guitar, Jerry Bradley on bass and vocals, Jim Hannibal on saxophone and Jimmy Norris on drums and vocals, will earn only tips. Joe’s Bar keeps the proceeds from drinks sales. And the rest of the funds, from the dinner and raffle, go to Valley Churches United. 

Lynn Robinson, the executive director of Valley Churches and a former Santa Cruz mayor, said she doesn’t have a set goal in terms of how much money is raised. Previous such events have brought in anywhere from $1,500 to $6,000, she said, adding that she’s “incredibly grateful” to receive support from the community and Joe’s Bar.

“It’s local businesses helping local nonprofits,” Robinson said. “It’s kind of this big circle of gratitude.” She said Valley Churches gets no government funding and therefore relies on the public.” Donors “really take care of us because they know it’s money that stays here locally,” Robinson said.

Valley Churches serves about 1,900 low-income residents in San Lorenzo Valley, Scotts Valley and Bonny Doon. In 2023, it provided about $400,000 in food assistance, largely through its year-round food pantry in Ben Lomond. It handed out another $338,000 in housing and disaster assistance by paying rent, utility bills, transportation and other costs on a case-by-case basis.

The organization also distributes turkeys and hams on Thanksgiving and Christmas, and runs a holiday gift shop at its food pantry that will be open this year until Dec. 23. 

Valley Churches got its start in 1982, following a massive January storm and slides in the Santa Cruz Mountains that killed 22 people and displaced 400. “Anyone who was around then remembers that January,” Robinson said. “It was intense.”

Almost from the beginning, Joe’s Bar hosted Christmas benefit concerts for Valley Churches at which Allen would play—originally as part of her ex-husband’s band and later at the head of her own band. It’s a special event, Allen said, which is “why I’ve been doing it for all these years.”

Joe’s Bar often likewise hosts a fall pig roast for Valley Churches. Joe’s Bar is “really dear to our heart,” Robinson said. “And I think we are really dear to their heart. They’ve been such huge supporters.”

Additional aid to Valley Churches comes from local schools and Scouts troops, which administer food drives on its behalf, Robinson said. 

For people who are struggling, Robinson said, the idea is to get them stabilized so that they won’t need help in the future. “It’s a hand up, not a handout,” she said, pointing out that some people who receive assistance later become donors.

The Dec. 14 dinner at Joe’s costs $25 per person, or $35 with 10 raffle tickets. Additional raffle tickets are $2 each. There is no cover charge to listen to the music. 

Trepagnier said taxis or ride-hailing services would be available to take people home. She said the staff sometimes give people lifts as needed.

It remains to be seen whether any bartop dancing will take place. Allen is the only person allowed to dance on the bar, the previous owner of Joe’s told Trepagnier, and Trepagnier said she has continued that tradition.

Allen said she might just “sit on the bar and sing a song.” Then again, she said, she would make a final decision in the moment.

Sharon Allen and friends from Joe’s Bar celebrate in 2023. (Gina Trepagnier)

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