BONNIE RAITT ANNOUNCES
SPECIAL BECKY HARDEE MEMORIAL
NO NUKES BENEFIT CONCERT
COLUMBIA, SC – Nine-Time Grammy Winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Bonnie Raitt will perform with her band at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia on Sunday, October 11 at 7:30 PM for a special Becky Hardee Memorial No Nukes benefit concert.
The Randall Bramblett Band will be joining her as a special guest. Tickets are on sale now from Capitol City Tix or you may order by phone at Koger Center for the Arts (8AM-5PM) 803-251-2222.
A limited number of Gold and Silver Circle seating ticket packages, including an after show reception with Bonnie, are available for purchase through the Guacamole Fund at www.guacfund.org.
“I'm very pleased to be coming to Columbia, South Carolina again to support the great work of these organizations and honor the memory of my friend and no nukes activist Becky Hardee,” said Raitt.
Funds raised will help support the efforts of the SC Chapter of the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth-South Carolina, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service Southeast and Nuclear Watch South. Among others, these efforts include stopping the licensing of the V.C. Summer Nuclear Power Plant Units 2 & 3 in Fairfield County, SC, other new commercial nuclear power plants being proposed in the Carolinas and Georgia, and ending the dumping of surplus weapons-grade plutonium and the proposed reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in Augusta, GA. These organizations support conservation and efficient use of resources, safe energy technologies, and a non-nuclear future.
The concert is in memory of Mary Rebecca “Becky” Hardee, a South Carolina native who died in 1996 following an extended struggle with ovarian cancer. In the mid-1970s, Hardee co-founded the Palmetto Alliance, a statewide network of citizens raising concerns about the siting of national nuclear waste processing and disposal facilities in South Carolina. She served on the Board of Directors of Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE). Becky also educated South Carolinians about other threats to the natural environment. She worked with community groups to combat industrial pollution and harmful waste di sposal practices, and was instrumental in efforts to close the hazardous waste dump at Pinewood, SC. In addition to her activism, she also worked as an educator and later as an attorney. Becky Hardee will long be remembered as an individual of extraordinary strength, will power, and ethical character. Her memory is honored by this memorial concert, but her legacy is enriched by the continued work of the dedicated activists who continue to fight for the protection of the natural environment.
BENEFICIARIES
SC Chapter of the Sierra Club Susan Corbett, Chair, 803-609-6343.
SC Sierra Club is the largest environmental group in the state, and one of the only groups challenging the issue s of new nuclear power, nuclear waste and reprocessing. The Chapter has filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to intervene in the licensing of the V.C. Summer plants. The Chapter also opposes the dumping of tons of deadly weapons-grade Plutonium at the Savannah River Site (SRS), as well as the proposal to re-start the reprocessing of spent fuel, the technology that created the current stockpile of high level waste at the site, with no permanent disposal solution.
Friends of the Earth-South Carolina Tom Clements, 803-240-4268
FOE is a national environmental organization, that has had a campaign presence in South Carolina for one year and works on the host of nuclear issues that make South Carolina a nuclear ground zero. Primarily, FOE focuses on the four new nuclear reactors and is currently the only public interest group actively intervening before the S.C. Public Service Commission against approval for new SCE&G reactors. FOE is also the main watchdog over SRS nuclear programs.
Nuclear Information and Resource Service Southeast Mary Olson, 828-675-1792
Nuclear Information and Resource Service, founded in 1978 by grassroots activists fighting the construction of new nuclear power plants at that time, exists to support local action towards a sustainable, non-nuclear energy policy. The NIRS Southeast Office, founded in 1999 serves as a "field office" supporting activists opposing new nuclear power reactors and irresponsible nuclear waste programs in the Southeast.
Nuclear Watch South Glenn Carroll, 404-378-4263
Nuclear Watch South is a Georgia, volunteer-based organization, active in nuclear power, nuclear waste and nuclear weapons issues using strategies which include public education, legal intervention and direct action. It currently leads a multi-organization intervention before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in opposition to the proposed plutonium MOX fuel factory at Savannah River Site. Nuclear Watch South is a key player in keeping alive and on the table the environmentally preferred plutonium immobilization option utilizing existing high-level radioactive tank waste at SRS.
NO NUKES Y’ALL!
REMEMBERING
BECKY HARDEE
MARY REBECCA "BECKY" HARDEE
will long be remembered
as an individual of extraordinary strength, will power, and ethical character. In addition to working as an educator and attorney, she was dedicated to human rights and the protection of the natural environment. In 1974 Becky co-founded the 221 Pickens Street Restaurant and Food Cooperative, to educate on the value of natural foods, vegetarianism, and global food policy.
She co-founded the Palmetto Alliance to raise concerns about national nuclear waste processing and disposal facilities at Barnwell in South Carolina. She was involved organizing national rallies against the Barnwell Nuclear Fuels Plant which was built but never operated.
Her legendary portrayal of "Reddy Kilowatt" dramatized mounting public opposition to nuclear power and even got her arrested once for violation of an obscure state law prohibiting the wearing of a mask by an adult — a case which would later appear in law school casebooks.
Becky served on the Board of Directors of Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE), was featured in the movie "No Nukes," and met with President Jimmy Carter on sustainable energy policy. She also worked for Avocado Productions organizing musical concerts and other fundraising events to benefit citizen organizations around the country promoting energy efficiency and non-nuclear sources of energy.
She traveled with such musical talents as Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, and Linda Ronstadt to hundreds of communities throughout the nation. Among the many projects she helped organize was a five-day concert series in Madison Square Garden, and a rally opposing nuclear power — the largest public gathering in New York City history at the time — attracting more than 250,000 people to Battery Park.
She joined the staff of Energy Research Foundation in 1981 to stop nuclear threats to the environment. She was a member of two state government hazardous waste task forces and worked with community groups to combat harmful industrial pollution and waste disposal practices, helping close the Laidlaw hazardous waste dump in Pinewood, SC.
Becky earned a law degree and joined the South Carolina Bar in 1992. Her awards included, American Jurisprudence Book Award for Professional Responsibility; ALI-ABA Scholarships for 1991 Environmental Law and 1993 Hazardous Waste, Superfund, and Toxic Substances Courses of Study. Following law school, Becky joined Resource Development Associates in Washington, D.C. travelling internationally to assist in the preparation of case studies and other materials documenting the status of renewable energy technologies for the International Energy Agency Bioenergy Agreement and for organizations such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Ms. Hardee was a native of South Carolina and spent her childhood on Sullivan's Island. She was an honor student and varsity athlete in high school, leading the women's basketball team to consecutive state championships. Becky lettered in track and field, and her state shot put record stood for more than a generation.
She graduated from the University of South Carolina with a major in health education. She played on the USC women's varsity basketball team at a time when it was called the "Chicks." She also worked in the movement opposing U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam.
Following her graduation from USC, Ms. Hardee taught health and physical education in Columbia, making extensive use of music and dance and stressing the importance of diet and physical conditioning.
Becky died in 1996 of ovarian cancer. She was only 45 years old.