OJAI : Reggae Concert Will Help Youth Program

Four reggae bands will perform later this month at Lake Casitas for the benefit of Concerned Resource and Environmental Workers, a nonprofit youth employment program.

CREW, which is based in Ojai, hires 14- to 21-year-old people to work outdoors repairing hiking trails, cleaning up parks and other outdoor activities.

The Sept. 23 concert features Big Mountain, Tribal Loungemen, Dynamic Pressure and Rooster Ra. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the gate. Children 6 to 12 pay just $6 and youngsters are free.

The concert, which takes place on the grass, is a rain-or-shine event. Spectators are encouraged to camp out at the lake facilities as well.

Paul Starbard, director of CREW, said the $15,000 he hopes to raise at the concert is crucial to the organization’s $300,000 budget.

“Those funds are needed to pay our monthly operating expenses,” Starbard said.

For more information, call 640-1024.