CONCERT HITS HIGH NOTE FOR SCHOOLS.

Byline: Douglas Clark Daily News Staff Writer

The Friday night benefit concert by a group of former Simi Valley students called Empower raised $3,000 for local schools, organizers said Monday.

As a weeklong heat wave lifted on Friday night, 1,000 people attended the Canicula Family Benefit Concert at the Simi Valley Drive-in, where four bands entertained beneath a crescent moon.

Ticket sales coupled with a percentage of the food concessions pushed receipts for the $10,000 inaugural event into the black - a rare occurrence for a first-time effort, said Jacquie Richardson, a member of the Kiwanis Club of Simi Valley who helped the 25-member group Empower organize the event.

``In the first year, 80 percent lose money. Then you have to pick yourself up and go on,'' she said. ``But everything was pretty flawless. They did everything they needed to do. And the buzz (the next day) was positive.''

Richardson said that the profit could rise to about $4,000 once all the receipts are tallied. As of Monday morning, not all the ticket fees had been collected from sales sites.

The concert was organized by Mackenzie Waller and Brenda Kleidosty with the help of 23 other recent graduates of the local high schools. Together they formed Empower, whose goal was to sponsor an event to raise money for the Simi Valley Unified School District.

Waller said she was happy with the results and would like to have a similar event next year. But first a panel must be organized to review proposals and develop a procedure for awarding grants. She said she hopes all that will happen before she returns to the University of California at Berkeley at the end of the month.

``I think it's a good idea to get the money right back into the community,'' she said. The money raised at the concert will not be given directly to the school district. Instead, members of the school staff who want to begin new programs or need equipment will be encouraged to submit proposals that will be reviewed by a panel including a teacher, parent and student. That panel has not yet been formed.

Norman Walker, president of the school board, said he was impressed by the ``innovative'' approach to helping the schools.

``It's the kind of get-involved approach that makes Simi Valley a great place. It adds to the pride of living here. It's the ultimate in Americanism,'' he said.

Though 1,500 tickets were available, by early last week only 350 had been sold. Fortunately, by the time the concert began, Richardson said 1,100 tickets had been sold.

Those who attended the concert came from as far as Santa Barbara, Bakersfield and Orange County to see headliner Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, a swing band that was featured in the film ``Swingers.''

The only downside of the Friday night event was a slew of noise complaints local residents called into police during one portion of the concert.

``That was one of the stressful things that I took care of'' by asking a band to turn down the volume, Richardson said.

Otherwise, all went well.

``It was a perfect summer night. For me it was a fuzzy feeling seeing people of all ages coming together,'' she said.

Richardson said members of the group should begin planning for the next concert. She said she would like to see members take on more of the administrative work that she provided this year. And they must continue to ``define their mission'' as they seek corporate sponsors to underwrite the next event.

``It was a wonderful learning experience for them. But now they have to continue to define this as their own project,'' she said.

Richardson said she and Waller would sit down sometime this week and compare notes. Each has a list of what went smoothly and what caused stress. Their debriefing will help clear the way for the next concert.