Warwick - It all started with a string of beads. Early this past September, the Warwick Merchants’ Guild and the Warwick Independent Business Alliance (IBA) formed a committee to raise funds for the victims of hurricane Katrina. And one fund-raising idea was for participating businesses to sell strings of beads to the public, a la Mardi Gras, for a $1 per string donation. Soon afterwards, it was not uncommon to see people walking about town while proudly sporting the colorful beads. Another plan was to sponsor a Mardi-Gras style “Jazz Festival.” And thanks to the extraordinary efforts of the celebrated pianist/composer Richard Kimball, a longtime Warwick resident, the concert, held at the Warwick Reformed Church on Oct. 17, was a huge success. Kimball not only performed for the sold-out audience but he also wrote and played a special piece for the occasion titled, “Fugue for the Survivors.” And he was instrumental in assembling approximately 16 well-known musicians to perform at the three-hour event. The visiting musicians not only donated their time and their talent, but they paid for their own transportation. Proceeds from the concert were earmarked for Habitat for Humanity and Tipitina’s Foundation, an organization pledged to benefit musicians who were displaced by the hurricane. “People are still talking about it,” said Carol Bartnowski, owner of The Inkwell and co-chair of the fund-raising committee. “Thanks to the coordination and the support we received from the public, the musicians and our business community, it was an outstanding event.” Bartnowski praised everyone who contributed, including local resident Elizabeth Reese for working on the production with Richard Kimball and Jane Gulavary, her co-chair, for sharing the workload and arranging for a matching grant from the Bank of New York during the first week of bead sales. Debbie Iurato, owner of Peck’s Wines & Spirits, who serves as treasurer for the Warwick Merchants’ Guild, reported that the bead sales earned more than $2,300 which will be donated to the American Red Cross. Combined with the proceeds from the concert and other donations, the Warwick committee reported that more than $7,000 had been raised for the survivors of hurricane Katrina. Richard Kimball’s son Quinn, 15, is producing a CD of the concert which will be given to the musicians and, later, sold to further benefit Tipitina’s Foundation. For information on the release of the limited edition CD, e-mail inquiries to: qkimball@warwick.net.