Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Thursday, May 17, 2012
(LOUISVILLE, Ky.)- One of country music’s biggest country acts put on a benefit concert for a southern Indiana town battered by March tornadoes.
Grammy-winning Lady Antebellum performed Wednesday night as thousands of fans packed the KFC Yum Center in Louisville, Ky., to raise money for rebuilding Henryville, Ind., about 20 miles to the north.
The country trio also held a "mini-prom" for about 200 juniors and seniors from Henryville Junior-Senior High School.
The school landed both events in late March by winning Lady Antebellum's online contest offering one school a concert at its prom. Schools as far away as northern Wisconsin submitted YouTube videos on Henryville's behalf.
The town was hit by two tornadoes March 2, a day when storms killed 13 people in Indiana and 24 in Kentucky.
On Wednesday, the Henryville students had a chance to "Own the Night," RTV6's Eboné Monet reported.
"I'm having the best time of my life. I can honestly say that in, like, three seconds I knew this was going to be a night to remember," one student said.
"I feel so grateful. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I'll never get again. I feel as though Lady Antebellum gave me that, and no one else could," said another student.
Lead singer Hillary Scott shared the students' excitement.
"As excited as I'll be to tell my children and grandchildren a lot of the other things that we've done in our career, this is definitely one that will go down in the history books for me as one of the most spectacular," Scott said.
Many students said they felt like Wednesday's performance gave them a sense of hope.
"Our school was gone, and we didn't know what we were going to do. Then, when we won that contest, it kind of brought everyone back together and gave us something to look forward to," student Austin Albert said.
The sold-out concert and online fundraising efforts generated more than $285,000 toward rebuilding Henryville.
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