Bob Milne, renowned ragtime pianist, to perform in Centerville

He’ll be here Sept. 10 as part of a fundraiser.

CENTERVILLE — Renowned ragtime/boogie-woogie pianist Bob Milne is coming to Centerville to give a concert at Normandy United Methodist Church on Sept. 10.

Katrina FitzSimmons, of Beavercreek, a member of Normandy Church, is on the board of directors for A Doctor’s Heart Inc., a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to provide quality health care, construction and Biblical teaching to the most needy in Central and South America. She is hosting, along with the church, a benefit Sept. 10 to raise money for medicines, glasses and other needed items to take to the Amazon in Brazil.

To that end, the world-renowned ragtime/boogie-woogie pianist Bob Milne will be performing his “Patriotic Concert” at Normandy Church, 450 Alex-Bell Road, at 7 p.m. that day.

Tickets at the door are $25. Bought in advance, from Fitzsimmons, they’re $20. You can contact her at (937) 608-5315 for ticket information.

Fitzsimmons said Milne has played for President George Herbert Walker Bush. Scheduled to play a ragtime concert two days after 9/11 in New York, he couldn’t bring himself to perform such an up beat concert, she said. He was begged not to cancel, so a month later he performed a patriotic concert.

It was so overwhelming it got the attention of a number of dignitaries, and he has since played for the Library of Congress and at venues large and small worldwide. You can check out his Web site (www.bobmilne.com). The Web site for A Doctor’s Heart is www.adoctorsheart.com.

Fitzsimmons, a paralegal who moved from Florida to Beavercreek last October after marrying a man from the area, went on her first mission trip to the Amazon in May 2008 with seven others. Her name then was Katrina Guerry. Her next trip to the Amazon with five others, four from Florida where the organization was formed, is scheduled for Aug. 5-16. Her job is to teach Bible stories to the children as they wait in line for dental work, she said.

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