Fund-raiser set for Geist children
A silent auction and fund-raiser concert is set for September to benefit two area children orphaned by domestic violence at a Merrifield residence in June.
Funds are sought for Zoya Geist, 8, and Zachary Geist, 3, children of Diane and Dennis Geist who died June 6 at their home near Merrifield.
The Geist parents were involved in a murder-suicide with evidence indicating the man killed his wife and then himself.
Diane and Dennis Geist grew up in the Arden Hills/Shoreview area, graduating from the same high school within a couple of years of each other. Family and friends in the Arden Hills/Shoreview area helped set up the auction, sending out letters and flyers to businesses and corporations in the Shoreview area asking for help.
Contributions are expected to help fund counseling needs for the two children and other foreseeable expenditures such as college tuition.
The silent auction is set from 6-8 p.m. Sept. 9 at McGuire's Holiday Inn in Arden Hills. The fund-raising concert, with performance by a popular nationally known band with Minneapolis roots -- g.b. leighton -- starts at 9 p.m. The rock band is known for its energetic live performances and was requested to be one of the performers at a Bush inaugural bash in Washington D.C. in January.
Proceeds will benefit the Zoya and Zachary Geist Trust Fund.
Recently one of the organizers sent information to The Dispatch regarding the event in case area residents or businesses also wanted to contribute to the auction.
Donations already received include time share weeks in Mazatlan and Cancun. Organizers say any contribution, large or small, will be appreciated and will be beneficial to Zoya and Zachary.
Donations may be sent in care of the trust fund to Joan Hane at McGuire's Holiday Inn, 1201 W. County Road E., Arden Hills, Minn., 55112. Hane may be reached at (651) 636-4123.
Reached Friday, Hane, who works in the sales and marketing department at the Holiday Inn, was optimistic about the auction and the fund-raising concert. She said donations would be accepted right up to the auction date in September.