Mad Love Music Festival funds Dave Jodka Scholarship for Future Rockers in honor of father of four
WCVB.com – The Scituate shore holds happy memories for the Jodka family. Kathleen Jodka said rocks that resemble hearts often come home with her and her four children.
“The heart rocks are sort of a sign from Dave,” Jodka said.
To Jodka, the rocks represent enduring love and so does a phrase that can be spotted all over her home: “mad love.”
“Mad love was the way that Dave and I used to sign notes from each other and notes to our kids,” she said.
In October of 2013, Dave Jodka was diagnosed with sinus cancer. He underwent surgery and chemotherapy, confident it could be cured, but about a year from his diagnosis, he lost the battle.
The following year, the Jodka family held the first of what’s become an annual celebration in his honor. The Mad Love Music Festival is an effort to build community and spread Dave Jodka’s passion for rock music.
Held at the South Shore Conservatory, the festival features different bands, food and activities for all ages. A highlight of this October’s event was a band named TOAST.
It’s made up of high school musicians who are recipients of the Dave Jodka Scholarship for Future Rockers. The festival funds their training.
Kathleen Jodka said the experience is one her husband talked about.
“He wished when he was in high school that they had had a mentor or a coach to help, not just with the music stuff, but with the gigging and the marketing and the branding,” she said.
TOAST singer Darcy Milligan auditioned and was selected to be a part of the band when she was in eighth grade. She’s now a junior at Scituate High School.
“They took everything he wanted and everything he had as a musician, and gave it to everyone else,” Milligan said.
Kathleen Jodka said giving to others is a legacy true to her husband’s character.
“Things happen in all of our lives that we are never expecting,” she said. “Our path shifts in ways that we weren’t planning (but) as long as we can just keep spreading mad love, it’s all gonna be OK.”
Read more and watch the full video segment at ow.ly/owgI30mK1OR
