When Ditto Basso started in the music business, he didn’t mind being in the foreground. One can’t be too shy being in a rock band.

That was in the ‘70s, however.

Now Basso would prefer to work behind the scenes. Good luck with that, being one of the people in charge of arranging one of the largest musical events of the year locally — a concert honoring the legacy of REO Speedwagon set for Saturday at State Farm Center.

The 72-year-old Basso, who lives in his native Sesser in downstate Illinois, formed LMR Promotions. (Live Music Rocks) with business partner Kerri Carr three years ago.

“I’ve been in the business forever,” Basso said. “We work kind of the other side of the thing on the management side.”

Basso credits Jody Perrotto, president and CEO of Community Media Group, and local music historian/DJ Larry Fredrickson with much of the inspiration and contacts to bring the show to fruition.

Fredrickson, however, said Basso shouldn’t be so modest.

“I can’t say enough about Ditto,” Fredrickson said. “Normally when he puts on shows he’s just dealing with maybe a tour manager or a stage manager or an agent.

“With this one he’s got people coming at him left and right,” and he’s handled it with his usual calm demeanor.

Fredrickson said what impresses him most about Basso is “his professionalism” — something he began to realize since he got to know Basso last November.

“It certainly wouldn’t happen to this magnitude without Ditto Bass,” Fredrickson said of the group’s final goodbye concert. “He’s taken it to heart.”

An inside look at what concert management personnel have to do sometimes: Basso said the son of former REO lead guitarist Gary Richrath — Eric Richrath — is flying in from Europe to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport the day of the show.

“We have to pick him up at O’Hare about four hours before the show,” Basso said. “If he’s running a little late we might have to helicopter him down here.”

Added Basso, “I guess Eric is just a phenomenal guitar player. He records with different folks in the studio. He’s a session man.”

Basso said the REO show will be a major production with “huge video walls set up … a lot of really unique visuals. A lot of things from the band’s past. It’s really going to be a show that people will want to see.”

Basso knows a little bit about what it’s like to be in a rock band.

In the ‘70s, he was in a band called The Scarlet Thread for about six years.

Wedding bells, however, started to take their toll: “It got to the point where people started getting married. It ran its course.”

His musical influences were, like about everyone else, The Beatles and “the heavier Led Zeppelin stuff.”

Now, he said, “I can sit and appreciate music no matter what it is.”

LMR books acts for a variety of venues.

“We do this on a large scale, but we help a lot of smaller communities do their festivals,” Basso said. “We are helping a small community by Effingham called St. Peter. It’s their 50th anniversary. We kind of took over for them about booking the band.

“The city of Greenville, they have a big Fourth of July festival. They asked us if we could run that for them.”

Other top acts LMR has booked include Lonestar, the Steve Miller Band, the Four Tops and The Temptations together.

“We’re trying to get the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Right now one of our goals is to bring a diversified lineup to town.

“We’re looking at Brooks and Dunn. We’ve reached out to Chris Stapleton on the country side. We’re negotiating for next year for some of the new bands like Red Clay Strays. They’re a band the high school and college kids and even 50 years old and down are driving all over to see.”

Basso said next year LMR is planning concerts for three major faith-based bands.

“In ‘26 we are hoping to have eight to 10 major acts there at State Farm Center. We’d also like to do a stadium show there at Memorial Stadium.”

Basso said LMR arranges concerts all over the country and is glad to do shows closer to home.

Fredrickson said Basso is popular with the artists because he has their best interests at heart “because he really wants them to feel comfortable and have all their needs met, especially with this show because he understands the significance of the REO Speedwagon legacy.”

Basso said he understands this is bigger than a concert featuring former REO band members. It’s a time to thank their fans. A band whose roots are in Champaign-Urbana and the University of Illinois.

Sandy Reifsteck recently attended the 50th anniversary conference of the American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nurses in San Diego, where she was honored with the Hall of Fame Award in their opening ceremony.

Reifsteck grew up on Clearview Farm on North Mattis Avenue. She graduated from Champaign High School, Parkland College and the University of Illinois and retired as associate administrator at Carle Clinic for 28 years, now merged with Carle Health, Urbana.

She organized the first meeting of 100 administrative RNs from across the United States in the 1970s and served on the founding board and as past president in 1980-81.

The membership of the American Academy of Ambulatory Nurses is more than 3,700. In May of 2026 the annual meeting will be held in Orlando, Fla.

Reifsteck resides in a villa at Clark Lindsey Village.

Paxton Buckley-Loda High School senior Elizabeth Megson has been named a national merit scholar in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program, placing her among the top high school students in the U.S.

Megson is the recipient of a college-sponsored National Merit University of Tulsa Scholarship, awarded pursuant to an agreement between the University of Tulsa and the National Merit Scholarship Corp.

The full-ride scholarship will cover the entirety of her college tuition, room, board and related expenses. Megson plans to major in engineering physics, with aspirations to pursue robotics and space exploration.

The 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program began in October 2023, when high school juniors across the country took the PSAT/ NMSQT, the initial screening test for program entrants.

Declan O’Connor is this year’s winner of the Champaign Lions Club Urbana High School band scholarship.

O’Connor played saxophone in the band. Club member Richard King presented a $100 check to O’Connor at the Urbana High School band’s annual banquet on May 16.

The award was created in 1952 by the Urbana Lions Club to be given to the senior in the Urbana High band program who had earned the most points during their time in the band program. Points are awarded for participation in various groups, taking private lessons, taking leadership roles and participation in contests.

In 2008, the Urbana Lions Club no longer existed, so the Champaign Lions Club took over the program. The names of the winners each year have been added to a trophy kept at the school.

Seven local residents were elected to membership to the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

They are Jennifer He, Shreyas Venkatesha Udupa, Saint Luan and Ethan Mok-Chih, all of Champaign, and Sheila Scheffel Pereira, Ilana Zeitzer and Hassan Nadeem, all of Urbana.

All are students at the University of Illinois.

Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

Detriana Vannarath has been named the Rantoul Exchange Club student of the month for May — the final such monthly designation for the school year.

A daughter of Nunn and Thong Vannarath of Rantoul, she ranked 13th in her senior class at Rantoul Township High School with a grade point average of 5.36.

Her school activities have included marching band, pep band, jazz band, wind ensemble, concert brass, percussion ensemble, solo and ensemble, madrigals and GSA.

She served committee chairs for low brass/low winds section leader, all band and marching Eagles drum major

Honors and awards have included grade point average, class rank, high honor roll, honor roll, Academic Achievement Award, Business Education, Excellence in Entrepreneurship, Mathematics Award, Excellence in Algebra, Division 1 saxophone quartet, solo and ensemble; Division 1 percussion ensemble, solo and ensemble; Division 1 duet performance, solo and ensemble; Division 1 solo performance, solo and ensemble; Division II duet performance, solo and ensemble; and drum major first class phase 1, Smith Wallbridge.

She also received the best Marchers Award, Best Winds Award, third-place award at ISU Jazz Festival, first-place award at Danville Jazz Festival and Division 1 wind ensemble in IHSA competition.

Also, Division 1 jazz ensemble, IHSA competition, first-place award at EIU Jazz Festival, second-place marching award at Monticello competition, first-place award at Danville Jazz Festival, Division I wind ensemble in IHSA competition, Division I jazz band in IHSA competition, Best of the day in IHSA competition and ILMEA state competition in pep band.

Her civic and volunteer activities have included music boosters car wash fundraiser, community parades, nursing home gigs, late night dinner jazz gig and Christmas Festival of Lights caroling

Her work experience has included Rantoul Sports Complex.

Vannarath hopes to further her education to become a certified dermatologist as well as “to have the opportunity to be a part of the school’s bands” — planning to try out for university drum major.