CHESAPEAKE - As a soft breeze blew along the banks of Symmes Creek on Saturday evening, Howie Damron sang for a crowd - and for a cause.

Damron sang not only to entertain but to benefit the continued efforts of the Symmes Creek Restoration Committee to restore and revitalize and protect Symmes Creek.

"I just think the purpose of this is to point out what a treasure we have here," said Grayson Thornton, SCRC president. "We're celebrating the reopening of this ramp."

Thornton said that the Chesapeake Boat Ramp could be for Ohio and Chesapeake what Harris Riverfront Park is for Huntington, W.Va.

Thornton said there were three reasons they were celebrating Saturday: The reopening of the ramp, the opening of the Arthur S. Ferguson Trail of which the Chesapeake ramp is the end and the partnerships that the SCRC has built with various members of the community.

Some of those partners include the Lawrence County Commissioners, the Wayne National Forest, The Lawrence Scioto County Solid Waste Management District and the Union Township Trustees who signed the document that got the land leased to the SCRC.

"Our partners have made all this possible," he said.

Thornton also pointed out that, "Symmes Creek is the body of water for the county and we need to take care of it."

Organizers hope to make the benefit an annual event.

Damron agreed. He said they are planning to put a full amphitheater at the ramp and they hope to have other big acts next year.

Damron, a Nashville recording artist and Lawrence County native, does many things for conservation, and Thornton said, that he has done much to help the SCRC with their efforts.

"There is everything in the world to do down here," Damron said before the concert.

Debbie Mentz of South Point sat with her daughter, Chelsea, waiting for the concert to start. She said that they were at the concert with the Boy Scouts.

Chelsea, 14, was excited about the concert and interested in hearing Damron sing.

"I think this is a great idea," Debbie Mentz said of the benefit concert.

For more information about the Symmes Creek Restoration Committee or about Symmes Creek, call Grayson Thornton at (740) 643-0522.