12/15/2023 0 Comments Sip n dip great fallsKerri Anderson started a GoFundMe for the musician and out of the $25,000, they were able to raise $21,451. The road to recovery was long and medical bills and assisted-living facility expenses weren't cheap. However, shortly after, she was diagnosed with a C Diff bacterial infection. The 85-year-old losing her balance and broke her hip and hit her head on her piano. Pat suffered an accident on August 15, 2020. I've met so many wonderful people," she further said. "It's just been a good spot all the way around. I don't know if I've got a grandmother challenge for them or what," Pat joked. "We get them from 80 to 21," she said once. From 21-year-olds to someone in their 80s, Piano Pat was loved by all. Pat had to ability to command a room sitting behind the piano and her patrons weren't limited to a certain age group. Piano Pat at the Benefis Hospital in September 2020 (GoFundMe) Everyone loved Piano Pat She was a single mom of three kids with a day job for 35 years as a medical transcriptionist at the Great Falls Clinic. A Rudyard native, Spoonheim began playing the piano since she was 12 years old. I'm just comfortable here," she once said about the lounge that turned her into a celebrity. Pat had been a performer at the lounge for more than five decades and even though she cut down on her appearances in the current years but when she did, it was always a full house. She was hired as a fill-in for a piano player who went on vacation but he never returned to town cementing Pat's position at the lounge permanently. You can find all the finalists' bios and audition videos - and vote for your favorite - on the the Sip 'N Dip website.Piano Pat was a popular fixture at the Sip 'N Dip since 1963, a year after the Motor Inn opened. The finalists will perform in front of the judges panel on October 5th and 6th, and the winner will perform live for the first time on October 8th. The five finalists are Joel Corda, Lyle Sheets, Melissa Smith, Johnny Ritchie, and Eric Lowell Bartz - all Great Falls residents. This week, the Sip 'N Dip Lounge announced the five finalists for their music bar competition. Pat was one of the reasons that the Sip 'N Dip was named by GQ magazine in 2003 as the "#1 bar on earth worth flying for" - coupled with the near-equally iconic mermaids behind the bar. Pat Sponheim, the iconic entertainer who passed away in May, had been behind the keyboard belting out favorites at the Sip 'N Dip since 1963. The lounge is known for its tiki theme and "mermaids" swimming in the pool behind the bar - and of course, "Piano Pat." (SEPTEMBER 2, 2021) The Sip 'N Dip lounge in Great Falls launched a contest in July to find a new musical performer. Tickets for Tuesday's and Wednesday's events are sold out, but the Sip 'N Dip will stream all of the finalists' performances on Facebook Live starting at 6:30 p.m. Everyone in their own right is a great musician, so now it's up to the judges to determine tonight and tomorrow night who gets the coveted seat." She said, "The talent among these five is amazing. On Wednesday, October 6, the other two finalists - Melissa Smith and Johnny Ritchie - will face the judges.įor owner Sandy Johnson-Thares, it's been a fun process - she's ready to get back to business as usual with a deserving new musician occupying the chair of the late Piano Pat. Tuesday's ticketed event will feature performances by finalists Eric Lowell Bartz, Joel Corda, and Lyle Sheets, who will each be critiqued by a panel of judges. GREAT FALLS - On Tuesday evening at the Sip 'N Dip Lounge in downtown Great Falls, three of the five finalists aiming to become the bar's new musical act will perform in front of judges and customers before a winner is named Wednesday night.
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