Country artist Jay Allen to headline benefit weekend

The Pinnacle Cares 2025 Gala Weekend, from Jan. 25 to 27, will include a concert, a golf tournament and more.


Country artist Jay Allen will perform in Ocala in coming days. [Photo courtesy Fire River Management]

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Posted January 15, 2025 | By Susan Smiley-Height, [email protected]
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The Pinnacle Cares 2025 Gala Weekend, from Jan. 25 to 27, will include a free concert by country artist Jay Allen, whose 2018 hit “Blank Stares” is a tribute to his mother, who suffered from early-onset Alzheimer’s.

Hosted by Pinnacle Retirement Advisors, proceeds from the concert, a golf tournament and a gala evening, will benefit the Nancy Renyhart Dementia Education Program and the mission of “full life care, helping families and patients in need across our community,” according to materials provided by Gary Crawford, with Pinnacle Retirement Advisors.

“All proceeds this year go directly to the remodeling of the Center at Hospice of Marion County/Empath Health, this is the future home of the Nancy Renyhart Dementia Education Program,” he wrote via email.

The Nancy Renyhart Dementia Education Program’s mission is to help erase the stigma and misunderstanding of dementia by encouraging conversation about the disease, while advancing education and training that leads to compassionate care for individuals as well as support for caregivers and families, according to Empath Hospice of Marion County materials.

Renyhart, a former HOMC patient, passed away April 30, 2020. Her husband, John Renyhart established the Nancy Renyhart Endowment for Dementia Education at Hospice of Marion County, which evolved into the Nancy Renyhart Center for Dementia Education.

Allen, who is originally from Iowa, has been an advocate for the Alzheimer’s Association, from which he has received numerous accolades. He recently was invited to the White House for a private screening of the documentary “Unconditional,” which features a song he wrote for the film. In his 2024 “Night of Hope Tour,” he performed across the country, sharing the story of losing his mother to early onset Alzheimer’s and continuing to raise awareness about the disease.

The Pinnacle Cares 2025 Gala Weekend will kick off Jan. 25 with an evening gala at Hilton Ocala. It will begin with a cocktail hour at 6 p.m. and include dinner, inspiring stories, an auction and Allen performing one song. The honoree of the evening will be Dr. Segismundo “Picky” Pares, a local specialist in hospice and palliative care medicine.

On Jan. 26, Allen and his five-piece band The Stallions will perform a free concert at 7 p.m. at the Circle Square Cultural Center in southwest Ocala.

On Jan. 27, the gala weekend continues with a golf tournament at the Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club, with check-in at 8:30 a.m. and a shotgun start at 10 a.m. It will include lunch and awards, as well as a “mini” concert by Allen.

“Pinnacle Cares 2025 is presented by my firm, Pinnacle Retirement Advisors. The net proceeds are being matched up to 500k this year by the foundation (hospiceofmarion.org/fundraisers). We are excited to announce the doors should be opened October of 2025,” Crawford noted via email.

For details about the Pinacle Cares 2025 weekend and to register for events, go to retirementwithpinnacle.com/pinnacle-cares-2025-gala-weekend
To learn more about Empath Hospice of Marion County, go to hospiceofmarion.org

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