Great music, barbecue, and fireworks

Tallahassee's favorite Tom & The Cats. Farm-raised and prepared barbecue with Southern sides. Professional fireworks show. - Parties don't really get much better than this.

Family fun with something for everyone

From bounce houses and pony rides, to beer and cigars, there's something for everyone. So bring your family and friends, and be ready to have a great time!

All Proceeds Benefit The Foundation Fighting Blindness

All proceeds will go to support the Foundation in achieving its goals of treatments and cures for blinding retinal diseases.

Hoe-Down 2011 -- November 5th, 3PM to 9PM

Thanks for eleven years of support as we search for a cure for RP and other degenerative retinal diseases.

The Magnolia Farm Hoe-Down is an annual fundraising party for the Foundation Fighting Blindness, the leading organization in the field of retinal research. It's an event-filled afternoon/evening of good ol' country fun, and it benefits a great cause.

Sharyn's Story

Sharyn grew up watching her mom lose her sight, and at 16, Sharyn was diagnosed with the same hereditary disease - retinitis pigmentosa. Little was known about it at the time, and the doctor simply said, "I'm sorry, but you are going blind and there's nothing we can do." Fortunately, the gene our family carries is a slower acting one, allowing those who have RP to keep some vision into middle age. When they married, Glen and Sharyn were very hopeful that there would be a treatment in the future, and decided to have a family and support the Foundation Fighting Blindness in their quest for a cure. But the task proved a daunting one, and in the ensuing years, all three of Sharyn's brothers were diagnosed with RP, as were two of Glen & Sharyn's four children. Sharyn's mom went completely blind nearly 20 years ago, and Sharyn had to quit driving 11 years ago due to limited vision. With RP, the night vision is affected early on, followed by peripheral vision, until the field closes in and there is nothing left. Sharyn's field had gotten down to less than 10 degrees a few years ago (a normal person sees close to 180 degrees), when she began an experimental treatment which a Foundation Fighting Blindness supported scientist is working on. We are ecstatic to report that Sharyn has experienced a significant improvement in her vision since taking this medication. Several other family members are taking it as well, and have all had positive results. In the past few years, thanks to the Foundation Fighting Blindness and its brilliant and committed scientists, groundbreaking research has taken place and we are now confident that treatments and cures will be available in the near future for these devastating diseases.

Praise for the Foundation Fighting Blindness

“FFB is an extraordinary organization. It has given hope to people who didn't previously have hope, and it has supported the most important fundamental research in the retinal degenerations being carried out anywhere in the world today. Thanks to FFB, we are on the verge of human clinical trials and that would not have happened otherwise.”

Morton F. Goldberg, M.D.
Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Univ. Hospital

“If you were to take the 1,000 most important retinal research papers published in the past 15 years, you would find that over 900 of them where from research projects supported by the Foundation.”

Stephen P. Daiger, Ph.D.
Human Genetics Center, Univ. of Texas Health Science Center

Buy Tickets Online

Order your tickets online using your choice of major credit card. It's a fast, convenient, and secure way to get your tickets without the hassle of snail mailing us a check!

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Schedule of Events

3:00PM

3:00PM to 5:30PM

5:30PM

6:00PM

7:00PM

8:00PM

The Goal

We're hoping to raise $90,000 for the Foundation Fighting Blindness this year. So far, we're at $67,400.