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Fans rally to help the longtime performer pay for sight-saving surgery
Toledo native Trez Gregory’s career path has always followed the music, from singing at her high school graduation, performing in Nashville as backup to a famous country duo, and carving out a presence in the Toledo area.
Along the way, at least two of her fans have become so devoted to the singer they are throwing a fundraiser to help her.
Kelly Jambor and Tammy Wheeler, friends who became fans of Gregory’s music and a powerful fundraising team, are behind Gregory’s benefit at 2 pm Sept. 20, at The Bunker Bar, 1950 Eber Rd., Holland. Donations are $5 at the door. There are 50/50 raffles, food trucks, and a cash bar. Other local musical artists, including Ramona Collins, Bobby May, Nicole Khoury, and Kyle White-Lay, among others, will perform.
Wheeler and Jambor got to know Trez through her “old school grown up’ music.
“We would get a group together and go see her, like at Rosie’s, we would go to the Fairway, different venues,” Jambor said
She said the benefit was Wheeler’s idea.
“Tammy approached me and said ‘Let’s give it back to Trez. She gives the community so much, so much of her time everywhere, Jambor said. “And I said, I’m in.
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“We sat down with her, had a meeting, and she was overwhelmed [and] in tears,” Jambor said.
Gregory said she never dreamed of a fundraiser for herself.
“I was just trying to work hard, save up a little bit of money and be able to take a couple of months off,” she said.
Gregory’s condition, keratoconus, is hereditary. According to the Mayo Clinic’s website, the disease causes the cornea to thin and form into a cone shape, blurring vision. One cornea has been replaced. She knows what to expect with the second surgery: no gigs and no income coming in. Then there are doctors and the hospital to pay. The surgery also comes with doctor and hospital bills and other expenses.
But without the surgery, her performances could stop altogether.
She is legally blind.
“You know everybody wants 20/20 vision, right?” Trez said. “Well, before the first surgery mine was 20/2200. I couldn’t even see if the light was red or green. So after the surgery, my vision was 20/2100. It helped a lot.”
Gregory has always been involved in music.
“I come from a musical family,” she said. “I had all of the flute, clarinet, piano kind of stuff as a child, singing in the church choir, the high school choir.” She has never stopped.
Besides local performances, she has sung with a band in Cleveland. She then moved to Nashville where she became a backup singer for Kirk Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, better known as just Brooks & Dunn, going on tour overseas with them and solo. Now she sings in the Toledo area and performs in Florida for a few months. She has also shared stages with artists ZZ Top and BB King.
With a little help from her friends, Gregory will keep on singing.
“These ladies are go-getters,” she said.
Send donations to [email protected].
Trez Gregory Fundraiser, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2pm. Bunker’s Bar, 1950 S Eber Rd., Holland. $5 at the door.
