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Vouchers will help seniors in Luzerne, Wyoming counties purchase vegetables

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Grilled oyster dish with green garlic butter is a feast fit for a spring

<p>The members of local folk-rock band Just Us have stood together through 36 years of performance, and they&#8217;ll stand together again to make music and support one of their own.</p><p>Just Us for Joey Lynch will take place from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday at the United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall in Trucksville and will feature a performance by the Forty Fort-based quartet along with food, vendors, a silent auction, a bake sale and more.</p><p>Donations collected at the event will aid band member Joe Lynch in his battle against bladder cancer.</p><p>Lynch and lead guitarist Paul Reinert have a relationship that predates the band and can be traced to their time in the since-merged Bishop O&#8217;Reilly school system.</p><p>&#8220;Joey and I have been singing together for 41 or 42 years, and we&#8217;ve been best friends since ninth grade,&#8221; Reinert said.</p><p>Just Us &#8212; which also includes Lynch&#8217;s wife, Mary Lynch, and fellow O&#8217;Reilly grad John (Jay) Tobias &#8212; performs &#8217;70s-era folk-rock by artists such as Crosby, Stills and Nash; Joni Mitchell; Simon &amp; Garfunkel; America and The Eagles.</p><p>Reinert said early on, Just Us tackled some pop and top 40 music, polkas and cha-chas to perform at weddings and reach a broader audience.</p><p>&#8220;Somewhere along the line somebody said, &#8216;Why don&#8217;t you guys do any Peter, Paul and Mary?&#8217; and it made sense to us,&#8221; Reinert said. &#8220;Those are the kind of voices we have, and that&#8217;s the kind of music we like.&#8221;</p><p>Although the band performs less than it used to &#8212; performing a few times a year compared to nearly a dozen times a month as it did in the past &#8212; it still draws a loyal audience, and, Reinert said, often surprises people who realize it is the same group they enjoyed more than three decades earlier.</p><p>&#8220;We have people who have been coming to hear us almost since the beginning,&#8221; Reinert said. &#8220;Some people say, &#8216;We used to come and hear you play when we were younger. Then we had kids and we stopped, and now our kids are grown up and we&#8217;re coming to see you again.&#8221;</p><p>Reinert said the group&#8217;s long tenure together is a result of mutual respect among musicians who understand each other&#8217;s roles and never let ego get in the way.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re friends first,&#8221; Reinert said. &#8220;We love each other. We never wanted to be rich and famous. Joey&#8217;s an incredibly talented musician. He&#8217;s by far the most talented singer, songwriter and instrumentalist among us.&#8221;</p><p>According to Reinert, Lynch, who has written original music that Just Us also performs, has raised money for a multitude of people in need throughout his years as a performer.</p><p>Those who have been helped by Lynch and those who have seen Lynch help others are responding, Reinert said.</p><p>&#8220;The idea was, &#8216;You&#8217;ve done so much for everyone else, and we need to do this for you.&#8217;&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Founding member of Just Us, Joe Lynch, has performed at benefits for a multitude of people throughout his years as a musician. Bandmate Paul Reinert said the event Just Us for Joey Lynch will be reciprocating that sentiment with gratitude. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_12923310_10154376073179453_3605250064635398278_n.jpg</photo0><caption0>Founding member of Just Us, Joe Lynch, has performed at benefits for a multitude of people throughout his years as a musician. Bandmate Paul Reinert said the event Just Us for Joey Lynch will be reciprocating that sentiment with gratitude. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_13895432_10154712854869453_1127769218169343049_n.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">From left: Mary Lynch, Paul Reinert, John (Jay) Tobias and Joe Lynch of Just Us will perform on May 13 in Trucksville. Donations collected at the show will aid Lynch in his fight against bladder cancer. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_13895432_10154712854869453_1127769218169343049_n.jpg</photo1><caption1>From left: Mary Lynch, Paul Reinert, John (Jay) Tobias and Joe Lynch of Just Us will perform on May 13 in Trucksville. Donations collected at the show will aid Lynch in his fight against bladder cancer. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Performance to benefit Joe Lynch</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What: </strong>Just Us for Joey Lynch</p><p><strong>Where: </strong>United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, 40 Knob Hill Road, Trucksville</p><p><strong>When: </strong>4 to 8 p.m. May 13</p><p><strong>Additional information: </strong>Monetary donations are suggested to aid Joe Lynch in his battle against bladder cancer. Goods from the bake sale will be the only items that must be purchased.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or on Twitter @TimesLeaderMatt.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Forty-fort folk-rock band to perform in support of band member Joe Lynch