Country Roads Concert Tour honors late West Virginia woman, supports cancer awareness and medical scholarships – WV News

Mostly clear. Low 64F. Winds light and variable..
Mostly clear. Low 64F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: July 22, 2025 @ 11:30 pm

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WV News) — A country music concert later this month will bring together music, community and a powerful cause in honor of a Morgantown native lost to breast cancer.
The Country Roads Concert to College Tour, set for Saturday, July 26, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Westover VFW (340 Holland Ave.), will benefit Tonie’s Fund, a nonprofit supporting early detection breast cancer programs and offering scholarships to students pursuing careers in the medical field or as first responders.
Headlining the event is country artist Wade Hayes, joined by local performers including Copper Crossing, Andrew Kidd, and special guest Remy Adair from Connecticut. The night also will include a silent auction, raffles and door prizes.
The event was created in memory of Tonie Renner Gentile, who passed away from breast cancer in February 2023. Her husband, Mark Gentile, started the foundation in her name to honor her legacy through charitable giving and community outreach.
“Tonie Renner Gentile grew up just outside Morgantown. She loved hearing ‘Country Roads,’ played by the West Virginia University Mountaineer Marching Band, echoing through the mountains,” Gentile said. “Her love for music inspired the concert as an avenue to encourage the message of early breast cancer detection and diagnosis.”
Tonie’s Fund not only supports breast cancer awareness efforts, but also provides scholarships for students entering the medical field or first responder training—careers Tonie deeply respected. Her son is a firefighter, and her husband has served as a firefighter and EMT.
The inaugural concert, held in 2024, raised enough to award student scholarships and donate $10,200 to breast cancer research at the WVU Cancer Institute.
“My fire department and a lot of fire departments have a memorial wall,” Gentile said. “All of the names of our past members, when they pass, get placed on the wall in the hope that if you speak the name, it’s never forgotten. That’s what gave me the idea to start having concerts in honor of Tonie. If we keep having concerts and keep raising money for scholarships in her name, then nobody will ever forget her.”
Tickets are $50 and can be purchased online at www.toniesfund.org. Additional information, including sponsorship and donation opportunities, is available on the Tonie’s Fund website and Facebook page.

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