A Jonas bonus: $10,000 for Inverness church

Holy Family Catholic Parish in Inverness raised more than $10,000 from Sunday's raffle of a guitar autographed by the Jonas Brothers.

The raffle surpassed the sales goal of 500 tickets. And considering autographed guitars signed by the band were going for as much as $2,000 on eBay, $10,000 is a major score. The money will pay for the recording and production of an album featuring worship music from the members of the Inverness congregation.

"It was way better than I could imagine," said Jeff Poindexter the church's associate director of music.

Poindexter had the connection to secure the Epiphone Les Paul signed by brothers Kevin, Joe and Nick. Poindexter's brother, Joe, is an executive for Hollywood Records, the Jonas Brothers' label. The label is also owned by the Walt Disney Co. When he requested Jonas Brothers items, Jeff Poindexter only expected a few posters. Instead, he received the autographed guitar, a signed CD and posters. He said he owes his brother.

The winner of the guitar, 33-year-old Tracey Bobitz of Hoffman Estates, played the part of a giggling teenage girl after Holy Family Pastor Pat Brennan pulled her name.

"Shut up!" she said before covering her mouth in disbelief.

Bobitz, who said she wouldn't be able to recognize any of the band's hits, pledged to hand over the guitar to her 5-year-old daughter, Grace.

"She might be into it," Bobitz said. "She likes Hannah Montana and all that stuff."

The Jonas Brothers are from New Jersey and are Evangelist Christians who portray a wholesome image buoyed by appearances on Disney Channel television shows. They've released three albums with pop sounds that include Christian messages in songs like "SOS," which happens to be 6-year-old Madelyn McConnell's favorite. She begged her mother, Ann, five times to purchase a ticket. She had simple plans if she had won the guitar.

"I would play it," young Madelyn said.

However, girls aren't the only fans of the band. A 12-year-old Palatine boy took some heat from a friend after he said he "kind of liked them." He asked his name to not be printed for his own protection.

Bobitz, a member of the church's choir, will be one of the 100 or so performers on Holy Family's album to be released by its October homecoming to celebrate its 25th anniversary. Church officials estimate the cost of the album to be around $20,000 and say they're finished with the majority of the fundraising.