Fan's Tickets Were Just Wooden Nickels

And why is it that prime tickets often end up not with fans but with scalpers and ticket brokers? What Katie finds especially galling is that seats in Section 103, Row A, are being sold on ticket resale sites such as StubHub and eBay. Why couldn't Ticketmaster or Rams Head buy three of those seats and let Katie have them? That's what an enlightened company would do.

Or, if that's impossible, why not try to make it up to Katie and her friends by getting them some backstage passes to meet Nickel Creek? Or give them free tickets to another Pier Six concert this summer -- the Goo Goo Dolls on July 16, say?

"Clearly, they could offer all kinds of inducements that said, 'We screwed up; here's what we're offering,' " said Katie's dad, Doug. "They haven't done any of that. . . . These people have just stiffed her, basically."

Katie said that, as far as she knows, Pier Six is holding her inferior seats for her. "As much as I'd like to see the band," she said, "I don't know if I could go and sit in those seats and not feel that I was completely taken advantage of by these people."

Send a Kid to Camp

Our annual Send a Kid to Camp campaign began yesterday, and there's no better time than now to help an at-risk kid enjoy the wonders of the great outdoors. Whether it's $20, $70 or $710 -- the cost of a week at a camp for one child -- your tax-deductible donation will help poor kids spend a week at Camp Moss Hollow in Fauquier County. Here's how:

Make a check or money order payable to "Send a Kid to Camp" and mail it to P.O. Box 96237, Washington, D.C. 20090-6237.

To contribute online, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/johnkelly. Click on the icon that says "Make a Donation."

To donate by MasterCard or Visa by phone, call 202-334-5100 and follow the instructions on our taped message.

My e-mail address: kellyj@washpost.com