KIDS SURPRISE SINGING 'GRANDPA'.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
``This is what I want to be remembered for, not how much fabric I sold.'' Allen Brandt. The day after he was laid off from Burlington Industries Burlington Industries was a diversified U. S. fabric maker based in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company had operations in the United States, Mexico, and India and a global manufacturing and product development network based in Hong Kong. 20 years ago, after 37 years on the job, Allen Brandt went home and sulked. He was 55 - too young to retire, too old to start over in the fabric industry. The second day after he was laid off, Brandt started knocking on elementary school elementary school: see school. doors in the West Valley, asking principals if they could use a recently downsized-out fabric salesman for whatever odd jobs odd jobs npl → chapuzas fpl odd jobs npl → petits travaux divers odd jobs odd npl → needed doing. The smart ones said yes. Twenty years TWENTY YEARS. The lapse of twenty years raises a presumption of certain facts, and after such a time, the party against whom the presumption has been raised, will be required to prove a negative to establish his rights. 2. later, on the eve On the Eve (Накануне in Russian) is the third novel by famous Russian writer Ivan Turgenev, best known for his short stories and the novel Fathers and Sons. of his 75th birthday, the man dubbed dub 1 tr.v. dubbed, dub·bing, dubs 1. To tap lightly on the shoulder by way of conferring knighthood. 2. To honor with a new title or description. 3. ``Grandpa'' by hundreds of current and former students at Woodlake, Lockhurst, Pomelo pomelo (pŏm`əlō'): see grapefruit. and Hamlin elementary schools and Hale Middle School special-education classes, stood on the playground at Hamlin leading 350 children in singing ``The Star-Spangled Banner.'' It was part of a national event, billed as ``The World's Largest Concert,'' sponsored by the National Association of Music Eduction e·duce tr.v. e·duced, e·duc·ing, e·duc·es 1. To draw or bring out; elicit. See Synonyms at evoke. 2. To assume or work out from given facts; deduce. and the National Anthem Project The National Anthem Project was launched in 2005 as a major initiative of MENC: The National Association for Music Education. Its goal was to increase public awareness of the importance of school music programs throughout the United States. . An estimated 6 million students in schools across the country Thursday sang the national anthem at exactly the same time. After the students at Hamlin finished singing, they didn't immediately go back to class. There was one more song they had to sing first as a surprise: ``Happy Birthday to You'' - to the man they call Grandpa. ``My father was speechless speech·less adj. 1. Lacking the faculty of speech. 2. Temporarily unable to speak, as through astonishment. 3. Refraining from speech; silent. 4. , and, believe me, my father's never speechless,'' said Helene Chemel, one of Brandt's three children. Hamlin Principal Victoria Christie saw the same thing. ``Look at the love they have for him; it shines through,'' she said, watching the students gather around Brandt and wish him well. ``This man has added so much to all the schools he visits one day a week to sing patriotic songs and teach the kids old standard songs. They can't wait for him to arrive.'' Brandt appreciates the kind words, but sometimes it makes him feel uneasy when a little boy or girl stops him in the schoolyard and says they wish he was their daddy. ``Grandfather, OK, but not father,'' he says. ``It's sad, but a lot of these kids don't have a father figure at home - certainly not one who sings songs with them. ``So, that's the job I've been doing since my old company let me go - singing with kids and trying to be a grandfather to the ones who need one.'' Helene Chemel says it doesn't matter where her father goes in the community - out to dinner, the market, the bank; he runs into a former or current student who recognizes him. ``He was at an airport in Germany once with my mom on a stopover to Norway when a little boy came running up to him yelling excitedly, 'Mr. Brandt! Mr. Brandt! It's you!''' Joanne Rygh, now retired, was a teacher at Pomelo Elementary School 20 years ago when the laid-off fabric salesman knocked on her school's door offering his services for free. ``It didn't take long for the kids to start trusting and respecting him,'' she said. ``He'd walk into their classroom singing a song, and pretty soon everyone was singing. It was contagious.'' Looking back on that day 20 years ago when his company let him go, Brandt says it just may have been one of the best days of his life. He never would have tapped into this talent he has with kids if he hadn't been laid off. Never would have found a life as rich as his life was Thursday - listening to 350 kids sing him ``Happy Birthday'' right after he led them in ``The Star-Spangled Banner.'' This is what he wants to be remembered for. Not for how much fabric he sold. Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Allen Brandt, the volunteer singing ``Grandpa'' at Valley schools for 20 years, conducts children singing ``Happy Birthday'' to him on the day before his 75th birthday Thursday at Hamlin Elementary School. Tina Burch/Staff Photographer |
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