Ok, now that I have your attention…

I have MC’d the Floyd County 4th of July Celebration for the Merchants and Businessmens Association for the past 3 years and was asked to coordinate the event this year. While sitting here, racking my brain for inspiration on how to make the event a blow out success, my mind wandered back to 1983 when I was in the 82d Airborne Division and there was a female vocalist that was just tearing up the charts. Her name was Sylvia and the song she really slammed me with was ‘Nobody’: “You say nobody’s after you, the fact is what you say is true…”

Anyway, as I was sitting there thinking about Floyd County and the wholesome, down to earth, true American Community that we live in, it occurred to me that our community is reflected in the image that Sylvia portrayed in her music. She was never a glamor girl; she was the honest to goodness girl-next-door that charmed us out of our shoes rather than shocking us into looking her way. She didn’t need to be provocative, she just needed to be herself in order to command rapt attention. So, I started searching for her- I wondered what had happened to her in the twenty-five years give or take and I found her space on the web. Feeling nostalgic, I emailed her and described our little community and how it would knock our citizens off their feet to have a homegrown gal like her come and sing just one song at our celebration. I knew that there was no way that it would possibly work, but for some reason I was determined to write to her anyway. I figured that the best I would get was a cold email in return telling me that she didn’t have time or interest in our little burg and that would be the end of it.

And then, today, the phone rang.

When I answered it, a voice introduced herself as Sylvia ***** and told me that she was calling me back regarding an email that I had sent back on the 6th of March. I could recognize the voice, but couldn’t place it and was trying to remember the email that I sent when it finally hit me who I was talking to- it was Sylvia herself, calling from Nashville!

I literally almost fell down. I could not believe that not only was I getting a phone call, but a personal phone call from Sylvia herself! As I knew would be the case, it wasn’t possible for her to appear on the 4th for us and that came as no surprise- I didn’t really expect that she would be able to make it on such short notice and surely there was no way that she could possibly appear for free- it just wouldn’t be fair to the paying venues and I know that if she did, she would be inundated with requests for the same. What touched me though is that she actually took time from her day to personally call me to thank me for being interested in her and tell me that she was touched by my email! In a day where people that have spent a second in the spotlight- let alone the time that Sylvia has basked in its rays- expect the world to kiss their feet, this American as apple pie girl-next-door responded to me- personally!

She restores my faith- there really are those gems in the world that are what they appear to be and not just pretenders that try to make you think they are kind and sweet and honest only to show their ugly side when the spotlight is off of them.

Sylvia, if you read this, I thank you for being what you appeared to be all along- genuine.

Take a look at the sidebar on the right for two of Sylvia’s CD’s or click one of the links below. My favorite is “Where In The World” and Kristin’s favorite is “A Cradle In Bethlehem” either one is a great choice but you’ll want them both!