Johnny Maestro - We Remember Him

Last August I went to a picnic at Cantiague Park in Long Island. The picnic was a fund raiser for the Amyloidosis Support Group (featured in TOS50’s  Volunteer Section) and it was being sponsored by the Nassau Wings Motorcycle Club. For a mere $20, I was able to sit in the park on a beautiful summer’s day and experience, in person, Brooklyn Bridge (Johnny Maestro and group) belt out the songs I remembered so well from years gone by.  This was the music we danced to at parties, the songs we sang at the beach.   What a fabulous picnic that was and, miraculously, Johnny Maestro and the rest of the guys sounded pretty much the same as I remembered them.
 
 
Everyone present in the park that day listened and sang along as Johnny and the rest of the guys sang Step By Step, 16 Candles and other hits from their long repertoire -- we may have had a few more wrinkles, our grandchildren were by our side, but we all knew the words.
 
 
Johnny Maestro passed away last week – March 24, 2010, to be exact. He was 70 years old. How did that happen? Where have the years gone? 70 isn’t old, is it? Time is moving faster these days. I have lots to accomplish and less time to do the very many things I still want to do.  What I want to do today though is to download some of Johnny’s music on to my iPod. It’s feel-good music, but after all, what is more important than feeling good?  Gee, it would have been great to have an iPod to bring to the beach when we were in high school.