By:Scott Brinton
The year was 1954. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was heating up. Bellmore-Merrick's landscape was rapidly being transformed from rural to suburban housing community.
Although just 19 miles away by train, New York City -- and its teeming cultural life -- suddenly seemed distant for the many city transplants who moved to the Merricks and Bellmores during the post-World War II era. Saddled by home and work commitments, many folks couldn't find the time or energy to make the hour-long commute into Manhattan for entertainment.
Betty Mordoff Hendrix, Bertha Winter, Leon Summit and Mary Ann Parry, all residents of Bellmore-Merrick, decided to take matters into their own hands. If people couldn't get into the city to see the talent, they would bring the talent here.
At the outset, the four struggled to fill local high-school auditoriums. They, however, persevered and built the concert association one small step at a time. Over the years, word got out that the non-profit, all-volunteer organization brought in only high-caliber performers, luminaries like master violinist Isaac Stern, and the group's subscriber list grew exponentially.
Golden association
Today, on the eve of its golden anniversary, the organization remains as the only Community Concert Association on Long Island, with a subscriber list of more than 900, said association President Jerry Silverman of Merrick. The Huntington association disbanded two years ago.
Community Concerts, which supplies talent for Community Concert Associations across the country, started after the Second World War as a division of Columbia Artists Management, but later broke off on its own.
Barbara Turchin, Ph.D. of Merrick, who received her doctorate in musicology (music history) from Columbia University and now teaches piano privately, serves as the Bellmore-Merrick association's membership chairwoman. She describes the talent pool from which the group draws performers as "top-notch."
"You have performers traveling on tours throughout the country at major centers such as Lincoln Center," said Turchin, "and you need to fill in their time, and we help these performers fill in."
These days, the group has no trouble filling the Calhoun High School auditorium, where concerts are held because of its outstanding acoustics. And there's a waiting list for subscribers, who come from the South and North shores, and as far as the Five Towns, Queens and Huntington.
Gertrude Bellafante of Merrick, a group board member, attributes the organization's success to the commitment of its volunteers, especially its trustees. "They will do whatever it takes" to keep the group going, said Bellafante, who is a retired legal secretary/paralegal and has lived in her parents' quaint home off Merrick Road for more than 75 years.
The commitment level of certain association members has become legendary. Bellafante spoke of one original group member who, almost immediately after giving birth, got on the phone from the hosptial to resume signing up subscribers. "We have a few myths, but that's a true story," said Bellafante.
Board members, who are required to attend four annual meetings, continue to work hard to sign up subscribers by meeting with neighbors and chatting up the organization.
21st-century challenges
The group, though, has faced its share of challenges, most recently Sept. 11, said Silverman, who plays clarinet and saxophone and served as the first president of New York City's acclaimed High School of the Performing Arts. After the terrorist attacks, state funding for cultural organizations, upon which the Bellmore-Merrick Community Concert Association depends, nearly dried up. Traditionally, the group had received state grants in the $5,000 range, first from state Sen. Norman J. Levy and then Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr.
With additional support from its primary sponsors, the Long Island Power Authority and the Merrick Kiwanis Club, and numerous donations from subscribers, the group survived and continues to thrive, said Silverman.
Now, the association's greatest challenge is attracting younger volunteers and subscribers. Members say the group is growing older. Silverman, who is 69, said the organization is seeking "young marrieds" is their 30s and 40s to carry the group well into the 21st century. However, because many young people are struggling with increasingly hectic lives, enlisting them in an organization that requires deep devotion among volunteers isn't easy.
Lou Wasserman is a prime example of the commitment level that association volunteers display. He serves as the organization's concert manager, and he and other volunteers make sure performers get whatever they want and need. The musicians and dancers can be demanding, often providing an elaborate list of stage, sound, lighting, rehearsal, dressing room and piano requirements.
One performer, for example, refused to play on any piano except a Steinway concert grand, which the association had to rent especially for the performance. The Hungarian Symphony Orchestra, which will play during the upcoming season, has requested an assortment of fruit and water for 90 people, which is to be on hand backstage before their performance.
Lester Steinberg, Ph.D., a musicologist and North Bellmore resident for 45 years, serves as the association's newspaper reviewer. "We need to attract younger people," he said. "I wish I knew how. That's what we're trying to do," noting, "If you attract only young people, you lose all the old people. It's very hard. Every musical organization has the problem, from the New York Philharmonic down to us."
Silverman said the group is planning a children's outdoor concert for next year, likely at the new gazebo in the heart of Merrick's business district. The idea is to get more parents and their kids involved in the group.
Silverman noted that children have been among the organization's primary beneficiaries. One of his fondest memories is seeing a group of young soccer players trod in for a concert in full uniform immediately after a game. Bellafante happily remembers her own daughter curling up in her seat and being lulled to sleep during one concert.
Silverman also said the association seeks to offer a variety of entertainment beyond classical music, including jazz and folk music and dance, in order to please the diverse tastes of its audiences. And he says the group accommodates people with disabilities, including those in wheelchairs.
Bellafante said, "Our goal is to keep this ship afloat. We've gotten to the millennium, and we want to keep it going."
