Speech by Rosalind Clark on Monday, Aug 20 - Sid Snyder Appreciation Day

I first met Sid in 1989. I was at my desk, and he just popped in and said, "Say! Have you ever considered ballroom dancing here on this nice wooden floor. I am thinking of forming a band."(Sid at the time was 74 years old!!!) I cut him off, and said, "I am sitting here trying to figure how to cut the budget; I have had a three week headache. Sorry." He said, "No, I mean the band will volunteer. I know a couple fellows who want to play music again, to come back to music life after various life changes ."My eyes lit up after he said "volunteer". The rest is history. Starting in September 1989 with Ron Breault on Bass, Fred Greco on sax, and Gerry Tarozzi on drums, Sid organized dance music for the next decade.

Band members over the years have included:
BASS: Ron Breault, Brian David, Tony Zampacino, Bill Maxwell, Bob Turner,Bob Ouellette
DRUMS: Gerry Tarrozzi, Frank "Cheech" Pelligrino and Larry DiMetres.
HORNS: Fred Greco, Don Morse, Tom Pitney, Charles Lipp, Richard Prior,
William Glennie, Artie Serafino, JJ Silva, Carlos Saloio, George David.
Guest PIANIST ;Dutch Werthamer
Always on Piano & Vocals was Sid Snyder.

Claire Shelb assisted with the refreshments and dancer sign ins. All dancer donations were dontated to the COA. We resurfaced the floor, bought a wheel carrier for the piano and tuned the piano several times with the donations. Sid, Claire and the musicians donated about 500 hours each year. They had a riotous good time and the dancers had the most enjoyable time. Our office staff had to concentrate on the office work with the greatest effort and sometimes when we could not resist, some of us came out and started dancing to the wonderful music and infectious beat.

We are sincerely grateful to Sid for getting the whole program started and carrying on for a decade until his health fell out of rhythm. Today we are celebrating all Sid's Gift to us and we are grateful to God for miraculously bringing Sid back to us.
Thank you,

Rosalind Clark, director of the East Longmeadow COA