By Barbara Morris
Once upon a time, when I was a student in P.S. 156 my music teacher, Mrs. Valiant, decided to put me in the school’s chorus.
Like the school’s present music teacher, Mrs. Roberta Kerdan, she was a wonderful lady. Everyone in the class loved her. We didn’t care how much she wanted us to practice — our aim was to please her.
One day she told us we had done that – so much so, in fact, that she was taking all of us to perform in another school. We were thrilled – not only in anticipation of the trip, but because the song she chose for us to sing made us all feel like princesses and princes.
The song was, “I Dreamt That I Dwelled In Marble Halls.” After the words of the title were sung, it went on: “with vassals and serfs at my side. And to all who assembled within those halls, that I was the hope and the pride. I had riches too great, and I could boast of a high ancestral fame.”
I don’t remember the next line exactly, but it went something like, “But I also dreamt, which pleased me the most, that I knew you loved me, you loved me still the same – you loved me still the same.”
So it was, Friday, Nov. 16, 2001, that Team One Hundred hosted “An Evening of Tribute” for all the good works of three of our City Council members, Deputy Majority Leader Archie Spigner, 27th Council District; Council member Juanita E. Watkins, 31st District; and Council member Thomas White, Jr., 28th District. The location was the very posh Sheraton Hotel, that had all its marble floors and crystal chandeliers glistening, and its staff accommodating our wishes.
And, yes, there was love in the air. Sometimes in the heat of political battles, people may not always see eye to eye, but that need not diminish the respect the opponent may have earned and deserves. This was an evening of positives, to be sure. Team One Hundred, the brainchild of our own New York State Senator Malcolm Smith, was formed to enlist the help of people who want to fix things that are wrong in the IOth Senatorial District.
Senator Smith said in his address that it didn’t matter what ages we were, we are all the same – one family. By coincidence, one of his very capable staff members happens to be another Morris – Celeste. We had met once before but this time I asked her if she thought, as I did, that we might be related. We both laughed and she generously suggested that we might be cousins. I was pleased by that because, with the age gap between us, I’d more likely be a great, great aunt!
The program was full of sentiment, laughter, and appropriate honors. Beautiful plaques were presented, quite like magic, by swirling dancers to Archie Spigner, Juanita Watkins. Audrey Lucas (now with Parks and Recreation, and a long-time associate and friend of Tom White), accepted Tom White’s plaque for him, since he was stuck at the Atlanta Airport after authorities closed it down while chasing some man who had run through there. All of them also received proclamations from the New York City Council that Speaker Peter Vallone had hoped to present, had he, too, not been stuck somewhere.
It was a special treat to see Dorothy Thomas Smith’s wonderful son and daughter hug each other and reminisce about their mother as they prepared to present the award named for her to the always smiling and gracious Deputy Majority Leader Archie Spigner (who, rumor had it, wore a pair of his new socks presented to him at the last Rosedale Civic Association plaque meeting). Appropriately, Senator Smith then also received a well-deserved plaque.
Those who attended no doubt noted that the one snag of the evening was committed by yours truly. I feel I owe an explanation, and an apology for what appeared to be a strange occurrence. Fred Kress, Rosedale Civic Association president, had told me he had been asked to present an award on behalf of Team One Hundred to Juanita Watkins. As Fred and I entered the hotel, he asked me to carry the plaques for Juanita Watkins and Archie Spigner. When Fred got up to make the presentation, I quickly opened the boxes containing the plaques and, without reading them, went to hand them to him.
When I was told those were not the plaques for that moment, I beat a hasty retreat and awaited both Rosedale presentations later that evening.
Congratulations to all the honorees!
