#harry hershey

[serendipitynjh]

harry styles blew a kiss at me and we made eye contact. also i’ve literally lost 10 pounds from not eating the past 48 hours! our pit popped off, had WAY too much fun and i’ve been depressed since thursday night when the show ended. love u mr styles. craziest thing i’ve ever done, see u in detroit but on the floor!

[rockhalllibrary]

In Memoriam: Harry Hershey

Harry Eugene Hershey, 81, died September 10, 2015 in Lecanto, Florida, at the Hospice of Citrus & the Nature Coast. He was born on January 21, 1934 to Harry H. and Velma (Ryder) Hershey in Ashland, Ohio. Hershey was a professional musician for most of his life, and a big band mainstay of the Cleveland area.

With a bachelor’s degree in music education from Baldwin-Wallace, he taught vocal and instrumental classes for grades 5-12 in the Euclid Schools for 27 years; simultaneously serving as organist and choir director at four local churches. He also organized the award-winning Euclid Youth Jazz Orchestra, Euclid Civic Chorus, and Euclid Civic Orchestra, which at its height had 70 members with Hershey as musical director.

From 1962-1967, he even entertained baseball fans at Municipal Stadium as organist for the Cleveland Indians!

Hershey’s most significant contribution to the Cleveland music scene, however, was the creation of the 12-piece Harry Hershey Orchestra, which he led for over 40 years. Every Sunday for 12 years, the group performed live from Swingos on the “Big Band Brunch” on WBBG-AM. The group was also invited to play at numerous black-tie events around town, including a Governor’s Ball for George Voinovich.

Hershey’s solo piano and organ skills were in demand as well, accompanying or providing musical direction for Bobby Vinton, Connie Francis, the Drifters, the Harry James and Guy Lombardo Orchestras, the Four Aces, Joan Rivers, the Andrews Sisters, Bob Hope, and Elvis Presley. As the Presley story goes:

Back in the early 1950s, Harry Hershey got a call from an agent asking him if he would play piano for a young guy, a truck driver who would be coming to Cleveland, eager to make a name for himself in music.

Hershey met the guy at a church that was having a dance. The truck driver introduced himself, handed him a list of songs and then the guy -- whose name was Elvis Presley -- sat on a stool and played his guitar and sang while Hershey accompanied him on piano. (Kennedy)

You can hear clips from Hershey’s album, I Love a Piano, on allmusic.com -- particularly entertaining is a cover of the song “My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)” substituting Cleveland for Chicago. After moving to Florida in 2000, Hershey continued to entertain at many local venues in Citrus and surrounding counties, and was most recently the organist for First Presbyterian Church of Inverness.

Sources “Harry Hershey, 1935-2015.” Citrus County Chronicle, Sept. 16, 2015.

“Harry E. Hershey, Euclid Senior High School, Class of 1952.” Euclid Senior High School Distinguished Achievement Hall of Fame, 2007.

Kennedy, Nancy. “Postscript: Harry Hershey: He swung with Elvis and the Indians.” City County Chronicle Online, Sept. 16, 2015.