December
12, 2007
Now I’ve had the time of my life
No I never felt like this before
Yes I swear it’s the truth
And I owe it all to you
‘Cause I’ve had the time of my life
And I owe it all to you -
“I’ve Had the Time of My Life,” from “Dirty Dancing”
Last Sunday, around noon, I’m driving west on Oswego Street to get on the
Arterial, which runs north and south through Utica. Standing at the
intersection of Oswego and Sunset Avenue is Jennifer Warnes. I hit the
brakes and come to what would have been a screeching stop had it not been
for the ice I skidded down the street on.
Jennifer Warnes in Utica, New York! Jennifer Warnes standing a few feet away
taking pictures! Jennifer Warnes!
If you don’t know Jennifer Warnes you’ve never seen “Officer and a
Gentleman” or “Dirty Dancing,” two of my favorite movies, which have two of
my favorite endings and two of my favorite songs. Both songs hit number 1,
both songs won a Grammy, and both songs were sung by Jennifer Warnes, now
standing in the snow in West Utica taking pictures of the neighborhood and
smiling like she had just won another Grammy.
Standing with her was Hank Leo, chief executive officer of the YMCA of the
Greater Tri-Valley in Rome, and Frank Tomaino, who has forgotten more local
history than most people will ever know.
I quickly learned that Jennifer Warnes was in the area taking part in a
music project with students in the YMCA’s Center for the Creative Arts. She
and the students had recorded songs at the Castle Recordings studio, on
Genesee Street, a few blocks from where we now stood.
Frank introduced me to her. I said the kinds of things you’d expect a fan to
say. I mentioned “I’ve Had the Time of My Life,” the song she did with Bill
Medley, and “Up Where We Belong,” which she sang with Joe Cocker.
She asked if I had heard any of her more recent music. (After all, “Dirty
Dancing” was 1987 and “Officer and a Gentleman” was 1982.) I admitted I
hadn’t. She told me how to get in touch with her. “Contact me and I’ll
send you some of my new stuff.”
But on this day her mind was clearly not on music. It was on history. Her
history. Her family is from Utica and Frank was giving her a tour.
“My great grandfather lived right there,” she said. Alas, today it is a
vacant lot.
Later, Frank would tell me that her great-grandfather, William Warnes, owned
a music store on lower Genesee Street and was a stockholder in the old Utica
Conservatory of Music, and that her grandfather, Dr. Theodore Warnes, was a
Utica dentist who had an office where the Radisson Hotel now stands. Both
William and Theodore lived within a few feet of where Jennifer was taking
pictures at Sunset and Oswego.
Jennifer, who is 58, was bundled up against the cold, which on Sunday wasn’t
very cold. But then she lives in southern California.
She’s taller than I expected. She was wearing eyeglasses with purple frames,
She was outgoing and friendly, fast to smile. And she was in a hurry to see
all the family sites she could before leaving Utica.
Before the tour was over Frank and Hank would take her to visit the site
where Kemble Street School once stood and to the Loretto Nursing Home, once
Utica Free Academy. Her father went to those schools in the 1920s. Jennifer
had her picture taken on the UFA steps.
She was also driven down Genesee Street to Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Her great grandfather was a member there and taught Sunday school. Sunday
services were over but the organist and pastor were still there and they
gave Jennifer a tour.
Frank said Jennifer wandered into the choir loft and just started singing.
The church was empty of parishioners and there was no music to accompany her
but Jennifer Warnes stood there singing “Amazing Grace.”
Frank said, “It was beautiful, really beautiful. She had tears. It was very
emotional.”
Frank also said Jennifer Warnes planned to return to the Rome-Utica area,
maybe in a year. She wants to bring her brother to see the places she saw.
When she was driven by the Stanley Theater, Frank explained the fund-raising
that was taking place to pay for the improvements being made. Frank said she
said, “If there’s anything I can do to help.”
Frank said, “I was really impressed with her. She really is such a nice
person.”
It would have been so disappointing if she wasn’t.
Love lift us up where we belong
Where the eagles cry, on a mountain high
Love lift us up where we belong
Far from the world we know
Up where the clear winds blow
“Up Where We Belong,” from “Officer and a Gentleman”
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Joe Kelly is the editor and publisher of The Boonville Herald & Adirondack Tourist and
THE GRIFF.