Hazelwood Record Company Helps Children Help Others

“It’s springtime in St. Louis …”

Tony Pope was feeling depressed, so he headed out to shoot some pool to get his mind off his worries for a while. Instead, a chance meeting changed his whole perspective.

He ran into an old friend and the two began catching up.

Tony, of Maryland Heights, told his friend how he had started a new business and things weren’t going as well financially as he’d hoped. His friend listened and sympathized. Then, he told Tony about his daughter, who had been diagnosed with a serious lung ailment. He didn’t know if she would live.

Tony thought about his healthy 6-year-old daughter, Maddy.

“It made me reflect on where I might be if something like this had happened to my daughter,” Tony said. “When you’re dealing with a sick kid, you just want to do whatever it takes to make them feel better.

“When you’re in a situation where there’s nothing you can do for your child, when you’re at the mercy of God or the hospital staff, that’s the most helpless feeling in the world,” he said.

It made Tony want to help somehow--and he had an idea how he could do that.

“The sunshine and the tulips,

Don’t worry if you don’t like the weather

Cause it’ll cha-ay-ange”

Tony went home and dusted off a song he’d been writing with his daughter and told his 6-year daughter his idea.

“Let’s do it,” Maddy told him.

Tony loves to play the guitar and sing, a trait he’s passed on to his daughter. Maddy, a precocious kindergartner, said she’s been playing the guitar “since I was born.”

Tony nodded and pointed out the smallest instrument in the guitar collection in his living room. He bought it for Maddy when she was born.

The father-daughter duo decided they would record their song, "Springtime in St. Louis," sell it and donate the proceeds to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help families dealing with a child’s illness.

“Some people sell pizzas, others wash cars. He (Tony) wants to sell his song to help kids and their families, and he’s asking other people to come along and help them out,” said John Wolff, communications manager for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“I think it’s very cool.”

Wolff said the song is about facing difficult times and lifting people’s spirits.

“That’s what Make-A-Wish is all about, serving children and their families and lifting their spirits as they go through chemotherapy or surgery or as they’re healing,” he said.

That’s what their song is about, too, Tony said.

“When you’re sick and dealing with a life-threatening disease, there’s only one thing that will help you and that’s faith,” Tony said. “Sometimes, you need people to push that faith for you. That’s what the kids are doing as they’re singing this song.”

Maddy was excited about the prospect of using her talents to help others.

“It’s for the kids,” Maddy said. “I want to be part of helping kids get better.”

Together they finished the lyrics to “Springtime in St. Louis,” and the 6-year-old wrote a good portion of it, Tony said.

“The first verse is all Maddy,” Tony said.

“The bees they are a buzzing,

And the birds they are a chirping,

And the butterflies are flying on their brand new wings”

Another chance meeting at the in Hazelwood brought Tony together with a recording artist. Tony and Maddy happened by Street Dreamz Artist Development Center, a recording studio especially for kids and teenagers, and went inside where they met the owner, Koran Bolden.

“He (Tony) was really interested in recording. He was really drawn to the no profanity rule we have here and that it’s a safe environment for kids,” said Bolden, who gave up a recording career as RikDikulous Bolden in 2006 to open the recording studio.

“He said, ‘I have this song, and I really believe we can sell it, and I want to give it to kids who are sick,’” Bolden said.

Bolden loved that Tony and Maddy had written the song together and wanted to record it together.

“That’s what I opened up here for, to convince parents to invest in their kids,” said Bolden.

“That’s a song that you can make a St. Louis anthem,” Bolden said. “I think it’s an excellent song, and I love the cause behind it.”

Tony said he and Bolden got along great because “we had the same thing in mind, making sure kids have a chance to live their dreams.”

Meanwhile, Tony also approached music teachers Annie Schulte and Graeme Allen at Maddy’s school, McKelvey Elementary, about getting more children involved. They decided on a third-grade class that included some good performers.

The third-grade class took a field trip to Street Dreamz to record the song, which is available on www.springtimeinsaintlouis.com. It not only brought in more children to sing and be in the video, it gave the students an opportunity to give. Tony liked that idea as much as helping families through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“When you help somebody and do something profound for somebody, there’s an effect,” Tony said. “It stays with you the rest of your life. They’ll chase that feeling for others. They get hooked on helping others.”

“Springtime in St. Louis

You know there’s nothin’ to it

Together we can find a better way-ay-ay;

We can all join hands together,

Like the birds that flock together,

And we can make a difference for a better day."

Those interested can download an MP3 of the song and make a donation to Make-A-Wish at www.springtimeinsaintlouis.com.

"Though the skies are cold and gray,

The weatherman say it ain’t gonna stay that way.”