August 2021 Newsletter

Director’s Corner: Young volunteers made 1200 cards for Surfside, Florida. Mcpadnet shipped all of them out to two state senators, Senator Lauren Book in Plantation, Fl, and Senator Jason Pizzo in Miami, FL. The response from the volunteers in Maryland and Virginia was swift and immense!  (See one of these letters to the Senators below.)

We also shipped USBs to President Joseph R. Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and family.  We always send the kids' inspiring music to the President of the United States as sincere messages of hope for a better world. (See the letter below.)

This issue of our newsletter contains a nice mixture of articles on the music and stories that we facilitate, told from the viewpoints of various people involved in preparing, sharing, and enjoying these efforts to bring a little joy.

Many thanks to those whose strong affirmations of hope, love, courage, and compassion reach out to communities near and far in the road to recovery ahead.

Children and teens from The Tacy Foundation probably remember performing live music every month at Asbury Methodist Village. They practice a piece for hours, dress up in semi-formal clothes and wait patiently for their turn at the piano bench. But volunteers may not be aware of the rich lives of many audience members at these monthly recitals.

The 20877 Asbury location is home to thousands of retirement-aged people from all walks of life, many of whom grew up surrounded by music. Ruthie Swain was born in 1923 in Winnipeg, Canada and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. Now a resident of the Kindley building, Swain regularly attended The Tacy Foundation’s recitals before COVID. She has taught piano professionally for 60 years and still does to this day.

As a young girl, Swain was first introduced to the piano through her mother, a piano teacher. She began taking lessons from her pastor’s wife, a piano teacher at St. Olaf College in Minnesota. Swain studied music and journalism at Wheaton College in Chicago, then pursued a job teaching piano to children and adults.

“As a matter of fact, I like teaching adults,” Swain said. “Adults don’t have a mother to make them practice, so they practice because they want to, whereas children practice because their parents want them to.”

Swain said that teaching piano is rewarding since she enjoys both her students and music.

“There’s always something new to learn, always something new to find out,” Swain said. “Students have all kinds of ideas, and I have liked the variety of teaching piano because of it. It’s never boring. I’ve taught for 60 years, and I’ve never been bored.”

In fact, Swain said she currently teaches, although the pandemic has been an obstacle for face-to-face lessons. Her two students, ages 82 and 70, are looking forward to beginning piano lessons in person again, which lifts her spirits after a year and a half of quarantine. 

Swain has two daughters who are also musically inclined; the elder received a college scholarship for oboe and the younger played piano. Swain said she hopes above all else that future generations continue to pursue learning, whether musical, academic or something else entirely.

“I hope that the young people are going to take advantage of learning good things,” Swain said. “They’re going to be serious about developing their talents.”

In her late 90s, Swain shows no signs of slowing down.

Harry Deffley was born in April 1925 and grew up in central Illinois. He was surrounded by German-speaking relatives, including his grandmother and five uncles. Because his parents were both religious, Deffley attended United Methodist Sunday School.

When he wasn’t at Sunday school, Deffley spent his childhood working on the farms for the Amish and Mennonite; he shot goats, shucked corn, and milked and herded cattle. In fourth grade, Deffley picked up the violin, learning how to play by ear. The following year, a new music teacher – who was well-versed in strings and brass instruments – came to Deffley’s school. This teacher mentored Deffley on the trombone, allowing him to reach an almost professional level. At the time, he was also taking piano lessons to learn classical music.

After high school, during World War II, Deffley was summoned to be an electrician’s mate for the Navy. He studied electrical technology at Purdue University, then went on to serve five years as an electrician’s mate, getting to travel to the Philippines and back.

When Deffley returned home, in 1944, he signed with a broadcast choir and joined college choir and a capella groups. He also frequented the local university to practice piano, which is where Deffley met his wife. 

“My wife, Barbara, she came from a musical family,” Deffley said. “She said this red-headed guy came in and sat down and started playing…a song or two there, and she fell for me.”

Deffley said he later found out that Barbara was his younger sister’s roommate. He married Barbara, his “sweetheart,” in 1950, and they remained together until her death two years ago. 

After getting married, Deffley began taking organ lessons, later becoming a pastor at the United Methodist ministry. Although he no longer has use of his fingers for piano playing now, Deffley said he has countless fond memories from a lifetime of learning music.  

– Zoe Bell

Composing a sonata is a little challenging as it is long and complex, but I feel very proud that I have accepted the challenge. When I compose, I can feel the magic of music, and it really helps me cope with the pandemic. I am proud of my progress in writing music, and the more I compose, the more I love it. I will continue learning composing from Mr. Tacy, and I look forward to sharing my music with others. I want to truly thank Mr. Tacy for being such a wonderful composing teacher and Ms. Holliday for giving me this opportunity. The Tacy Foundation has really inspired me so much, and I am very glad to be a part of this welcoming community.

Nancy Bo Flood

It’s not every day that you see a post-doctoral scientist retire to write picture books for children. Nancy Bo Flood, a former medical doctor and researcher living in western Colorado, did just that.

Flood spent years studying brain development, even operating on fish brains, in an effort to understand neurological psychology. She said she always had an interest in children and their brain function, which opened the door to working with children with disabilities. From there, Flood realized the power of storytelling.

“I found that story was probably one of the strongest ways of healing as well as understanding what is causing this emotional pain,” Flood said. “It’s story for all ages because I’d be working with children who were nonverbal…, but they could draw, play with puppets, play with a dollhouse, and express what they were feeling or what they were troubled about…”

Flood chose to begin writing her own stories so that children could more closely relate to a book character. “There’s a sense of connection to others,” Flood said. “I think [story] really helps with not feeling like ‘there’s something wrong with me,’ or guilt or shame.”

But how does experience in experimental and developmental psychology relate to storytelling? Flood places great emphasis on observation, a skill that has enhanced her numerous careers. “Being a research scientist, you understand the importance and the power of observation. As a therapist, it’s the same thing. When you are watching a child draw or play, it’s the observation as much as what the child is even saying,” Flood said. “To be a good writer, you need to observe.”

A successful author uses the “show, don’t tell” method, according to Flood. Since most of her works are picture books, a character could be illustrated with clenched fists and shifted eyes rather than simply the statement, “He was angry.” All of these emotions, down to the slightest movements, are captured through close observation of real-life experiences.

Flood had the opportunity to observe an inclusive dance company in motion. Her daughter-in-law, Gretchen Pick, is the executive director of Young Dance in Minneapolis, MN, where Flood would often sit in on classes and rehearsals.

There, she met 10-year-old Eva, a girl in a wheelchair who was born with cerebral palsy. Out of all the young dancers – children and adults of all abilities – Eva stood out. “I particularly would watch [her] dance because of the joy on her face. She loved it,” Flood said. 

In fact, without an obstacle or challenge, there is no substantial story arc. Flood said that the process of writing a children’s book first requires observing the dancers and their movements, facial expressions and interactions. Next is the interviewing and recording stage, during which Flood said she speaks with various dancers about their experiences and thoughts. After reading other, similar children’s books for research, the final step is to find a connection or the author’s “way” into the story, as Flood puts it.

“You’re looking for universal emotions that you’re connecting,” Flood said. “What is the storyline? What obstacles have to be overcome? How do things get worse before they get better?”

For I Will Dance, that challenge is Eva’s stepping outside of her comfort zone to take dance lessons. Since Eva uses a wheelchair, she would be hoisted up in her chair by a contraption with a piston close to the studio’s ceiling. Flood said that at one point, Eva thought she wanted to turn her wheelchair around and leave, a common feeling before taking a risk.

“Whatever our challenges that we’re trying to meet, all of us feel like quitting at some point or running away, and I knew I wanted to bring that in,” Flood said.

Despite the lockdown restraints of COVID these past 15 months, the Foundation’s Reading Express® program has transformed into a private playlist library in which student volunteers record videos of themselves reading stories aloud.  This project has continued to reach many children through the efforts of children and parents to find and reord individual stories to submit to the Chief Intern high school student, Pratyusha Mandal.  This list grows every week with new stories and pictures from children’s books, including those written and illustrated by children and teens, thanks to everyone’s efforts from home.

In 2009, shortly after The Tacy Foundation became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Claudia Tacy Scott created the Reading Express. Her own school-sponsored Story Hour on the Navajo Reservation started as she searched for books for her Navajo preschoolers to see and hear. Out of her lifelong interest in children’s imagination, especially that of underprivileged children, she offered to come to Maryland for the Foundation’s mission “to inspire hope.” During her summer teaching break, she brought Reading Express events to public libraries and initialized the program. She also presented at Walter Reed Medical Center Austin’s Room and at NIH’s The Children’s Inn.

In the winter, Ms. Scott traveled again from Chinle, AZ to present an interactive PowerPoint presentation to Gaithersburg Elementary School, the library, and a public housing residence. Along with the interactive story and music, Ms. Scott provided 400 cups of hot chocolate, gold train tickets for The Polar Express, and a bell for every student.

Scott’s original idea is now trademarked and part of the Title 1 Piano Pals® and Reading Express® after-school classes during the school year. Teens volunteer their music and reading gifts to children who cannot afford music lessons. Teens read books with stories that excite the imagination for these children.  Ms. Scott now serves as a Board Member of the Foundation and as an advisor for The Reading Express®.

Out of a professional appreciation for Scott’s work, Flood offered her books for the video library. The Reading Express® YouTube link is received by Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C.  It is broadcast on the closed-circuit television station to each patient’s room. The private playlist will be offered to Title 1 public schools in 2021-2022 school year.

In an email to Mrs. Holliday, Flood wrote that connecting with the Foundation has great meaning for her. She hopes that hospital patients and families find encouragement through Eva’s story (from I Will Dance).

– Zoe Bell

Hello. My name is Samuel, and I am a rising sixth grader at Rosa Parks Middle School. Recently, I have been recording audiobooks for children’s hospitals through the Tacy Foundation.

I want to bring joy to the children in the hospital by allowing them to enjoy fun adventures and magical lands. I recorded Alice in Wonderland, which is a fun book with lots of fantasy and magic, and I hope that it will amuse them as it did for me the first time I read it. I have always liked listening to audiobooks. Reading books is one thing. However, actually listening to the sound and the voice of the characters adds a whole new perspective to the book, which brings the characters alive. This creates an effect of actually being in the story. I hope that these audiobooks will bring some joy to the children in the hospital.

To provide another layer of amusement to the child audience, I added origami GIF animations into the audiobook (for example: https://youtu.be/FoTQM3lAH7I). Ever since I got an origami book as a Christmas present when I was six, I have liked origami. It has inspired me to love nature, so when I was looking for things to design, I started to watch nature documentaries. It has also entertained me, encouraged my creativity, and expanded my knowledge. With one sheet of paper, no matter what shape or size, you can create anything; the possibilities are endless. Origami has changed my life, and I have enjoyed it ever since. I put the origami in, so that I could share the magical experience with other kids. I also put it there so that they could have extra entertainment in a visual form. I sincerely hope that the origami and this audiobook will empower the children in the hospital and provide them with joy and comfort. 

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Holiday and Pratyusha for this book recording opportunity. Thank you! -- Samuel Wang

Charlotte Holliday, Founder and Executive Director

Matthew D. Scott, Graphic Editor

Michael Favin, Chief Editor

Siddharth Kondam, Teen Editor

Ethan Schenker, Teen Editor