Joy of Music School

Music Notes – Newsletter

Special Effects

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Marilyn and James Dick lived full, purposeful lives, so it’s not surprising that they left behind some interesting and important personal effects. Their grandson, Frank Hundley, recently took on the bittersweet duty of delivering some of these items to us—items that the Dick family felt belonged at Joy of Music School.  Among the items: original paintings on musical themes, Mr. Dick’s posthumous Legacy Inductee award from the Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame, and a commemorative plate with special significance. “I call it the Plymouth Rock of the Joy of Music School,” says Executive Director Frank Graffeo. It’s a hand-painted plate depicting smiling children entering the door of a school. A plaque below the plate reads, “In appreciation, James A. Dick, for establishing the Joy of Music School. Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Knoxville. Founded June 1998. ”Another exquisite gesture from the Dick family came just before the memorial service for Mrs. Dick in March (see page 2). Arthur Dick, their son, approached Frank Graffeo in the church as service preparations were underway, saying with a mixture of solemnity and benevolence, “Would the School like to have my father’s Steinway piano?” It was yet another “personal effect” that will resonate in the School forever. Frank’s response was momentarily delayed. “I envisioned our students playing such a magnificent instrument and I had such a lump in my throat I could hardly get out the word ‘yes’.

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Author: joyofmusicschool

Executive Director, Joy of Music School, Knoxville, TN

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