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October 29, 2004 baldwin
Freedom to sing at schoolSinger John Mellencamp's visit to Milburn Elementary was the grand prize in a "Freedom of Speech" contest won by Anthony Viggiano, 7.
STAFF WRITER October 12, 2004, 7:25 PM EDT More than 140 students at Milburn Elementary School in Baldwin rocked to the tunes of John Mellencamp Tuesday as the star gave a private performance in the school gymnasium. Mellencamp's visit was the grand prize in Nickelodeon's "Speak Up, Rock Out" Sweepstakes, part of the network's Kids Pick the President Campaign. Milburn's students have sweepstakes winner Anthony Viggiano, 7, to thank for the performance. Anthony submitted song lyrics in August about what freedom of speech means to him and was chosen, at random from thousands of entries, as the winner in September.
Outside the school, the smallest in the Baldwin school district, excited parents, hoping to catch a glimpse of the star, stood with camcorders and digital cameras. Inside, technicians hustled to prepare speakers, track lights and microphones. "We don't often have the opportunity for something this big to happen in our school," Milburn principal Deborah Martin said. "The children learn about respect and responsibilities as citizens. This is a good opportunity for them to see that important people think those things are important, too." For Anthony, a third grader at Milburn, the lesson took a back seat to the concert. A big John Mellencamp fan, Anthony said he entered the contest hoping that the rock star would come to his school. "He loves John Mellencamp's music," said Anthony's mom, Virginia Viggiano. "He always listens to it with me." Virginia Viggiano said Anthony looked up the words, "independence," "freedom" and "liberty" in a children's dictionary, transforming his thoughts about the words into a song. "Freedom of speech means you can say whatever you want to say," Anthony said. "Every word counts." Mellencamp started the mini-concert with "Freedom of Speech," a song that he wrote using lyrics from each of the 20 final entries, also picked randomly. "Freedom of speech, freedom to say, freedom to think," Mellencamp sang. He used Anthony's line, "I feel tomorrow holds out its hand to me" as the song's bridge. As he sang, seated in front of student-made posters of the American flag, yellow ribbons and the Earth, the children clapped, swayed and bounced. Before leaving Mellencamp answered students' questions and sang "Pink Houses" and "Small Town." "The concert was fantastic," said Anthony, who had thoroughly prepared for the event by going to bed an hour early on Monday night and asking for gel in his hair Tuesday morning. Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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