Our brother and friend Alfred Drears made his transition on March 24, 2015. Let's make his Homegoing Celebration fit for a king.
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On Friday April 10th, there was an enormous, single rumble of thunder and flash of lightning at about six o'clock in the morning. Many of us were already up, but some were awakened by it. We joked later that we knew it was Alfred, waking us up so that we wouldn't miss anything.
At 10AM we gathered at the Church of the Intercession and celebrated the life of our friend, Albert Alfred Dreares, III.
It was an amazing celebration. Just like our friend it was deeply spiritual but not "religious", full of love, a lot of laughs, many tears and some of the best jazz music anyone has ever heard. Al's brother Rudy and Al's mom Marjorie Eliot, along with members from Miss Marjorie's Jazz Parlour and several alumni from the Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School of Music and the Arts performed jazz renditions of traditional spirituals such as "Hush, Hush, Somebody's Calling my Name", "Precious Lord" and "When The Saints Go Marching In." Jazz Cabaret singer and M&A '82 Alum Laurie Vega sang a deeply personal version of "Alfie."
Afterwards, a few of us gathered at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla to commit our brother into the care of the Creator. It was an incredibly foggy day; a soft white mist enveloping our travels and cocooning us from the outside world. Incredibly, as we pulled up to the burial site a jazz rendition of "Down By The Riverside" came on the radio station of the limo that Alfred's family had been traveling in. We sang a little of it as we walked.
It is very difficult to let Al go. But so many of us have come together in his name; all of his friends from all over his life have met and become family and because of that, while we will miss his giant bear hugs, his big laugh and his expansive conversation, we will never let him go. He will always be with us in whatever configuration we gather.
Thank you so much to all of you who were able to contribute to his fund. You made this so much easier for his mother and brother. Al himself would have been a little embarrassed over the "fuss," but he would be overjoyed to know how many of us were there to celebrate, because of this fund.
As stated previously, we raised the goal slightly to $20,000 to help his family defray the costs of bringing him from his home in St. Paul to his home in New York City, and the fund will open another few days. If you still can, please contribute. But for all you've done so far, thank you.
Until we meet again...
We would like to ask people to donate $50 or more... we are all in this together struggling, so ANY amount is truly appreciated; no amount is too small. But if you are able to give more it will go a long way to meeting this goal quickly.
Thank you so much.
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On Friday April 10th, there was an enormous, single rumble of thunder and flash of lightning at about six o'clock in the morning. Many of us were already up, but some were awakened by it. We joked later that we knew it was Alfred, waking us up so that we wouldn't miss anything.
At 10AM we gathered at the Church of the Intercession and celebrated the life of our friend, Albert Alfred Dreares, III.
It was an amazing celebration. Just like our friend it was deeply spiritual but not "religious", full of love, a lot of laughs, many tears and some of the best jazz music anyone has ever heard. Al's brother Rudy and Al's mom Marjorie Eliot, along with members from Miss Marjorie's Jazz Parlour and several alumni from the Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School of Music and the Arts performed jazz renditions of traditional spirituals such as "Hush, Hush, Somebody's Calling my Name", "Precious Lord" and "When The Saints Go Marching In." Jazz Cabaret singer and M&A '82 Alum Laurie Vega sang a deeply personal version of "Alfie."
Afterwards, a few of us gathered at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla to commit our brother into the care of the Creator. It was an incredibly foggy day; a soft white mist enveloping our travels and cocooning us from the outside world. Incredibly, as we pulled up to the burial site a jazz rendition of "Down By The Riverside" came on the radio station of the limo that Alfred's family had been traveling in. We sang a little of it as we walked.
It is very difficult to let Al go. But so many of us have come together in his name; all of his friends from all over his life have met and become family and because of that, while we will miss his giant bear hugs, his big laugh and his expansive conversation, we will never let him go. He will always be with us in whatever configuration we gather.
Thank you so much to all of you who were able to contribute to his fund. You made this so much easier for his mother and brother. Al himself would have been a little embarrassed over the "fuss," but he would be overjoyed to know how many of us were there to celebrate, because of this fund.
As stated previously, we raised the goal slightly to $20,000 to help his family defray the costs of bringing him from his home in St. Paul to his home in New York City, and the fund will open another few days. If you still can, please contribute. But for all you've done so far, thank you.
Until we meet again...
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Hey family, we've re-launched for a few extra days, with a new goal. Every bit helps... please pass it along.
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The Friends and Family of Al Drears fund for Big Al's Big Bad Bash will close the fund tomorrow, Friday 3rd. We have met our goal, and THEN some, and we are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love for Al Drears and his family. It is a testament to Al's life, and how important he was to so many people, and how many people he touched in his life.
We will close the fund about 6PM tomorrow evening. Beginning tomorrow, funds should begin to be available to the family on a daily basis, until the fund is depleted.
Thank you so much for all you've done.
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Family, we have reached our goal!!! And then some!
There are no words to express how joyful we are that so many were able to contribute, some very generously. If you didn't have a chance to contribute, the need is still there, and the fund is open-ended so please feel free to chip in for some extra cake for Big Al's Big Bad Bash...
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YAY!!! YAY!!!! YAY!!!! We are officially at 50%, with 100 donors. THANK YOU ALL SOOOOOOOOO MUCH. We sure love our Alfie!!
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We are $218 away from being at 50% of our goal. The fund was set up Wednesday... this is an AMAZING accomplishment, especially when everyone is struggling. So thank you for the contributions so far!!! Keep them coming!
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We've stalled just a little bit at just under 50% today... but that's OK. Please keep those donations coming. Al's family now benefits every day, and it would be lovely if we get to 100% of our goal before Al's Big Bad Bash (date still unannounced).
Again, thank you for all you've done so far our brother's family so far... keep it coming!
One love....
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We're now at more than 25% of our goal, closing fast on 50%. The family will begin receiving these funds daily, starting next week. Whatever is in the fund at the close of the day will be transferred over. This fund won't close until early May, so if you can't contribute now, don't worry... whenever you can it will still count and still go towards Al's Big Bash.
Since there has been some question, this fund was set up by friends of Al Drears, all alumni of the High School of Music and Art, in the spirit of giving that Al was famous for. This not an organization, but a group of friends who loved Al dearly.
On behalf of Al's mom and brothers, thank you all so much for your support, your thoughts and prayers.
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Wow. In just a few hours we are at 10% of our goal. Thank you all soooo much. Special Shout Out: "M&A4Life!"
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