Davy Jones Beavertown Memorial – June 15, 2013

Davy Jones Beavertown Memorial – June 15, 2013

by Fred Velez

Beavertown, PA, the little Pennsylvania town that Davy Jones called home in America, held a memorial to his memory on June 15th, 2013. Held at the fair grounds near Davy’s house, the festivities began at 12pm with opening greetings by Michael Shoenfelt who organized the March 2012 Davy memorial and Beavertown Mayor Cloyd Bill Wagnor who dedicated the day to Davy.

Live music was performed by The Characters, The Monkeephiles, Chris Pick, Xandra Amrine, Jennifer Alexander and The Blue Meanies, with Davy Jones/Monkees band leader Dave Alexander as the musical director and backing all the musical artists throughout the day.

Dave Alexander introduces Xandra Amrine

Danny Solazzi and The Characters with some new fans.

Dave Alexander and The Monkeephiles

The Blue Meanies

Davy’s daughters, Talia, Sarah, Jessica and Annabel were in attendance to raise money for their father’s charity, the Davy Jones Equine Memorial Foundation for the upkeep of the horses that Davy rescued. I brought along my 1989 photo with me with all four Monkees that was signed by Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith. Unfortunately, I was never able to get Davy to sign it. Davy’s daughters were nice enough to sign my photo in their Father’s place.

Fred Velez with 1989 photo with The Monkees signed by Peter, Micky, Michael and Davy’s Daughters.

The Monkeemobile was also present with fans taking photos next to the iconic car.

Fred Velez and Linda Walsh with the Monkeemobile

The estimated crowd of nearly 300 were entertained throughout the day with live music by the bands. The Monkeephiles were particular favorites with the lead singer sounding amazingly like Davy. After he performed ‘I Love You Forever’, he called his girlfriend up on the stage and proposed to her to the cheers of the approving crowd.

The festivities culminated with Davy’s daughters taking the stage for the unveiling of a life-sized statue of Davy Jones by artist Chuck Lamar. Jessica and the Girls thanked the fans for attending saying it was the best Father’s Day gift they could have gotten. Chuck Lamar apologized to the crowd that the statue was still a work in progress as he used the wrong materials in the creation of it, so a clay rendering of the statue was present to see final completion by the next memorial in 2014. Davy’s daughters unveiled the preliminary version of the statue which was greeted by cheers from all the fans in attendance, and the Girls along with Dave Alexander and the Blue Meanies led everyone in an emotional version of Davy’s signature tune, ‘Daydream Believer’.

Davy’s Daughter: Talia, Annabel, Jessica and Sarah

Unveiling of the Davy Jones Statue with Chuck Lamar and Michael Shoenfelt

But, the day wasn’t over yet. Mayor Bill Wagnor invited the crowd to attend the special Monkees Charity Bed Race to be held at the nearby Beaver Springs Dragway. A raffle was held with the winner to be the ‘driver’ on the souped-up bed led by Davy’s Daughters under the team name ‘Davy’s Dangerous Daughters’. The money raised for the event would go to the Middlecreek Area Community Center. Davy’s girls were the obvious crowd favorite, but they lost the race which was OK as it was all in good fun. The event raised $3,140 which included the $400 raised in the raffle.

‘Davy’s Dangerous Daughters’ in the charity Bed Race

After the Bed Race, my friend Linda Walsh and I visited Davy’s house which was near the fair grounds. It was nice to see the house again. It brought back nice memories of the last time I was there around 1991 when Davy invited me over to do some light research for his ‘Mutant Monkees’ book. I saw the spot on the lawn where Davy and I stood as we discussed what he had in mind for the book. Nearby was an old fashion carousel Davy had purchased with the intent of restoring it. It was eventually restored by his daughter Jessica’s husband.

At Davy’s House in Beavertown

Later we visited the church Davy had purchase with the intent of converting it into a community center and museum. The plans are still in place to realize Davy’s dream.

The Church Davy Jones purchased as site for future community center and museum

Later at 8pm The Blue Meanies and Dave Alexander performed a special concert at the Beavertown Firehouse. This was a much more looser concert with the Meanies taking song requests from the fans. They were later joined on stage by The Monkeephiles.

It was a great way to end the day in remembering Davy Jones. I know Davy would have loved it.

Additional link for Beavertown Davy Jones Memorial from The Daily Item:

http://dailyitem.com/middwest/x1885649095/Family-and-fans-remember-Davy-Jones-in-his-beloved-Beavertown

Fred Velez, 2013