Photo Submitted
Up With People Cast E 1979 sang for community leaders on the courthouse steps before hitting the road in Feb., 1979.
Photo Submitted
Up With People cast members were heading up the hill to the Van H. Priest Auditorium on the North Florida Junior College campus.
Rick Patrick
Greene Publishing, Inc.
They came from all over the world, including Canada, Japan, Poland and all across the United States. In the summer of 1977, wheels were set in motion that would have an impact on not only the community of Madison, but the whole world. That was when a group of local citizens and the international student group, Up With People (UWP) decided to partner in bringing UWP to Madison for five weeks as a new cast prepared to hit the road. What followed was the planting of the seeds of friendship that would blossom for years to come.
It all began when local business leader, Jim Wyche contacted UWP in their Tucson, Az. office and inquired about the possibility of a cast coming to Madison to perform. Little did he know that the staff of UWP would soon have much bigger plans for Madison than just a simple performance. When Wyche made the inquiry to UWP, word of his request came to the attention of Gary Aboussie, Assistant Director of Cast Operations for UWP at that time. Aboussie made the trip to meet with Wyche along with other Madison community leaders, including Bill Grant, President of the Bank of Madison and Dr. Steve McMahon, President of North Florida Junior College (NFJC).
At that time, UWP had four traveling casts of about 100 students each. The students in these cast typically traveled for one year, beginning with a five to six week staging and orientation period in July on the campus of the University of Arizona in Tucson the home of UWP.
UWP had the desire to expand to a fifth cast and have that cast start their year in January. After Aboussie met with the contingent from Madison, it was decided that Madison would be a good fit to host the new UWP cast while they learned the UWP show, became familiar with the educational aspects of UWP, performed community service, etc.
Momentum for the project took off when Grant began to urge fellow business and community leaders to join in welcoming the new visitors to Madison. With the coordination of Aboussie, UWP promotion staff members Gloria Crandall and Nancy David arrived in Madison just after Thanksgiving to begin the monumental task of paving the way for the cast’s arrival in January. Host families were needed for the 107 new cast members for the four weeks that they would be in Madison. As very few people in Madison were familiar with UWP, Crandall and David spent a great deal of time speaking to civic groups, churches, schools, and people on the street, telling the people of Madison about UWP.
Then, on January 15, 1978, the UWP cast arrived. There was probably a bit of trepidation when that date arrived and 107 new, eager, UWP cast members came to town on that day. But, as Aboussie recalled in an issue of Up With People News, “It was an emotional explosion. The town just collectively threw out the welcome mat with their hearts attached, and Cast E returned these sentiments with equal appreciation. Lifelong friendships were formed, and Madison became ‘home away from home’ for most cast members. It was just amazing; I’ve never seen anything like it.”
On the recommendation of Wyche, Dr. McMahon offered to open the facilities of NFJC to the cast. It was hoped that the cast would blend in with the nearly 800 students on the NFJC campus. That hope would soon be realized in a big way once the cast arrived.
The UWP students shared meals in the cafeteria with NFJC students, friendships were made, and the college basketball team gave a dance in honor of their new friends. As a result of all this, one young man from Madison, Nat Norfleet, decided to interview for the UWP program and later spent several years traveling on staff for UWP.
Those sentiments of Aboussie were shared by many in Madison. The people of Madison truly enjoyed this friendly invasion. In the Feb. 10, 1978 edition of the Madison Enterprise-Recorder, Editor T.C. Merchant said, “The Up With People kids are hands-down our Valentines for the year.” In a letter to Aboussie, Madison business leader, Larry Hardee said that, “Everyone I have talked to has wanted [UWP] to come back for another year.”
In Jan., 1979, UWP did just that. That was when a new group of eager UWP students once again invaded the town of Madison. The result was the same as it had been a year earlier. Instant, lifelong friendships were again made as Cast E, 1979 lived with the people of Madison. Ray Ottman, a member of Cast E from 1979 recalled his first host family in Madison, Pat and Margaret Vickers, “[The Vickers’] opened their hearts and home to us. I kept in touch with them for five years post UWP.”
After 1979 the decision was made by UWP that logistically it was not feasible to continue to hold winter staging in Madison. It was just too far away from Tucson. There were several more visits to Madison by UWP casts. One in particular holds a special place in the memory of this writer. In 1981, I was traveling with Cast D of UWP. Cast A that year was scheduled to perform in Madison. It was possible for me to leave my cast for a short time in order to perform with that cast in my home town of Perry and then in my “adopted” home town of Madison, an experience I will never forget.
Last summer, UWP celebrated its 50th anniversary. In those 50 years, UWP has performed in front of millions. The organization has experienced ups and downs, but it still is going strong. One world leader said this of UWP, “You are able to do what governments cannot do. You are able to build friendships on a one-to-one basis.” Never has that been more evident than during those months in 1978 and 1979 when the world came to Madison, and Madison became friends with the world.