Gary Baker, October 6, 2011
Lew-Port's Distinguished Graduates Hall of Fame


It wouldn't have occurred to many in 1970 that Gary Baker would be honored at Lewiston Porter High School as a Distinguished Alumni 41 years later.

Not that he wasn't smart.  But Gary never set out to excel in academia, and playing bass in rock and roll bands in clubs all over Niagara County wasn't exactly the normal training ground for high honors later in life.  Or so it seemed.

But on October 6, 2011 Gary Baker will be inducted into Lew-Port's Distinguished Graduates Hall of Fame. 

Heading off to find rock and roll fame and fortune after graduating from Lew-Port, Gary paid his dues for nearly 25 years.  He performed and recorded with LeBlanc and Carr, briefly tasting success in 1977-78 when that group's song "I'm Falling" went to Number One on the charts.  The succeeding years saw him forming and performing with "The Shooters", a Muscle Shoals, AL group that enjoyed several top 40 hits.  He toured the world as Marie Osmond's bass player and confidante.

A gifted musician, Gary is also a clever word-smith, writing lyrics that transcend space and time.  Gary has penned songs recorded by Alabama, Reba McIntire, LeAnn Rimes, The Backstreet Boys, Nick Lachey, Jessica Simpson and Lonestar, to name a few. 

His songwriting career took off like a rocket when he and Frank Myers wrote the iconic "I Swear" at the back of Marie Osmond's tour bus.  Billboard recently honored that song as one of the best 100 songs ever written.

After winning a Grammy for the 1994 super hit "I Swear",
Gary refused to rest on his laurels the last 2 decades.  He
was nominated for a second Grammy for Lonestar's 2001
Number One Hit "I'm Already There."   And he didn't stop
there.  Gary's built a state of the art recording studio in
Florence, AL where he continues to crank out the hits and
change the face of popular music.  In 2010 he was the star of German TV's most popular TV show, "Popstars", appearing on 4 episodes of that show as a mentor to the show's contestants.  And in 2011 he served as Marie Osmond's Musical Director and bass player for her summer of 2011 national tour.  The question is, what's he gonna do next?

Ain't nothing sweeter than going home again, and on October 6 Gary goes back home to be inducted into Lew-Port's Distinguished Graduates Hall of Fame by the high school that built him. 

Come and celebrate with Gary.  A great day is planned for him!
Where:  Lew-Port Senior High School, 4061 Creek Rd.,                                          Youngstown, NY
When:  10:00 AM in the Auditorium.
Lew-Port website,  www.lew-port.com

Best,
Tim Walton

The Love the One you're with! July Reunions

Summer of 69 is a Lewiston Council on the Arts Event. In 2012 our Rock 'n Roll Reunion will be on July 12, 2012 in Wilson at the Sunset Grill, on July 13, 2011 in Lewiston at the Gazebo and on July 14 at the Youngstown Stone Jug. Thank you to everyone that came last year!

We are thinking of our close friend, Tim Kneeppel now. Tim died at his home in Baton Rouge after a long illness, Jan. 26. Please keep him in your prayers.

The Lakefest Fundraiser at Wilson's Bedrock Landing was July 17 in the brightest sunlight on the planet earth. Look for the photos on links on the Home page here and the 2011 Shows page.

The Lew-Port Class of 1969

Their 61th BIRTHDAY PARTY

The Lew-Port Class of 69 61th Birthday Party plan will be July 12-14 and at Lakefest on July 15. There will be the on-going Newsletter that describes this and the celebration of the 20 year Anniversary of the War of 1812 in Lewiston and Youngstown this year.

The Duffy, Madonna and Niagara Falls High School Classes of 1969

Their 60th BIRTHDAY PARTY in Krull Park

The combined Duffy, Madonna and Niagara Falls High School Classes of 69 had their 60th Birthday Party on July 16 in Olcott and at Summer of 69. The photos are on albums linked off the Class of 69 Reunions page.

Lew-Port Alumni Association Membership

is being promoted on the Reunion Class pages. They have an 'Invitation to join' LPAA; a membership application; they offer Reunion Support for the 'big year' events. Look for a LPAA box on the Class pages soon.

AND

The BLACK PEARL sails along the Niagara River this past July 15-17. Look for the online album of the magnificant ship that sails in Lewiston now in the summer.

Tim Kneeppel
November 14,1953   -   January 26, 2012

Drummer, for the Invaders Band,  1965 - 2012
Everyone can leave a condolence in our Guestbook link at the right.  Thank you.
Artpark, July 14, 2009
email me
LEAP into Celebration - It's a LEAP YEAR!
at    the Summer of 69
Welcome  This is the site for our Summer of 69  Rock 'n Roll Reunions in Lewiston and Youngstown, New York, that started in 2005.  Chuck Scrufari designed all this with Eva Nicklas as a Lewiston Council on the Arts Event, in late fall, 2004.  Here we all are.  This year, 2011, Eva Nicklas has a theme!  "Love the One you're with!"

After all this time the Loved Ones, The Invaders, the County Orphanage and
Gary Baker (CO, IN and Sweet Rush, 1970) are all back together each year in Lewiston, NY where we all came from.  Can you feel the LOVE?  "Love the One you're with!"

PLANS:The Summer of 69 is a Lewiston Council on the Arts event.  It will be held at the Gazebo,  July 13, 2012.  The Summer of 69 Rock 'n Roll Stone Jug Event, will be in Youngstown, July 14.

There was the July 13, Thursday Night Dinner for all the Summer of 69 attendees designed by Tom Pieroni.  The  Lewport Class of 1970 Birthday 60th Party Reunion and the LewPort Class of 1972 40th Reunions will be invited to Wilson, NY, July 12th for the dinner and performances.   

This 2011 was our BEST year so far!  There are new performers in the bands; the Invaders, County Orphanage, the Lewiston All Stars Band and the Gary Baker Family Band showed off BETTER than ever and there were a number of personal bests too!

We had over 1,000 on the Gazebo Night, three times the crowd over at Sunset Grill, Wilson, and the Jug was overflowing with our reunions and
rock 'n roll!

Thanks for planning on your visit, enjoy yourselves here and please look for more news of the scheduled dates for 2012, the year of the 200th year Anniversary of the War of 1812 in Lewiston, Youngstown, Niagara Falls and Canada!  We heavily promote the Lakefest Fundraiser Event which follows on the Sunday of the July weekend and the pictures are here off this page.



Frank Broucek  
FJFB@AOL.com
Rehearsing in Lewiston Hgts.
Our original artwork       by Kathryn Serianni
"Five more minutes!"  The Battle of the Bands - 1967 on Main Street, by Jim Brunn, Niagara Falls. Click on the photo for a link to Mr. Brunn's new blog page where he describes his memories of when we all played in the hot sun with so many others that July afternoon.  That is Dick Lucinski of the Loved Ones waving to us when he was 17 !  Now who is that girl?

I am asking Mr. Brunn to write us a column here.  He writes...

Back in 1967 when Main Street was still a vibrant business district, the Main St. Businessmen's Association sponsored a yearly "Battle of the Bands," as part of the North End Festival Days. The event attracted 13 of the local "garage bands" existing in the area. The first year the "stage" was the back of a flat bed trailer parked in front of Ruben's Discount Music Shop. The second year two stages were set up in what was then a vacant lot on the NE corner of Cleveland and Main, next to Rubens. Gerry Jaffe, of Jaffe Jewelers was the chairman of the event, assisted by Bob Goodman and Ed Riley. This writer was asked to assist as the Contestant Coordinator because of my experience in the local music scene. Judges were John Pilato, music director of Lew-Port Central School, John McEwan, manager of Denton, Cottier & Daniels music store, and John Love of Rubens. The bands consisted primarily of young men between 14 and 20 years old. A large crowd of about 500 turned out for the Saturday June event and The Apaches from Niagara Falls came in first, with The Invaders, second, and The Loved Ones, third, both from Lewiston.

Here are photos from the event of 10 of the participating bands. It is interesting to note that 40 years later, a number of the musicians are back playing in retro-groups, and several have never left the music business. You may recognize many of the names in some of the groups as they are prominent citizens of our area.  Jim Brunn,  Niagara Falls

The New York Post article, June, 2009.
LEWISTON, NEW YORK
PEACE AND QUIET NEAR NIAGARA FALLS

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See Suzanne's other four books on the July 2010 Events page.
Phil Settle News
Phil was part of Summer of 69 in 2005
Our friend and frequent Summer of 69er, Jill Geist of Tennessee,  found these hilarious ADS from the  1950's that are described today as impossible themes NOW.  I thought to put them up.  If anyone has others that you find you can share them here by sending them to me. 
Frank,          FJFB@aol.com
I've written hundreds of songs over the last 30 years, about almost every subject known to man. I even remember the song I wrote for Tim's son Jess when he died. It was called "I Can't Let You Go". You would think that I could find the words to describe what I'm feeling right now, but I cannot. We all lost a great friend. He was the glue for all of us musicians. He held it together, and not by just keeping time either. He was the sounding board..... If it wasn't for Tim I would have never pursued a career in the music business. I'll never forget the call I got from him asking me to join the Invaders  -  what a turning point in my life.  My friends, the musicians, and ultimately, my career. Thank you TimE!  You were the best friend to so many people.  You will always be in my heart.

Gary Baker, Jan. 27
songwriter for Sons of Guns, on the Discovery Channel.
Fire In The Hole. Listen here.
Phil Settle's songs on MySpace
Phil Settle website