Four decades after spending a considerable sum of money to create a summer camp for singers at Toyon Bay on Catalina Island, entertainer John Davidson was visibly moved by the sheer number of students who had come back and how this experience had changed their lives.
“This is the best thing I’ve ever done,” said Davidson after the end of an event filled day on Catalina, “I only wish now that I could have done more.”
More than 30 former students traveled to Avalon Saturday from many different parts of the country to participate in a reunion of the John Davidson Singer Summer Experience. They included former Broadway stars, musical directors, producers, film editors and major stars like Tony Mele, all of whom say their lives had been changed as young adults on Catalina Island.
The event had been organized by Nancy Clendaniel, Davidson’s longtime photographer who has published a book entitled the “JDSSC Experience,” which chronicles the many students who attended one of the four sessions during the summers of 1978 and 1979.
“Thank you John,” said Kimberly Thorne, now an FBI agent in West Virginia, who has performed with the Opryland USA and other venues, and despite an active agent, still sings today. “T`he things I learned here has helped me with public speaking, gave me even more confidence we (all) had an opportunity to find our voice here and I sincerely appreciate that.”
The group began the day by boarding the same shoreboat they boarded 40 years ago for the trip to Toyon Bay, now home to the Catalina Island Marine Institute. Davidson, surrounded by his students and many of their spouses, toured the grounds and marveled at some of the changes, and the lack thereof over the past 40 years.
Davidson gathered the group in a small amphitheater on the campus as he briefly spoke before asking each of the returning students to say a bit about what had happened in their lives as a result of their attendance of JDSSC on the island. “The purpose of the campus was not to make stars out of you,” said Davidson, to which someone yelled, “mission accomplished” as the group erupted in laughter.
Truth is, however, by the end of the day Davidson was deeply moved by the amazing careers that resulted from his work on the island. In fact, the testimonials throughout the day left the entertainer believing he had not done enough.
His students have achieved the highest levels of law, business, clergy and many other professionals. Jim Freeman said while sitting on the shores of Toyon Bay, “God was doing something with my heart.” Today, Freeman is the pastor of the Beverly Hills Foursquare Church.
Many couples, who met in camp, returned, still married after all those years. Some performed, and still do, as duos, and many alumni had excelled in dancing, video editing, producing, writing, and songwriting, in addition to their inner need to perform on stage.
“Our camp was about more than singing,” said Davidson later, adding that students were given complete training on how to prepare for the entertainment business, how to prepare material, how to present themselves, etc.
Davidson said while American Idol contestants learn to present a song in two and one-half minutes, what his camp did was more rounded, and he wishes he could have done more. Davidson said there were four sessions of the camp, two each during the summers of 1978 and 1979. Each session had 50 students that were only charged $800 for the entire session. Davidson said the first-year cost him a great deal of money, while the second year “almost broke even.” Davidson, then, was at the height of his popularity. He was an actor, singer, and overall entertainer who was then a major headliner. He hosted “That’s incredible,” “Time Machine,” and “Hollywood Squares” and a revival of “Hollywood Squares” in 1991.
Even though he funded the camp, his schedule prevented him from spending much time there during the first session, but in 1978 he was in camp the entire time. Davidson brought in friends like Kenny Rogers, Andy Williams, Florence Henderson, Pete Barbutti and 22 coaches to educate his students about the business.
Many of them, until Saturday, had little time to spend personally with Davidson, and both students and teacher seemed to relish in the one-day reunion. Throughout the day, Davidson spent time with each of them, truly amazed at how the JDSSC experience had changed their lives.
Following a bar-b-que lunch prepared and donated by the staff of the Catalina Island Marine Institute, the group returned to Avalon where they cleaned up for a special show at the Pancake Cottage later in the evening. A book published by Clendaniel, entitled the “JDSSC Experience” which chronicles the amazing lives of many of the students who attended the four sessions, was launched at the dinner.
Many students had written songs about their experience at the camp and the three-hour affair became a very entertaining variety show. Davidson himself, after watching students, could not resist as he grabbed his guitar and gave a standout 15-minute performance on songs and humor.
“This was a great inspiration for me,” Davidson said after the evening festivities had ended. Despite a brilliant showbusiness career, which continues, the legendary entertain said the JDSCC Experience “was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
“Being realistic, I did not realize how much diversity existed and how many successful people left the camp to do such great things,” he said. “Nothing is ever perfect and JDSCC was something I could have done better,” he said. “I could have and wish I had done more,” he said.
Nonetheless, the ‘students’ who were mostly in their 20’s back then, came back as 60 somethings extremely grateful to Davidson for what he did for them. “We are evolving and even in my current one-man show, I am constantly trying to improve.”
“We are all working on the idea of ourselves and about JDSSC, I worked as hard as I could, but I wish I could have done more because there are such talented people out there.”
Dan’l McIIhenny, an Oregon based singer who said he had little interaction with Davidson during the camps, was teary eyed as he played for Davidson and ended his song by simply singing “thank you for being here tonight.”
Following the performance, Davidson and McIIhenny embraced and the entertainer put his arms around him, drew close and whispered to him, thank you Dan’l, thank all of you.”
