As the lead singer of a multi-platinum-selling band, Aaron Lewis has spent a sizeable chunk of his adult life on buses, and some pretty nice ones at that. But while the doting father of three certainly wishes his princesses all the success he has had in life (and then some), he’s hopeful they’ll never have to rack up the miles on the road that he has.
When the small hilltown in Massachusetts that Lewis currently resides in decided to shut down the local school after this year and ship students to a neighboring district, however, it appeared that his two eldest daughters, at least, would be well on their way to doing just that.
“The plan for the fall was to put my eight- and five-year-olds on a bus for one to one and a half hours a day each way,” the often-reclusive frontman said. “For reasons of safety, quality of life, practicality—this just bothered me on so many levels.”
Even more disconcerting than the prolonged commute, he went on to explain, was the lost sense of community.
“There are only 1,200 people in my town, and the school is just such an essential hub for places like this. My wife and I only knew a handful of people when we came here, but the school system just brings everyone together. I don’t want to lose that,” he continued.
If he has his way, he won’t.
In response to the recent turn of events, Lewis and his wife Vanessa created the It Takes A Community Foundation (ITAC). Per its mission statement, the newly formed nonprofit has aspirations to revitalize rural communities throughout New England. For now, however, project one remains getting Lewis’ local school ready for reopening in September.
“Sure, we’ll be using the same building and have some of the pieces in place, but we’re basically building a whole new machine here in terms of the model we’ll be using,” Lewis adds. Although the ITAC co-founder has personally covered many expenditures out of his own pocket thus far, the school itself will operate as a community funded/self-sustaining entity.
“And here’s a novel concept,” he adds with a chuckle. “We are actually going to be focused on educating children instead of catering to bureaucracy.” In fact, while the powers that be fully intend to meet all requirements for accreditation and the like, Lewis says his school will also utilize the natural resources of the area—including the expertise of the numerous artists, musicians and retired professors—and do things like build gardens, greenhouses and chicken coops on site.
As a means to realizing the vision, Lewis is hosting a benefit concert this Saturday, Aug. 14 at the Pines Theater at Northampton’s Look Park. In addition to his set proper, the bill also includes performances by Brad Arnold and Chris Henderson (Three Doors Down), Shaun Morgan (Seether), Brendan Kelly and Lo Pro.
“They’re all friends, so it wasn’t exactly a tough sell,” he notes of the special guests. “I would just start getting into the whole story of the school and everything, and it was like, ‘Just tell us when and where to be, and we’ll be there.'”
To complete the first step of getting yourself there—i.e., purchasing tickets—kindly point your browser to ticketmaster.com or call (800) 745-3000.
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In other news, it appears that veteran Valley crooner Jimmy Mazz is doing the time warp again—bringing his “Cruisin’ Thru The ‘Fifties” show to Westfield’s Majestic Theater this Thursday, Aug. 12 with Buddy Holly-copy Ben Ashley in tow. Tickets for that are $17 and $19, available by calling (413) 747-7797.
Catch the Nightcrawler every Wednesday at 8:50 a.m. on the Steve Cantara Radio Show, WRNX 100.9 FM. Send correspondence to Nightcrawler, PO Box 427, Somers, CT 0071; fax to (860) 698-9373 or email garycarra@aol.com.
