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Good Luck or Serendipity?

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Contributed by: Jan Davisson on 3/28/2008

Life takes some funny turns and I've often wondered if I've just had great luck or is it serendipity?
What got me thinking about this weighty subject was an announcement that 87 year old actor Mickey Rooney is to be involved with the Palm Beach International Film Festival scheduled from April 10-17. Rooney is slated to perform at the Sunrise Cinema Mizner Park, April 11 for a segment called " Conversations with Mickey Rooney" followed by the viewing of one of his earliest movies, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He's been acting since he was five years old
Interesting note discovered while reading his bio is that during World War II, he joined the army and was assigned to the famous Jeep Shows in Europe covering 100,000 miles and playing to more than two million GI's during the war. This man is like the Ever Ready battery; he keeps on going.
Although I've never met Mickey Rooney, I grew up with Andy Hardy and the fantastic Judy Garland/Mickey Rooney musicals so have always been a fan.
Back in 1983, I started a program called Angels of the World to raise money for mentally challenged adults and decided that Mickey Rooney would be the perfect spokesman to kick off the ten year program.
At the time, Rooney had just received a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Bill Sackter, a retarded man struggling to gain control over his life after being released from a mental institution after 45 years. The television special was beautifully produced by Alan Landsburg Productions and did a great deal towards creating public awareness for America's mentally challenged adults and their needs in society as self-sufficient individuals.
Slight problem; I had no idea how to get in touch with the actor to put in my request.
This is where the serendipity part comes into play. That evening, my husband Paul came home from Pratt & Whitney and told me about Carol Suder, the wife of one of his friends. Her job had her traveling as the dresser for actress/dancer Ann Miller, in the national tour of Sugar Babies. Talk about pearls dropping from a persons' mouth! I now had a point of contact. The one and only Mickey Rooney was co starring in this national tour. One phone call later and I had an address for a theater in Chicago so that I could send my request letter to Mickey Rooney.
Next problem was how to get a television crew in Chicago to go by the theater and tape a public service announcement with Rooney. Keep in mind that Angels of the World was a home grown foundation with no money so everything had to be free.
Again, luck or serendipity entered when I ran into Buck Kinnard, the sports caster at WPTV Channel Five. Buck had a friend with WBBM in Chicago and kindly laid the ground work for me to contact Aretha Mills, the public service director at the television station. Ms. Mills agreed to tape the public service announcement in Rooney's dressing room between performances.
Now, I had my first Angels of the World public service announcement and needed it aired on local television to create the awareness of the program. Back to WPTV Channel 5, and thanks to Bernadette O'Grady, WPTV became a regular annual sponsor for the campaign. Their camera crew even followed me to Miami Beach during the Miami Vice days so that actor Edward J. Olmos could be the spokesman for the fourth year angel. But, that's a whole different story again involving luck or serendipity. I might add that an awful lot of prayers helped make things happen when it came to Angels of the World.
Hey, maybe Serendipity is really my guardian angel?

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