The David Cassidy Virtual Fan Club by Barb Collentine
I'm so proud and honored that I can publish that amazing story on my blog. The story of love and friendship, the story of The David Cassidy Virtual Fan Club wrote especially for us by Barb Collentine
The David Cassidy Virtual Fan Club by Barb Collentine
There were many things born out of the recent pandemic that began in 2020 and found its way through most of 2021. Some of those things were good. The David Cassidy Virtual Fan Club was one of those good things.
After David Cassidy passed away in November of 2017, longtime fan of David’s and Long Island New York resident Karen Ranieri decided to hold a Tribute walk throughout New York City in honor of David on his first birthday after his passing– April 12, 2018. Karen posted on Facebook and about 8 people from the New York City area attended– all strangers who had never met before. I was one of those strangers; a David Cassidy fan my entire life now feeling bereft and lost and alone as that first April 12th crept closer. Living in New Jersey close to New York City, when I saw her post I knew I would meet up with her. I needed to be around other people who felt the same way as I did.
Silly, fun and dedicated to keeping our memories of David intact, Karen and I clicked pretty quickly. When a year later, Karen then held a second tribute walk on April 12, 2019, I offered to help her. Some people from the 2018 Tribute Walk returned but several new people attended the 2019 walk. It was a lot of fun sharing our David love and experiences as we walked around New York City a year later, visiting some more important landmarks in David’s life.
Fast forward to April 2020. In the middle of the Covid crisis, Karen began planning the 2020 Tribute Walk. Once again I was helping her anyway I could but this time always in the back of our minds was the lingering question: will the pandemic allow us to even be able to have it? Spoiler alert: We could not. We were very disappointed as 30 people had hoped to attend that year and Karen and I held out as long as we could before breaking the news on Karen’s Facebook page Songs My Father Taught Me, that we would have to cancel. But shortly after announcing the cancellation of our in-person meet up, I suddenly had an idea! Why not have it virtually? Like a Zoom call? I had been teaching at home for a couple weeks using the virtual platform and I knew a lot about it. I presented the idea to Karen and we decided: Let’s do it!
We invited/emailed those original 30 people who had wanted to attend the in-person event. Most of them were very excited to join us in this new way to meet up and talk about David Cassidy. After a lot of rethinking, fast planning and learning the best technology, on April 12th, 2020, we met virtually! Here we were for the first time so many of us who– for almost three years had only been messaging and commenting to each other on all the Facebook David fan pages– were now seeing each other's faces, hearing each other's voices and we had an amazing time connecting as close to in-person as we could. It was a blast!!!!
Under the new plan and format we decided to reach out to some important people in David’s history– no matter where they were located– and we were able to book 5-time Partridge Family guest star Bruce Kimmel as our guest, joining us all the way from California! It was sooo much fun! So unreal! Bruce was so kind to join us and he regaled us with hilarious and sweet stories of his time meeting David, Susan Dey and just being on the show.
After Bruce left we were then joined by Johnny Ray Miller, author of the Partridge Family “bible” When We’re Singin’. Johnny joined us miles away from Ohio! He told us some great stories of his times with David and showed us some of the amazing memorabilia he has in his private collection! We thanked both Bruce and Johnny for being so generous with their time. After they left the meet, the remaining David fans played trivia games, sang songs and just chatted and laughed– I think it lasted about 3 hours! I went to bed that night, but I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t get the meet out of my mind and I hadn’t wanted the night to end. I felt like I wanted to have another meet the very next day! It had been that fun and unforgettable of an experience!
When I got up the next morning, I immediately emailed Karen Ranieri and several other of my dear David friends– Caren Hansmann, Joann Lombardi, Robyn Smith and Annette Trotta Flynn. I told them I wanted to create a David Cassidy Virtual Fan Club. I thought we should keep having virtual meets, I thought we should create a Facebook page and unite David Cassidy fans “in person” from all over the world a couple times a year. They were totally on board! Now here we are an official David Cassidy Virtual Fan Club– almost 4 years later and 600 members strong!
So that’s how it all began. What started as an in-person meet for only a few people who could make it geographically, is now a full-fledged first and one of its kind worldwide virtual fan club. We have had several meets since our very first formal meet under the name of the David Cassidy Virtual Fan Club in July of 2020. Our first official meet under that name invited a guest: David’s longtime friend and bandmate, Craig J. He reminisced about David and debuted a song on the piano LIVE for us at the end of the meet. Amazing!! Our second virtual meet that followed in September of 2020, had guests like Bruce Kimmel (again) and 6-time Emmy winning director and longtime David fan Michael Pomarico. Each brought more memorable stories from their relationships with David.
Our last couple of virtual meets have really focused on the fans and their developing friendships, memories and connections. We also have incorporated recurring segments that feature a fan or member each meet. There is Memorabilia Moment in which a fan/member presents to the others something of value to them associated either with David Cassidy and/or the Partridge Family. We also have our Brush with Velvet segment that features a fan/member telling us a story of how they met either David or a member of the Partridge Family. The stories are fun and filled with happiness for the fans.
One of the biggest perks and points of pride for me personally that has resulted from the creation of the Virtual Fan club is that many people have become close friends as a result of our virtual format– texting and calling each other outside of social media and even meeting up in person. It’s amazing to me that with the help of my admin and dear David friends Caren Hansmann, Joann Lombardi, Karen Ranieri, Robyn Smith and Annette Trotta-Flynn the Virtual Fan Club is continuing the legacy of David Cassidy in a very modern way. Come to one of our meets and you’ll see that legacy: light, love and friendship in honor of David Cassidy.
Included below are some photos and Youtube links from some of our meets. There’s much more also available on our David Cassidy Virtual Fan Club YouTube channel.
“Happy trails” to all and thank you to all who continue to work to honor David Cassidy.
Barb Collentine
creator/admin David Cassidy Virtual Fan Club (DCVFC)
Link to first ad and announcement of the David Cassidy Virtual Fan Club July 2020
Candle lighting ceremony all over the world from November 21, 2021
Brush with Velvet YouTube link from July 2020
Memorabilia Moment YouTube link from July 2020
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