Free to Be

You and Me

Back in the 70’s when I was starting my career I was working in the TV studios of the Washington County Board of Education. We produced closed circuit TV lessons about Math, Science, History, Art, Music & French for the schools.

There was an art teacher named Sandy that our crew liked a lot and we created an animated song for her as an end of year gift, titled “Free to Be, You and Me.” It was a song from a project that Marlo Thomas was doing.

We had never done that before and it took us awhile to draw it, shoot it and edit it. I wish that I had a copy of our film to share with you. Mike Thomas was the director and Dan Stanton did a lot of the art. They both went on to careers in the TV industry.

Being Independence Day, made me remember this “Free to Be” project from 50 years ago. It was special…the people were VERY good collaborators and we enjoyed working together to help kids learn some art concepts and techniques.

It’s the kind of memory I want to reflect on this 4th of July…and the kind of project I hope to still create and collaborate on…the freedom to be us. This forum and community is actually a part of that. So thanks for reading and participating in the conversations. I have not seen Mike Thomas in years, he’s in Europe now and he got into yesterday’s conversation about Lee and Pickett’s charge in our substack on facebook.

Here’s a photo I found of our film crew at the 125th Anniversary re-enactment of Gettysburg. Another example of filming themes about freedom.

So, if you read this Mike, Happy 4th. I always enjoyed working with you and that’s one of my favorite memories from working at the Board of Ed…and to the rest of you, enjoy your weekend with family and friends…and celebrate the freedoms we do have.