Loyalty cannot be blueprinted. It cannot be produced on an assembly line. In fact, it cannot be manufactured at all, for its origin is the human heart — the center of self-respect and human dignity. --Maurice Franks

Last week's Weblog about taking responsibility for making your own life interesting received quite a reaction. In the category of 'awesome' compliments, several readers indicated they were going to share it with their children. It doesn't get any cooler than that.

And the big news is that we are a step closer to sharing the life-changing, and very cool, Dancing with the Stars of Boston 2008 video to those who have donated to the Falmouth Road Race Cystic Fibrosis Team and expressed a desire to see me with a fedora and suspenders twinkle-step (a real term) cross the floor. Watch this space for more details.

This week's story, while titled Singing TO Shania Twain, could also be called 'Some Things are Just Cool.'

For several years I ran a restaurant company in Cincinnati, Ohio with 20 locations franchised from Perkins Restaurant and Bakery. They required a percentage of revenue go to media advertising, mostly television, In the local market, we devoted a smaller portion to radio promotion.

In addition to paid advertising, our company supported local charities, mostly with donated food to non-profits requesting auction items or other support.

Since the Perkins concept was originally founded in Cincinnati, we were well known in the community. During the years I lived in the market, we made a donation here, a donation there, and so forth. We had also done some promotions where our local restaurants were drop off points for things collected for the community.

The most famous campaign, with the best visual, was the Bear Hugs program we ran with the local police departments. For this program, guests were invited to drop off a teddy bear in return for some type of discount. 

The teddy bears were distributed to law enforcement officers throughout the area to keep in the trunks of the cruisers so if they came across a child in a traumatic situation, for example, a car accident or domestic violence situation, they would give the child a teddy bear to ‘watch’ that could help calm the child down.

But mostly, our goodwill was generated with food. I used to claim that we could provide meals to every man, woman, and child in Cincinnati easier than we could make a cash donation, because for a restaurant company to donate meals is a no brainer: whoever gets the free meal, buys something else and tips the server, and maybe comes back. Donating cash required a lot of red tape.

Sometime in 1998, the promotions director of Y96-the 'young country' radio station in the market, and a station owned by the group that we were advertising with, approached me about using the restaurants as collection points for the canned food drive that country music star Shania Twain did in advance of each of her concerts that summer.  

Shania’s non-profit “Shania Kids Can” was dedicated to helping disadvantaged kids, and in those days collected canned goods as well as donations.

The radio station approached me because the drive was not going as well as they had hoped. They reached out to see if our restaurant group could help.

After discussing it with the team, we agreed, and the locations turned into drop off points and we worked to fill a Shania-Twain painted tractor trailer with food over a three-week period. 

Promotional announcements and radio spots urged the local community to visit the restaurants and bring a can of food. The restaurants gave a generous discount to those who did.. It was kind of a perfect advertiser-station partnership.

As part of the ‘shrewd’ negotiations on my part, the plan was that I would present one of those big checks to Shania Twain before her show in Cincinnati. Original, I know.

The fact that my son, Joe, was a huge Shania Twain fan and could accompany me to the check presentation was a bonus, not to mention the thrill of a lifetime for him (and me?)

The night of the show at the Riverbend outdoor amphitheater in Cincinnati, we were there early and waiting when Patty Marshall, the Promotions Director, gave us the bad news: Shania had been filming late in New York City the night before and was waffling on whether or not she would be available prior to the show for the check presentation.

Crushing news to my 14-year-old son, who saw his thrill of a lifetime dissolve.

After a slight pause, Patty said to me. Here’s what we’ll do if she cancels. Joe is going to meet Shania regardless, even if I have to hop on stage during the show and have you pass him up to me.”

In that one moment, in that one sentence, in that one thought, the word ‘loyalty’ was redefined for me. Patty was going to take care of us, she was going to deliver, and she would not be stopped. I had stepped up when she needed me, and she was going to step up when we needed her. Loyalty defined.

However, about 30 minutes before show time, Patty waved us backstage: the check presentation was on. Me, Joe, and my wife were ushered into a cramped space, sweat dripping off everyone. We were in the room with the mega-star Shania Twain and a few radio station personnel. 

My son’s smile may not have been equaled before or since. Plus, before the check presentation, we had another assignment: to sing happy birthday to Shania Twain. That’s right, it was her birthday.

As a result of this experience, I can say “We sang to Shania Twain at the Riverbend Amphitheater in Cincinnati”, for the rest of my life, like I just did.

The fact that I was not on stage with her is irrelevant to the boast. The fact that she smiled and engaged with my son, made my day, my week, my month, my year. It was the thrill of a lifetime.

We presented the check, took the photo, chatted for a bit, and left the backstage area and enjoyed one heck of a concert. 

As you can see from the photo below, we collected a few thousand bucks and 10,000 pounds of food, 5 tons. Not a bad rescue.

I remember three things from that night. Singing happy birthday to Shania, the look on my son’s face when he met her, and Patty Marshall’s loyalty. 

Some things are just cool.