my David Cassidy memorial weekend

This is a follow up to my God Bless David Cassidy blog (May 20, 2018).

At about 2:30pm on Friday, May 18, 2018 I got off of the Amtrak Lake Shore Limited train in Schenectady, New York.  A friend waited for me there.  Alicia. I have known her on the Internet for perhaps 12 years, maybe longer. Since I was getting off the train not far from where Alicia lives, we had a nice visit on Friday, and I stayed the night on her sofa. I was a fine time, sharing stories, and pizza.

On Saturday morning new friend Caren picked me up at Alicia's house and we headed for Saratoga Springs, some 20 miles up the highway, where 45 to 60 of us would gather together to celebrate the life of David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 - November 21, 2017) 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cassidy

Arriving at a large hotel, in downtown Saratoga Springs, I finally met Susan C. the woman behind the "fans and friends" memorial bench, which can be found at the National Museum of Racing, in Saratoga Springs, New York. This woman collected contributions for the memorial for David Cassidy, reaching her goal amount quickly, and she worked tirelessly to find an appropriate place that would allow the fans who loved David to place a bench in his memory.  A place to remember David in a town he loved, in a museum dedicated to horses, with a statue of David's favorite horse (Secretariat) mere feet away.

And I met Linda, who put in a lot of hard work to make sure the celebration of David's life honored and memorialized him.  The party venue changed just days before the scheduled event and Linda found a new venue quickly.  Linda spent hours, over night, arranging a presentation around invited guests who knew David, and joined us to tell stories of their adventures with David Cassidy, and their wonderful memories of David.

On Saturday, May 19, 2018 at 5:00pm there was a Mass read at The Church of St. Peter in Saratoga Springs, NY for David Cassidy. It was a very nice service. Part of one of the Bible verses was about people gathering together from far and wide, much like David's fans, who came from as far as Belgium, Canada, Kansas, Texas, and California for this weekend that these fans dedicated to celebrating the memory of David Cassidy and his music.

In the evening a group of 12 fans gathered for dinner in Lake George at The Log Jam, one of David's favorite restaurants. Our waiter remembered waiting on David at other venues more than once in the past, and he was happy to tell us his memories of David. Many restaurant patrons stopped by our table to ask about our group, or to say that they, too, liked David's music, or had seen him in the area...they recognized a photo that we each had on the table....

a David Cassidy 'sign', each of us had one on our table at Log Jam

A great meal and some fellowship between David Cassidy fans from far and wide on a Saturday evening.

Sunday afternoon. David Cassidy fans from all over the world, more than 60 people, visited the courtyard, at the National Museum of Racing at 191 Union Avenue, Saratoga Springs, New York.
#nmrhof 

David's benches are in the newly dedicated Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Courtyard at
the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame #nmrhof

David's bench from his fans and friends.  #nmrhof

#nmrhof

At 5:30pm, Sunday, May 20, 2018 we gathered at  The Tap and Barrel, where a dj played a wide variety of David Cassidy songs and recordings.  There were speakers and a powerpoint presentation.  Good friends of David Cassidy in Saratoga Springs talked about David, and told some amusing and interesting anecdotes. Fans who met David Cassidy, and talked with him, told us their memories of David. There were a lot of photos of David. We also heard from and learned about a cause that was close to David's heart: The Thoroughbred Retirement Fund organization, which cares for, retrains (not for racing), or finds permanent homes for retired racehorses.

ThoroughbredRetirementFoundation on Facebook

Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation .org

After the private event (which was what I describe above) the doors were opened to the public, and the music was turned up, and the fans danced and sang along with recordings of David Cassidy singing. It was a lovely evening. David Cassidy was there.... were you there? did you feel his presence?


I Can Feel Your Heartbeat







God Bless David Cassidy