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This is an amazing tale of international anonymous gratitude! Written by Nanci Cone and provided by The Ventura Breeze
In The Ventura Breeze Vol. 2, No. 20
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
by Nanci Cone
Academy Award winning composer Elmer Bernstein was born in New York and studied music at the famed Julliard School. He eventually made his way to California where he scored such great films as “The Ten Commandments,” “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Ghostbusters,” and “The Magnificent Seven.”
After more than five decades in the film industry, hedied of cancer August 18, 2004 in Ventura County. Now this could end here with you thinking “Ah yes, I remember him. How special that he lived here,” as you start humming the theme to one of his more memorable films. But this is only the beginning of the story.
Not long after his death, magnificent bouquets of flowers began arriving at City Hall from Passion Flowers, with cards attached saying things like, “For Elmer Bernstein, with admiration and gratitude from your devoted fan, Ardelle Drewery”. No one knew who this could be.
A call to Michelle at Passion Flowers only elicited the information that every month she received a wire paying for the flowers and a note on what the card should say. There was never an address, or contact to indicate who this devoted fan could be.
Breeze publisher Sheldon was determined to get to the bottom of this mystery and he charged me with solving it. Michelle promised to inquire to obtain more information the next time she received an order and to call me with the information.
She was as good as her word.
{Passion Flowers is a Ventura Values Merchant, now during SUmmer 2009, you can save 50% on your flower purchase with the Ventura Values card!}
The following month she called and said, “I have an address!” After copying down the information, I immediately got online to Google the name. But there was nothing on any of the websites about the devoted fan, Ardelle Drewery but I did now know that she lived in lincolnshire, England. So I tracked down the online version of the White Pages and found her listed there. So now I had a phone number.
Over the next two weeks I would call several times a day and it usually just rang and rang. Occasionally someone would pick up, ask me to hold and then I’d find myself disconnected – talk about discouraging!
The day finally arrived when I actually had someone on the other end asking who I was and why I was calling. After identifying myself and asking to speak to Ms. Drewery, I was told to contact the police if I wanted any information about her. All I could think was “Who is this individual? Are we talking about a major felon on the run from Scotland Yard”? After a bit more research, I found the number for the Humberside Police Department who administered to the town of Grimsby in lincolnshire.
I also learned that Grimsby is very similar in size and population to Ventura – almost a sister city. When I finally got through to the police, I was connected to Susan, a police constable in the department. She listened to my tale and found her curiosity awakening.
She looked up the address and assured me it was a private residence, not a home for the elderly or a local prison. She promised to stop by Ms. Drewery’s home to relay my tale and to give her my name, address and phone number so she could contact me if she chose to do so.
Finally, my phone rang and a lovely British voice identified herself as Ardelle Drewery who was looking for a Nanci Cone. When I told her she had the right number, she immediately apologized for refusing to speak to me the week before. “We have so many people scamming the locals here,” she said. “We have to be very careful – you never know who is trying to trick you. We also have to worry about what is sent by post – quite often letters and packages never arrive so we have to make sure they’re sent requiring a signature.” I assured her that our two cities have that much in common too.
I asked about the flowers and she told me, “My parents and I love Hollywood films and we’ve been fortunate to have many American friends who shared our love of movies. We found that Elmer Bernstein wrote many of the movies with music that stayed with us. My parents began buying his recordings and we would listen to them together.
We were a very close, loving family and, in some ways, this brought us even closer.” She went on to add, “My father was a lawyer who worked with musicians and my mother had been a dancer. They both hoped to visit Hollywood together but that was not to be. When my father, Desmond, was only 52 he passed away. My mother and I continued to listen to Mr. Bernstein’s music and it was almost as if my father was still with us sharing the beauty of his compositions. Finally, at 70, my mother, Peggy, did make it to Hollywood – it was the trip of a lifetime.”
It was devastating to Peggy and Ardelle when Elmer Bernstein died –neither of them had ever gotten to meet him. Peggy wanted to pay a tribute to him and the impact he had had on their lives so they sent that first bouquet and continued to do so. When Peggy was on her deathbed two years ago, Ardelle said she promised her mother to continue sending the flowers.
In many ways, it helped memorialize her mother at the same time. During this recitation, you almost felt as if you were sitting in their parlor surrounded by love and wonderful music while sipping a cup of tea.
As we talked, Ardelle talked about how she hopes to someday make it to Hollywood and Ventura County to see where he lived. I toldher about the flower arrangements and how much everyone that stopped by City Hall enjoyed them. During our conversation, I began to feel as if I’d made a new friend. I invited her to stay with me if she did come out this way – it would be lovely to meet her.
My greatest hope is that someone from the Bernstein family reads this and learns how much of an impact Mr. Bernstein had on the Drewery family. Ardelle said, “When I went to see ‘The Magnificent Seven,’ I was transported to another world. The music stirred me, it made me feel alive.” And we are so fortunate to have someone as devoted to Elmer Bernstein’s memory as Ardelle Drewery. When you have a chance, stop by City Hall and think of the Drewery family – their love, their devotion, and the joy they shared thanks to Elmer Bernstein. Me, and everyone at city hall is just happy that the mystery is solved and I got to meet a very special lady.
Thank you, thank you (she said in her humble way!). The police constable did her thing - I called to thank her personally for taking the time to visit Ms. Drewery which certainly surprised her! By the way, Ardelle has severe arthritis and is forced to walk with a cane.
I made her promise to keep my name and phone number and even if it’s 5 years from now when she finally makes it out to CA, she has to call me so I can show her around. We talked for ages this morning. She felt terrible for hanging up on me and apologized profusely – she’s very obviously a true lady. And when she was getting ready to say goodbye, she thanked me for everything and said goodbye Miss Cone. I then made her promise to call me Nanci and I told her I’d send her copies of the articles and some pictures of the flower arrangements that my boss took.
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Good News 
