‘Reseda,My Friend,My Home’ : A Night to Remember

They came from all over Sunday night, from Whittier to Calabasas, to stand before a crowd of 800 to croon about their love for . . . Reseda. It was a night to remember.

Seven singing acts, ranging from the melodious to the hilarious, had been selected to perform their nominations for an official song for Reseda, the community some claim to be the heart of the San Fernando Valley.

The event, titled the Reseda Songfest, was co-sponsored by a radio station and the Reseda Revitalization Corp., a nonprofit group of businessmen, residents and community leaders intent on refurbishing the image, if not the face, of their community.

Like Cleveland, the Butt of Many Jokes

The event, held at the Country Club nightspot on Sherman Way, was “an effort to upgrade Reseda because we feel Reseda has been unfairly maligned,” Linda Shepard, the group’s program director, said.

Shepard and other organizers of the event complained that Reseda, much like the city of Cleveland, has borne the brunt of too many jokes. On this evening, the persecuted were going to cling together: first prize at the Reseda Songfest was a round-trip ticket to Cleveland.

The winners, who apparently were happy about traveling to Cleveland, were Keith and Adrienne Follazay, authors of “Reseda, My Friend, My Home.” Part-time songwriters and residents of Reseda for seven years, they did not have to come far to compete. They live five blocks from the club.

“It’s real quiet near our home,” said Adrienne Follazay, 31, a dental technician. She then noted that their house happens to be close to a police station.

Maligned by Radio Show Host Minyard

Keith Follazay, 33, an air-conditioning salesman, extolled the good nature of Reseda youngsters. “We had a fire on our lawn, and the kids on our block put it out,” he said.

The songfest grew out of a remark made over the radio last fall by Ken Minyard, who hosts a morning show with Bob Arthur on KABC-AM. “They called Reseda the Cleveland of the Valley,” Shepard recalled. “We thought that was a low blow.”

After Minyard and Arthur received complaints about the comment, KABC decided to hold a contest for an official song for Reseda, as a sort of apology, Shepard said.

“We said, ‘If you do that, we’ll throw a bash this town won’t long forget,’ ” Shepard said, adding with a laugh, “I have lived to reget that.”

Count ‘em, 25 Acts Entered in Contest

Twenty-five acts entered the contest. Minyard, Arthur and Wally Sherwin, the station’s program director, selected the seven finalists.

The acts were as varied as the opinions of Reseda.

One contestant was Dick Warnick, 49, a 15-year resident of Reseda and seemingly proud of it. Warnick, the principal at Glassell Park Elementary School, belted out, through a mouthful of shining teeth, his rendition of “Reseda, You’re Mine.”

Among those joining Warnick in the competition were Mikki McHay, 36, a songwriter and actress; Steven Radice, 27, of Whittier, a free-lance stationery engraver; the Follazays, and Susan “Sulu” Dubow, 28, of Chatsworth, a teacher who owns a singing telegram service and is a fan of radio comic Dr. Demento.

“You gotta admitta, you won’t find a city with rent a-cheapa,” Dubow sang.

Another entrant, Mickey McHay, sang, “Reseda--she’ll haunt you, she’ll hurt you, but never will she desert you.”

‘Little Flower of Valley’

Doug Goodwin and Joe Siracusa received the biggest cheer of the night when their song, “Little Flower of the Valley--Reseda,” metamorphosed from a ballad into a Spike Jones-like cacophony of bells, horns, breaking glass and sneezes.

“I like the challenge of writing songs,” said Goodwin, 55, of Calabasas, explaining his participation. “And I forgot to tell you, the trip to Cleveland is real enticing.”

The entrant who least wanted to win, considering the prize, was Doug Rowell, 39, a Hollywood sculptor. Rowell said the last time he visited Cleveland, in 1971, he was playing the lead in “Hair,” then a controversial stage play.

‘A Joy Not to Have to Go to Cleveland’

While he was there, he said, the theater was firebombed, and a hotel fire killed four members of the cast. If that wasn’t enough, he was arrested twice, for not having his draft card with him and for having an expired vehicle registration, he said.

“I’m relieved,” Rowell said after the Follazays were chosen as the winners. “It sure is a joy not to have to go to Cleveland.”

Another prize was awarded, befitting the jocular atmosphere of the event. Although the best performers won the trip to Cleveland, a member of the audience won a door prize--a trip to Hawaii.