Planned Evening of Music Takes On a Deeper Meaning

No day that includes two funerals can be a good one, and Janet Bartholomew Poehlman was feeling the strain Tuesday. The funerals seem to be coming with numbing regularity for her: she says 13 relatives or friends have died in the last couple of years, with the deaths coming in the midst of her own divorce and her daughter’s bout with double pneumonia.

“It’s been a very humbling year,” Poehlman said after the first of the two funerals.

So what do you do in the throes of such misery?

One possibility is to try to do something for other people and just hope that the good deed will be its own balm.

Yes, Poehlman is hurting, but she knows it’s nothing like the pain of her best friend, Carolyn Erickson, and of Erickson’s family. Eight months ago, a plane carrying Erickson’s 19-year-old daughter Natalie and four others crashed en route to Fullerton. An official search failed to find the wreckage, but private rescue efforts continued, largely through the efforts of the pilot’s father, Dawayne Niemela.

A couple months ago, Poehlman, trying to find some way to help, decided to get involved.

The immediate need was for money to pay for the mounting costs of the private search efforts. Poehlman is a former professional dancer, with instincts that run to the arts. She envisioned a benefit concert that would act both as a fund-raiser and something of a memorial to the five on board the ill-fated plane.

Ten days ago, the private search efforts finally ended. Niemela, while flying in a rented helicopter, spotted the wreckage in a remote mountainous area near Big Bear.

Now that the prospect of ongoing search expenses has abated, Poehlman is hoping the concert, still planned for July 24 at Bradford Stadium in Placentia, will have a purely therapeutic value.

I asked Poehlman if, in a way, the concert is now a way to celebrate the lives of the victims.

“It’s not a celebration,” she said softly. “It’s to end the family’s misery. Because they were in pain. All the families were in pain. Just to see the hope, anxiety, fear and all the emotions that go into this (the extended search for the wreckage) is mind-boggling. So you say, ‘I care for these people, I love these people, what can I do to help, to make this tragedy go away?’ ”

Poehlman has dubbed the concert “Moonshadow, Concert of Love.” About 1,000 tickets have been sold so far, and Poehlman is hoping for a turnout of 3,000. Two bands, one playing country-Western and the other reggae music, have donated their time for the concert, scheduled from 6 p.m. to midnight.

Talking about Natalie Erickson is difficult for Poehlman. Aside from considering Carolyn Erickson her best friend after the two met at a K mart store in Fullerton, where they both worked, Poehlman had become friends with Natalie.

“Natalie would come in the store,” Poehlman said, “and she was an absolutely beautiful girl, gorgeous girl, tall, long hair, beautiful, and they (Natalie and her mother) were very, very close. And we all started going out dancing together.”

A Tennessean, Carolyn Erickson finally persuaded Poehlman to go to country-Western nightclubs with her, Natalie and Natalie’s boyfriend, Richard Niemela.

Richard Niemela was piloting the plane when it crashed. The others killed were Kathy Bird and her husband, Jeff, and Jeff Bird’s brother, Bradley Bird.

With Natalie and Richard dead and seeing the hole in her best friend’s heart, Poehlman is hoping for a packed house at Bradford Stadium. Her fondest wish is that, at least for that one night, everyone will be able to forget about the tragedies of life for a few hours and celebrate the memories of the five who died. On Tuesday morning, Poehlman attended services for Richard Niemela. Several hours later, the Erickson family had services for Natalie.

“The torment is unbelievable,” Poehlman said. “Some people don’t get through these things. I think (the Ericksons) have conquered this. I think with the help of friends and family who have stuck together, they have conquered it. There is a certain emptiness, a big feeling of emptiness, but as time goes on, it will subside a bit. But the emptiness is still going to be there a little bit.”

In its inception, the rationale behind the concert was to help raise money. Poehlman said the evening of music now has a deeper, spiritual purpose.

“I think now it will be a concert of love,” Poehlman said. “I know Richard and Natalie would want us to have a good time.”

Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at The Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626, or by calling (714) 966-7821.