WINDSOR HILLS : Homemaker to Sing at Inaugural Dinner

When Irma Collins decided last year that she wanted to do something to touch people’s lives, she had no idea her dream would lead her into the national spotlight and straight to the President of the United States.

With her three sons raised and gone from her home, Collins sought ways to help people. At first she lacked inspiration, but when she heard President-elect Bill Clinton end one of his televised speeches with a characteristic, “God bless America,” she found herself humming several versions of the song.

“I started creating my own arrangement of it,” Collins said. “And after the election, God clearly showed me what he wanted me to do. I knew I was going to sing that song at the inauguration.”

She was right. Collins, a somewhat shy 51-year-old Windsor Hills homemaker, is scheduled to sing for Clinton at an inaugural dinner in Washington on Monday night.

“I feel glorified and honored,” Collins said. “I’ve never sung professionally at all. But I just knew I had the spirit to do this.”

Collins, a Mississippi native, said she felt it was time to contribute to society.

“I sang in church a lot growing up, and really enjoyed it,” she said. “My father was always encouraging me to develop whatever talent I had. That’s something that stayed with me. So I thought about singing.”

Collins called Clinton’s headquarters in Little Rock, Ark. Inauguration organizers told her she would have to send a demo tape to be considered.

After recording her rendition in 15 minutes with the help of a sound engineer at a Christian radio station, Collins forwarded the tape along with a brief but heartfelt letter explaining why she wanted to perform.

“President-elect Bill Clinton says he is for the common man,” Collins wrote, “and I am a common woman, with a lot of love in my heart for mankind . . . I would be most honored and grateful to represent Los Angeles and our country in singing ‘God Bless America.’ ”

Over the holidays, she followed up with more calls to the Presidential Inaugural Committee in Washington.

Committee talent director Doug Barr, who happened to answer one of her calls, said he was immediately struck by Collins’ earnest desire to participate.

“I pulled her file, and was really touched by the letter she sent,” said Barr, whose committee received more than 1,300 tapes and letters from hopeful acts nationwide, but selected only 20 to perform at the 15 inaugural balls and dinners before Wednesday’s inauguration. “She just sounded so compelling.”

Collins, who will fly to Washington with one of her sons today, said she is calm about her public singing debut at a black-tie affair for the country’s leader.

“I’m not nervous in the least,” she said confidently. “God had this planned for me from the beginning.”