Mets, 'Sesame Street', St. Mary's Team Up In Song
BY DAN MILLER

Photos Dan Miller/DMD IMAGES (L. to r.): Dr. Burton Grebin, St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children president and CEO, Sesame Street's Bob McGrath and songwriter and Songs of Love Founder John Beltzer and more than 15,000 New York City public school kids rehearse a song composed for seven-year-old Ronald Sterling at Shea Stadium as Mr. Met cheers them on.

On Thursday May 17, Bob McGrath of "Sesame Street" was joined by more than 15,000 children at Shea Stadium to record the 12,000th Song of Love ever composed by John Beltzer of Forest Hills. The song composed for seven-yearold Ronald Sterling who is battling Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, an immune deficiency disorder.

Beltzer, founder of Songs of Love and head of the Songs of Love Foundation, played the background music on his guitar while McGrath led the kids to record his one-of-a kind song for Sterling.

Beltzer said, "The song for young Ronald Sterling is the 12,000th and the first ever performed at a Major League Baseball stadium." Beltzer has organized a team of more than 350 songwriters to create one-of-a kind songs for children who are either terminally ill or severely handicapped.

At Shea Stadium, Sesame Street's Bob McGrath and students from M.S. 201 in Ozone Park sing the chorus for the Songs of Love song composed for Ronald Sterling.

"We believe there is no stronger way to bring smiles to the faces of sick children than to honor them with their own song. Children typically tend to play the tapes over and over again. They cannot believe they hear their names and all the things they like mentioned in the songs," Beltzer said.

A recent article in In Touch Magazine stated, "Young patients endure invasive procedures with anesthetics, thanks to the comfort their songs provide." On Friday, May 18, a day after the Shea Stadium recording session Beltzer visited St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children in Bayside to hand-deliver the finished CD to young Sterling. Mr. Met also made the trek from Shea Stadium to join Beltzer, St. Mary's President and CEO Dr. Burton Grebin, Sterling's mother and some two dozen patients at St. Mary's to view the tape of the performance at Shea Stadium the day before and to conduct a sing along of the song composed for Sterling.

St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children President and CEO Dr. Burton Grebin and Ronald Sterling present Songs of Love founder John Beltzer with a Certificate of Appreciation from St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children in Bayside

"Songs of Love is dedicated to my brother, Julio Beltzer," Beltzer said. "He wrote and recorded the composition, 'Songs of Love' just two months before his death on April 12, 1984. This was a gift to all of us. Songs of Love relies upon the generosity of the public for its funding," he added.

Beltzer was invited to appear on WVOX 1460 AM to share his story with the world on "In Focus", a popular weekly radio program. The broadcast can be heard on Wednesday, May 23 at 6 p.m. and again on Thursday May 24 at 10 p.m. on WVOX 1460AM. The programs can also be heard on the Internet at www.wvox.com.

St. Mary's Hospital for Children, where Sterling receives therapy, is the flagship of St. Mary's Healthcare System for Children, one of the nation's premier providers of health care for children with special needs and life-limiting conditions.

Seven-year-old Ronald Sterling receives his personalized Song of Love CD from John Beltzer as Mr. Met, Dr. Burton Grebin and Sterling's mother look on.

Grebin who assisted McGrath at Shea Stadium on Thursday said, "St. Mary's provides intensive rehabilitative and specialized medical care to nearly 4,000 children each day in the New York metropolitan region and beyond through its family-centered inpatient, home care and community programs." For more information about the Bayside-based St. Mary's, visit www.stmaryskids.org. For more information about the Songs of Love Foundation, visit their Web site at www.songsoflove.org.

Beltzer and Songs of Love songwriters Alex Forbes and Danny Obadia wrote the words and music for the song for Sterling.

New Yorkers are invited to participate in St. Mary's Walk for Kids and Family Fund Day on Sunday June 10 at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Join NBC-TV Channel 4 Anchor/Reporter Lynda Baquero in a non-competitive walk, followed by a fun day for children of all ages. All participants can register at the Playground for All Children at 8:30 a.m. The walk begins at 10 a.m. For more information, call 718-281-8890.