(This is the full, unedited version I wrote & sent to Liz after a shortened version made its way into West Newsmagazine in late 2019.)
On December 20, 1946, Frank Capra’s
classic tale, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” was released for play in America’s movie
theaters. The film’s theme was the connectivity of our lives, centering on
George Bailey, played by motion picture superstar James Stewart.
As he constantly put the happiness of
others first, George’s own life seemed to be on the verge of total destruction
because of Mr. Potter, the powerful and greedy banker of Bedford Falls. Facing what he thought was a good deal of
jail time due to the carelessness of his Uncle Billy, George said he wished he
was never born, then jumped off a bridge outside of town.
That’s when
guardian angel Clarence jumped in to save George, and to show him all the
horrible things that would have happened negatively in the lives of so many if
George had indeed never been born.
One of
Clarence’s famous lines to George at that point of the movie’s happy resolution
was, “Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he
isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?”
For the purpose of this story of Elizabeth
Exarhou Henderson and countless others, the word ‘he’ can just as often be
changed to ‘she.’ Here’s the background
for Liz’s story. It also shows how terrific people reaching out and touching
the lives of others in positive and selfless ways can lead to incredible
outcomes.
Let’s go
back in time well before the movie’s release.
Elizabeth’s father, Klark Exarhou, was born in 1933 in Kavala, a city currently
inhabited by 125,000 people in northeast Greece. He immigrated here in the 1950s with the
dream of becoming a doctor.
“My mother (Paula) was sick and one of the
doctors said she was going to remove her appendix,” Liz said. “But my dad came
in and stopped her. At that time, my mom
told her own mom that she was going to marry him. That happened six months later!”
Liz was born in the St. Louis area. Her
family lived in Brentwood Forest, then far West St. Louis County before moving
to the Ladue School District in the middle of Liz’s 5th grade year. That’s when she had her first solo at Conway
Elementary.
“Not until
I moved to Ladue did I have opportunities,” Liz said. “That’s when teachers recognized I had talent
and I started getting singing opportunities.
Mrs. (Jo Anne) Smiley (who spent 30 years as director of choral music in the Ladue School District), came
into my life in junior high. She was then transferred to Ladue High School
where she continued to be my choir teacher and musical director. She was such an amazing person in my life
when I was growing up!”
In
musicals, Liz got the lead almost every year of high school; even as a freshman
playing Rosemary in “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.” Ironically, her daughter Sarah recently
played that lead role, too!
Liz also
mentioned Smiley helping a boy named Tommy Gallop earn the lead role in the
performance of “The Music Man” at Ladue High School.
“He was a
junior and I was in 8th grade,” Liz recalled.
“To me, seeing a young man a few years older than me in that role….I was
blown away! I was stunned and fell head
over heels in love with him. We dated
when he was a senior and I was a freshman.
He took me to his senior prom.
Tommy went on to have roles in "The Bourne Identity" series of
movies, "Will and Grace," "X Files,” "Seinfeld" and
many, many more. He now owns a chocolate shop in Beverly Hills.”
Smiley was
not only a terrific help in launching musicians’ careers, but has also touched
the lives of thousands in various walks of life. She’s been mayor of Clarksville, MO for nearly
15 years. Smiley earned the Congressional Medal of Merit award for her
leadership in combating the major 2008 flood and her town’s subsequent
recovery.
At the end of summer 2018, Smiley received the
President's Volunteer Service Award. She was given the President's Lifetime
Achievement Award, which recognizes U.S. citizens who have contributed more
than 4,000 hours of volunteer service. The President's Volunteer Service Award
is administered through Points of Light, the world's largest organization
dedicated to volunteer service. For that achievement, Smiley was given a
personalized certificate, an official lapel pin and a framed congratulatory
letter from President Donald Trump.
After graduating
from Ladue High in 1986, Liz attended University of Missouri-Kansas City. Smiley suggested Liz go there to spend a good
deal of time with Kirby Shaw, (who does a wide variety of musical projects
throughout the world) to sing in his show and choir. But Shaw left the next year,
leaving Liz uncertain about her future.
She then heard
about Berklee School of Music in Boston.
Liz liked the music part but not other things like writing music. She just wanted to perform.
“I heard
they were holding auditions in the city for Nashville shows,” Liz said. “They had auditions for Opryland. I asked my mom, ‘Can I move to Nashville in
two weeks?’ She helped me pack up and make the move. I was there for several years doing five
shows a day at the theme park and on the General Jackson showboat. I even got to perform with Brenda Lee and
Porter Waggoner on the Grand Ole Opry stage!
“Then I
met my husband (Jon Henderson) while I was working as a waitress in a cocktail
bar. He came in, I ate lunch with him,
and a year later we were engaged, then married and then had children. For 10
years, I didn’t sing! But at some point, we really wanted to move back to St.
Louis. We had two little kids and both my mom and sister (Laura) lived here,
and could help watch the kids.”
Liz had
done some recordings for Lee Greenwood Studios.
As she stated, “It was like my toe was in again, but far from all of me.” Meanwhile, Jon heard his company was closing,
so the Hendersons packed it all up and moved from Nashville to St. Louis. They
had heard of the great reputation of Rockwood schools, so they moved in with
Liz’s parents.
Their
daughter was two and son (Jonathan) was five.
The Hendersons were looking for a house, but back then (2005), there was
such a shortage in the market that houses sold immediately. Since Paula was in
real estate, she sent out flyers, and the Hendersons found a house in Clarkson
Woods. It was in bad shape, but they
loved the area. They bought it and spent
a year on renovations before moving in.
“Some time
after that, my sister said, ‘Hey!
Michael Schaerer is playing at Truffles.’ We knew him through family. His dad was a brain surgeon and our dad was a
general surgeon. Michael was in musicals
and performing arts. Laura said we
should see him. He was with another
girl. He said, ‘Why don’t you sing a
song with me?’ I told him I hadn’t sung in about 10 years. But I sang and he asked if I’d sing another,
then he said, ‘Why don’t you get us some gigs?’ He asked what songs I like to
sing, so I made a list. I sang several
songs with him at private parties.”
Some of
Liz’s favorite artists that helped fill that list included the likes of Linda
Ronstadt, Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Rait, Dolly Parton and Patsy Cline.
Laura’s
husband is Nick Cowlen. An interesting
sidelight is that Nick's dad owned Top of the Sevens Restaurant. Meanwhile,
Liz’s mom owned The Greek Gourmet. Now, the Cowlens are getting ready to open a
restaurant in Creve Coeur called Orzo Mediterranean. They just sold their very
successful food truck, Go Gyro Go to another Ladue musician, Kenny Hirsch.
Shortly thereafter, Liz’s friend Gigi recommended
they go to Villa Farotto in Chesterfield.
Gigi never heard Liz sing, but went up to Gus Buehner and said, ‘She’s a
hell of a singer! You got to let her
sing. She’s from Nashville.’ So, Liz sang a couple of songs.
“At the end
of the evening,” Liz said, “he told me, ‘What you and Michael do won’t fit in
because Villa Farotto had a lot of dancing. But he said, ‘Learn these 100
songs.’ Little by little, he called me, saying things like, ‘My singer didn’t
show up. Can you be here in 30 minutes?’
Before you knew it, I was singing 10 times a month! I did 100 gigs a year with
Gus for six years and with Leonardo Price for Encore Band for six years.”
After that,
Liz started seeking other musical connections. Sometime in 2016, Butch Wax
asked Liz to fill in, then again on New Year’s Eve, and at that point, she went
full-time with them.
“I had
seen Liz singing in another group, and we had a vacancy in Butch Wax,” group
founder Gene Ackmann said. “I called her
up because I was impressed with her, and asked her if she had any
interest. She said she did. I met Liz and her husband for dinner.
What’s interesting is we had a show coming up
in Iowa with the famous country singer Darius Rucker. One of the gals couldn’t
go, and we would be playing in an arena with 10,000 people watching. Liz wanted
to go, but couldn’t because she had another job already. I was impressed because she would forego this
because of a commitment she made.”
But Liz
wondered how she could go from 100 gigs with Encore to just 45 for Butch Wax? So, Ackmann asked her if she wanted to sing
with Garden Party, too. So, she also went part-time with them.
Liz said Garden
Party was a leap of faith. Then one of
its band members fell ill, so she was more of a regular member. It was she, Gene, Richie (Daniels) and
sometimes Sonny (McGraw) and Ed (Callison) for the last full year.
“She does a
great job with country, country rock and is so easy to work with!” Ackmann said
of Liz’s Garden Party inclusion. “We do a lot of Vince Gill, Linda Ronstadt,
Patsy Cline, Dolly Parton and music from so many others. Besides the fact that she’s a great singer
and great band mate, Liz is a wonderful friend with fantastic stage presence.
Liz is so personable and has made friends with so many folks.”
“It’s such
a joy and passion for me!” Liz said. “This
past weekend (October 18-20), we played four gigs in 36 hours, with 12 hours of
singing! Some of our fans went to every
gig. They follow us around. Now, I’m
helping both bands do 120 gigs this year!
We had two shows with Johnny Rivers—one at Chicago’s Ravinia outdoor
theater, and in July at Nashville’s Schermerhorn Center where their symphony
orchestra plays. I’ve gotten to travel a
lot with those two bands. It’s amazing to me! I’m so lucky and blessed!”
Liz is also
real estate partners with her mom with the Paula Exarhou Team. Their office is
in the Chesterfield/Wildwood area. By the time Liz and Jon moved back to St.
Louis from Nashville, Paula was one of the top agents at Coldwell Banker
Gundaker. Liz has been helping show
properties here for some 13 1/2 years.
She loves working with first time home buyers to share her expertise in
helping them make all the best buying decisions.
Lately, Liz
has had terrific success with sales in the Picardy Villas at Clayton and Kehrs
Mill with Larry Wilson in their new home division with McBride. So, on weekends, Liz is a singer; during the
week, she’s real estate.
Jon
Henderson is with Worldwide Technology at the Advanced Technology Center.
Daughter Sarah, soon to be 16, is acting, singing, dancing and playing guitar. Jon takes her around to so many events on the
weekends.
“My son is
a sophomore at (University of) Science and Technology in Rolla. Jonathan is big into computer science like
his father. He is his father’s son. Sarah is her mother’s daughter, but she’s so
much more talented. She’s been dancing
since she was three, has a beautiful voice and her acting is out of this world!
She has a beautiful future in music and theater, and dreams to be on Broadway. I have no doubts at all that she’ll make it!”
Meanwhile,
Butch Wax and the Hollywoods will be celebrating its 35th
anniversary sometime in 2020. Both the
band’s name and the brand of music changed in the early years, but both have
been consistent over recent decades.
“I was
always a big fan of oldies music,” Ackmann said. “Chaser was the name of our
group at the start. We did one-half Top
40 and one-half oldies. People would
say, ‘Hey! We want to hire you, but want
you to play all oldies.’ So, we needed
to come up with a retro band name. I
thought of Butch Wax after the hair dressing from the 1950s. My original thought was Butch Wax and the
Cadillacs. But one of my members at the
time said, ‘How about Hollywoods?’
“One time,
I was going though the airport in San Francisco wearing the band’s
sweatshirt. Someone came up to me, saw
the shirt and asked, ‘Are you in that band?’
It was like, Wow! We’re known by
people that far away? But he thought I was in Butch Wax and the Glass
Packs. Holy cow! I thought we were so unique!”
Through
those nearly 35 years, Butch Wax has opened up for and/or played with so many
notable people like Chuck Berry, Johnnie Johnson, Tammy Wynette, Bonnie Raitt
and Bruce Hornsby.
“It’s been
a fantastic thing!” Ackmann said. “We’re
so grateful for all our fans and also for people who sign up for our private
shows. I’m also thrilled that I’ve been friends with Johnny Rivers for about 15
years. Earlier this year, he called me
up and got us a show in Chicago. Liz and
Tandra (Williams) really showed him how talented they are! Then, this past July, we played at a sold out
show in Nashville plus after parties!
“I think the
thing I’m most proud of is playing these 35 years non-stop, and true to playing
oldies. We’ve been to so many places and
have met so many great people we wouldn’t have met otherwise. I’m also proud of our reputation! We are known to always give good,
professional shows, and ones where you can take your entire family to.”
But just
like George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” both Butch Wax and Garden Party
have gone out of their way to initiate the most selfless acts of kindness.
There have been so many throughout the Butch Wax existence, but two highly
notable ones over the past two years.
The most
moving story from the past several years occurred in the summer of 2018. It involved Bill Asher, one of the area’s top
oldies music fans who did a lot for veterans and was a DJ for a lot of
benefits.
“I really
got to know Bill about five years ago,” Ackmann said. “When we did the 4th of July show
(in 2018 at Manchester’s Schroeder Park), Bill made an oldies clock out of 45
records and presented it to me. He told me he only did that for his special
friends. I was really moved by it.
Bill later called me and said he wasn’t going
to our (upcoming) Des Peres Park concert because he and (girlfriend) Rose were
going to Branson or Nashville. I told
him be sure to go visit these places and to eat at these other places. He chose Branson. The last thing I said to
Bill was, ‘Have fun and safe travels.’"
Shortly
thereafter, much of the St. Louis music community was in shock to learn that
Asher and Rose Heupel Haman were among 17 who drowned in that accident on Table
Rock Lake when theor tourist boat went down in high winds associated with an
impending storm.
“When
they pulled Bill out of the lake, he was wearing
a Butch Wax shirt,” Liz said. “Gene gave the eulogy at his funeral. It was one of the most beautiful eulogies. Right
after that, at a concert, Bill’s family all
wanted us to sign that same shirt he was wearing, and they put it in a frame.”
“Bill was such
a big fan of Sh-Boom, Bob Kuban Band, Billy Peek and also Butch Wax,” Ackmann
said. “People from all those groups were
at the funeral. Butch Wax bass player Rob
Miller also performed. He was also one of
the founders of Sh Boom. They were
together for 35 years and reunited at the funeral to sing one of Bill's favorite
songs, ‘Just My Imagination.’ After time had passed, I came up with a song
about him (“DJ to the Stars”). Many of
his family members and closest friends were there when we performed at Rickman
Auditorium in Arnold. Listening to the
song was very emotional for them. But we’re so grateful for the ones like Bill
who’ve been to so many shows.”
Earlier
this year, John Scott, a close friend of Gene, had a massive stroke. He was on a hospital gurney and was given a
very low chance of survival. He could talk and move just a little. He recognized his wife, but didn’t remember
her name.
“I visited
him there and brought an acoustic guitar,” Ackmann said. “I’ve known him a long time but he didn’t
recognize me. I told him, ‘Take a look at this guitar. Why don’t you play it in
the key of G?’ I had him play one of his favorite songs, ‘Hello Mary Lou.’ We
all sang along and his family videotaped it.
His family was in tears. He
didn’t know the names of any of his own family members. I visited him there
three or four more times. “
This past July, Garden Party threw a benefit
for Scott and raised $10,000 to help pay for groceries and bills. One of the
auction items was playing golf with Theo Peoples, formerly of the Temptations
and Four Tops. Danny Liston (formerly of
Mama’s Pride) agreed to do a house concert and raised $1,700. According to Ackmann, John is kind of back on
his feet and recovering.
“Just a few
other thoughts...,” Liz began. “I think one of the things I appreciate most
about Butch Wax and the Hollywoods and Garden Party is the generosity that
exists among the members. We often perform in benefits to raise money for
different causes...Foodstock in Washington every year, Faust Park, and Veterans
Benefits. It's nice to be part of a group that is so generous not just with
their time, but with their talents. I feel very blessed to know and perform
with these amazing musicians and people!”
That’s
precisely what can happen when the lives of so many people touch one another. It’s indeed a wonderful life for Liz, all her
Butch Wax and Garden Party members, and fans alike!
