Project DREW returns to stage for first time since pandemic started

AVON LAKE — A program that has been providing a form of catharsis to veterans for about four years made a triumphant return to the stage Sunday afternoon at Barnegie Hall in Avon Lake. Project DREW workshops, presented by Music on a Mission, pair veterans with unforgettable life stories alongside songwriters with the expertise to transform those stories into full-length tunes. On Sunday, four songwriters took the stage to perform those newly written pieces in front of the veterans and their loved ones. Sunday's performance was the first Project DREW performance at the converted barn venue since the coronavirus pandemic put a halt to live music. Marilyn Zeidner, who founded Music on a Mission, took the stage to welcome the audience and praise the songwriters who participate. "Their insight and their talent and compassion is what makes this program work," she said. "They connect with a veteran one on one, and the stories are transmitted heart to heart and soul to soul." The veterans applauded, smiled and appeared to be struck by emotion as their songs were played for the audience Sunday. Air Force veteran Tim Reed gave a standing ovation after hearing his song "Don't Mean Nothin'" performed by Charlie Wiener, who had to pause at one point after choking up singing the lyrics about Reed's military service. Songwriter Tim Blake performed "Dust" after working with Air Force veteran Betty Kimbro, who enlisted one year after the base she was stationed at was integrated. The song itself dealt with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and how afterwards, everyone was the same color — "the color of dust." Other songs dealt with how one cannot know what war is like without having lived through it. Each veteran received a wooden plaque with their lyrics inside. The Project DREW name is an acronym for "Delivering Restorative Energy to our Warriors," but it is also named in honor of Drew Ferguson, a Special Forces veteran who completed combat tours in Afghanistan. He died by suicide in 2017. Drew Ferguson's brother Brian Ferguson said there was much more to Drew than his military service, although he was proud of it and loved what he did. "My brother was deeply artistic and he loved music. He loved the creative arts in general as a poet and a painter," said Brian Ferguson. Drew Ferguson's talent was put on full display Sunday when the program concluded with a full band performance of a song he wrote, titled "I Know A Place." Brian Ferguson said he wishes his brother could have had something like the workshop while he was still here. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.