Thank you. I want to thank Councilman Jones for introducing this ordinance, and really thank the folks who came. As we in Council attempt to refurbish and reclaim some of our landmarks, it is important to pay tribute to folks who are representative of those landmarks. And I want us not to just do the renaming and not ensure that what we do at the Georgie Woods Concert Hall, or whatever we end up calling it at the end of the day, that we really figure out, all of us who are here today, how we give DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 him annual tribute. The name is one thing; ensuring that the young people who enter that hall understand. If you look at some of the work that the Robin Hood Dell East does in bringing young people, let's make sure that we pay good tribute by ensuring that every young person and every person that walks into that hall has an opportunity to meet Georgie Woods, the Georgie Woods that all of us know. So I want to challenge ourselves to look at that. Creating landmarks in the community are extremely important. I'm refurbishing some parks and we're having discussions around renaming, and I couldn't think of someone better than Mr. Georgie Woods to pay tribute to. So thank you all for coming, and thank you, Councilman Jones. (Applause.)
Thank you. Any others comments from DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 Council? Councilman Jones.
Yes. I just want to -- I'd like to clarify the amendment so that everyone is clear. That the land shall be still the Robin Hood Dell. The facility, the structure over it, we hope to rename, with the passage, the Georgie Woods Entertainment Center. It's important to maintain the history of the Dell area, which is a location, and the structure, which is the Georgie Woods Entertainment Center. Other commitments that we are going to do -- and Councilwoman Sanchez is right, I will not walk into a dump named the Georgie Woods Entertainment Center. This Commissioner has a capital plan that includes new roof, new sound systems, so that when we walk in there with guests from around the world, we'll be proud to say this was named after Georgie Woods. So we are committed. My DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 colleagues have stated on the record that they are committed to helping the friends of the Dell, who had to carry this on their shoulders many years when it wasn't easy to do, to move this project capital-wise forward. Because just naming it something is one thing; having it represent our history is quite another. So a part of this -- and I think that was the spirit of the Commissioner's comments, that don't waste an opportunity to keep a treasure valued in our community. And we intend to honor that, Commissioner, and we intend to be a partnership to do that. The other thing is that it is tradition that it takes ten years to rename something, and that we've already lived through seven of those years. So on the 15th of June -- June 18th, there will be a celebration where we rename it officially for the public. It will be renamed once the ordinance is passed out DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 of Committee and by the general body, but it will give us enough time, enough time to raise some money too to make it the kind of palace that Georgie Woods deserves. So with that, that's what I have to say. I'm proud of people who came out and testified, and I see some people who just was in deep thought out there, and I know them and their spirit as well. So I thank you all for coming out to support this worthwhile renaming.
One thing I'd like to say, if you can, as it relates to education, I think that's a great idea. Sonny Hopson, the Mighty Burner, has just written a book. It went five star. It's all on the Internet. It's doing well, and Georgie Woods actually helped make sure that happened. He writes about it in his book. So getting that information out there. This DVD has a lot of information historically that I think should tie in in the opening of every DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 show at the Dell.
Well, one of the things, Madam Chair -- and this is something the Commissioner brought up as well and the Hood family -- that we are going to designate an area, a plaza, to those individuals with plaques that have contributed to the Dell and may also do the mural that talks about -- because there are other people who have played a role. It's almost like a relay and people passing the baton. We hope to, as stewards of public resources, pass it on to the next generation. And I'd like for people to remember who these great people are, and many of them are still alive and among us. But understand that our history, if we don't memorialize it, who will? And I don't want to ever, ever, ever again have interns walk by a mural of Georgie Woods and look up and say, Who is that guy? Never again. (Applause.)
I want to give you DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 kudos and your staff, because I wouldn't have been here if your staff hadn't called me. Mr. Spivey called me. I got a thousand things to do, working, bobbing, but your staff did a terrific job. The community is aware of it. Don't think the community is not aware of it. The community is aware of it. So we thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. We're going to have the next panel come up. Mr. Ronald Armour, Mr. David Williams and Mr. Jerry Lee Barrett. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Good afternoon, Madam President, members of Council. Indeed it is an honor to certainly be here this morning.
Thank you for being here. Can we have you introduce yourself. And we'll ask DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 everyone to introduce themselves for the record and then we'll take your testimony.
Yes, ma'am. My name is Ronald Armour, A-R-M-O-U-R. I'm a retired City worker and a community activist. I'm glad to be able to give something back to the City.
Hi. I'm Jerry Lee Barrett. I have my own production company. I'm currently producing a film that I've written called The Iron Thorn, and we're negotiating with MGM and Bob Engelman. And I produced the Georgie Woods Show in the '80s.
Good morning, good people, Chairman. I'm a comedian, Dave the Rave. I'm a retired police officer years in the City of 22 Philadelphia, and I'm wearing this red 23 suit because Georgie Woods was the first 24 man I seen at the Uptown in a red suit. 25 And I ain't never seen nobody in a red DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 suit in my life. (Applause.)
And he was the only man I ever seen to wear a red suit that looked good in it. And I wore this suit as Georgie Woods' -- I was one of his pallbearers. I spoke to him the day he died. He was my pinochle partner for years in a row, and we loved getting 11 head rubs. And I couldn't have found a 12 better man. 13 I spoke to him the day he died. 14 He called me up in the morning and he 15 said, What you doing, Dave? I said, I'm just cooking breakfast, man. He said, I'll call you right back. I said, No, you can talk to me. But I never got to talk to him, because he died that day. So Georgie Woods is one of the best friends I think in my lifetime. Well, I'm just introducing DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 myself right now. I'm sorry about that. I got carried away. I got carried away. Yes. I got carried away. I'll get back to that. I'm sorry about that.
I just wanted to say that my name is Sabir Muhammad and I'm the founder -- I was the founder of the Georgie Woods Potato Chips. Many of us remember the Georgie Woods Potato Chips. The only thing I just wanted to say was, real quickly, that when I went to Georgie Woods and just asked Georgie Woods, Look, George, I'd like to put a potato chip in your name, Georgie, knowing his character, knowing his personality, George said, Yeah, okay, right, sure. You could do it if you want, and just walked on away. I came back to Georgie Woods in about 30 days with a picture of him on the potato chip bag. It was the first time in the history of Philadelphia that a person of color was ever put on a potato chip bag. DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 (Applause.)
Georgie Woods had the courage and the strength. When people was saying a potato chip bag with a picture of a black man on it will never sell, that you had to have a picture of a farm, a generic bag, Georgie Woods said, Sabir, go with it. That's the type of courage and strength that he had. And we went with it, and it wasn't a person during the time of that history who did not eat and like those Georgie Woods Potato Chips. (Applause.)
Madam President, I want to start off by saying that, quoting from the words of Martin Luther King, Dr. King said that truth forevermore on the scaffold. Even though that scaffold sways, truth will endure the earth forever. I want to talk about Georgie Woods and the Band Kept Playing. As the DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 band kept playing, Georgie Woods kept on doing work as a public servant. The band kept playing, he kept on taking on issues that affect people lives back then. The same type of issues that people are faced with today, Georgie Woods tackled those issues back then. This is why it's very important that this Council and Administration makes sure that every Councilman is on board with this initiative. The reason why that they want to be on board with this, there are givers and there are great givers in life. And in this life, it is a wonderful thing to be elected officer and to serve. It is a wonderful thing to be a public servant and serve. You serve. You see the results of it. You see how people loved him around this City, many, many others. Georgie was a true ambassador to the world. Blessed are the givers. Blessed are this giver that have given so much to Philadelphia. DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 But I made this statement a little earlier saying that there are some things money cannot buy. No. He's already in the land book of life, but into the book of life of giving of wonderful service. His legacy will read for years to come, whether you name the building. Wherever you walk in Philadelphia, Broad Street, when they come up there, they're going to have to talk about this is the Uptown where Georgie Woods lived. This is the City where Georgie Woods lived. Don Cornelius, Don Cornelius, before they went to see Don Cornelius, they got on the train at 30th Street going to California, but they got their ticket here in Philadelphia. Rightfully so, I say to this Council, you have an opportunity making history in the year 2012. See, this Council have been on record to do everything that they can do to make sure that this man and the resources, there DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 are some things money can't buy. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
Thank you. Thank you for your testimony. Okay. All right.
Thank you very much for that. Truthfully, Council, in all sincerity, when I was a young man, I moved to Philadelphia in 1951 and I went to the Uptown Theatre when I was 9 years old. I went to the Uptown Theatre and I seen a man named Georgie Woods, and I stayed in all these shows for 50 cent. I stayed and I seen all of these entertainers, from Myles Maybilly (ph) to anybody that came up to the Uptown. I seen them all. Never in my lifetime, in my wildest dream that I thought when I grew up of seeing a person that I admired so much would wind up being my best friend in life. For the last 25 years, me and DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 Georgie Woods, we did everything together. We played cards every Sunday for years in a row. He was my 5 pinochle partner. Georgie Woods told me 6 everything that has to be told under the 7 sun about his life and all that he was. 8 So I think it would be a great 9 honor for Philadelphia to not only -- I 10 wanted the Uptown to be named after 11 Georgie Woods, because I thought that 12 would be the proper place for it to be, 13 but since y'all said the Robin Hood Dell 14 East, and I used -- matter of fact, Georgie Woods let me do one of his last shows when I was at the Uptown Wave. He let me go out and bring on the Dells and I brought on Evelyn "Champagne" King. And the Dells looked at me and said, Who is this guy Dave the Rave? He don't know me. Georgie Woods said, Go out there, man, and bring them on. I mean, this is the kind of guy that -- he was one of the best DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 down-to-earth persons I ever met in my life. I would walk down 52nd Street, he had a better reputation than the President. I mean, the people, from all little kids, would come up -- I was totally amazed one day. We walked down 52nd Street. And these are the people of the community. Little kids was coming up, they said, Mr. Woods, how you doing? He would say, How you doing? Everybody knew Georgie Woods. And I just -- I said, Georgie Woods, you know one thing? You got more prestige than the President got. I mean, this is a guy anywhere you go in Philadelphia, we go to Mount Airy, South Philly. I went down Jersey. We traveled down Jersey. Anywhere you go, people knew Georgie Woods, over Lawnside. I mean, he's an icon beyond an icon. This would be, I think, one of the best -- you talking about a person that represent Philadelphia? You DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 couldn't find a better person nowhere in this city than Georgie Woods. Put a name up there for Georgie Woods. Georgie Woods would be looking down right now and he ain't -- I know Georgie Woods. Georgie Woods, he's a quiet guy. He ain't going to talk too much about himself. He's the guy that -- he just -- people loved this man. Like I said, everyone here. This man was loved. He didn't have too many enemies. And I'll tell you in leaving, you know what hurt Georgie Woods' heart, broke his heart? He told me what broke his heart. He said they took the last little thing was the Dell Center, and he said that's what broke his heart. Took the only thing. He was an entertainer, and they snatched that contract, the only thing he had left, that oldie but goody shows, and he loved them shows. He only came to Philadelphia one time, and he said, I will come back just to do the shows for the people of Philadelphia. DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 And when they took that last show from him, that's what Georgie Woods died from. He died from a broken heart, that the people in Philadelphia, that he said all the things that he did for this city, helped everybody, that he would get stabbed in the back in his later part of his life. So...
That's my dear friend. I know he's smiling on me now. I came from Delaware.
Thank you very much. I would hope you do the best you can. If I got to chip in, you say it cost a million dollars, or what? I mean, it ain't funny. I mean, what you said, $15 million?
Well, I think that's easy to get, for three years. I DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 think I would be one to spearhead that campaign to make sure -- I think we can get $10 million for Georgie Woods. I'm quite sure.
Before you leave, if you want to hang around, and the other gentlemen as well, if anybody has questions from the panel.
I don't think that's a great amount of money to get for a man like that.
Chairwoman Cindy Bass and distinguished panel, once again I'm Jerry Lee Barrett. I produced the Georgie Woods' Show in the '80s and I was with Georgie Woods when Wilson Goode, Sr. was elected, and we all know where we were on that day, I am sure. But I was with Georgie Woods, and we went all around town on that day. We were with Wilson Goode briefly in his hotel room 25 when he was elected. I think we all DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 remember where we were on that important day. And I do remember that above many things that Georgie and I went through. But, again, I've written a screenplay that I am producing and we're discussing it with MGM and Bob Engelman. Bob Engelman produced Blade and other many films. And I intend to dedicate the film to my father, Leonard Barrett, and to Georgie Woods when it is produced, and it's a very exciting time. So I just want to -- I'll remind everybody once again about the entertainment that Georgie Woods brought to not just Philadelphia, but the world. Rhythm and blues as we take it -- we apparently take it for granted here in Philadelphia because we're all so super soulful, but rhythm and blues took over the world as a result of people like Georgie Woods, the world, and it is the most imitated music to date. So Georgie Woods was certainly a world leader. There will be no Dick Clark, DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 none of that, without Georgie Woods. So I want to thank you. All the testimony was fantastic. And thank you very much.
Okay. Is there anyone else who would like to make a statement, testify? Yes, sir. (Witnesses approached witness table.)
Thank you for your patience. If you could be brief, we'll be voting soon. Thank you.
I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity, Madam Councilwoman and rest of the Council. I had the pleasure of meeting Georgie with DiscoveryWorks Global 888.557.8650 www.dw-global.com 3/5/12 - PARKS - BILL 120018/RES. 120045 my mouth.