Quartet to surprise loved ones for a cause

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DARWIN WEIGEL The Fathers & Sons vocal quartet of Owings recently sang old favorites at the second annual Mardi Gras and Variety Show Feb. 1 at the Calvert Pines Senior Center. From left are Jeremy Reyno (tenor), Jason Leavitt (lead), Jon Leavitt (baritone) and David Reyno (bass). E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

David Reyno from Owings was the one that started the Fathers & Sons vocal quartet three years ago. Reyno, with his son Jeremy, and Fran Miller and his son Brad, they went around singing at senior centers, funerals and as singing Valentines. At that point, they were only singing for fun and not for hospice. After Brad dropped out, Reyno asked Jason Leavitt, who was in the Chesapeake Beach choir with him to join. The Chesapeake Beach Choir also sings for Hospice. Shortly after Fran Miller moved to West Virginia, Reyno asked Jeremy’s father, John, to join the quartet last year.

‘‘We have been singing together for two years,” John Leavitt of Owings said. ‘‘Last Valentine’s Day, we had two quartets and split the county in half. When we sing, we sing as a fundraiser for hospice.”

The idea to sing for a cause came about because both of Reyno’s parents went through hospice many years ago.

‘‘It’s a wonderful organization, with wonderful people who work there,” Reyno said. ‘‘We are very fortunate to have a hospice in Calvert County.” Any money that Reyno gets from the singing Valentine’s or any other job, all gets donated to hospice.

For a $50 donation to Calvert Hospice, a quartet will sing two songs and present a rose to loved ones at her or his workplace, at home, at a restaurant or other place of the donor’s choosing within Calvert County. Reyno plans to sing four Valentine’s Day songs including ‘‘Daddy’s Little Girl.”

‘‘We have about eight paid jobs this year and we are anticipating 25 to 30, that’s how much we had last year,” Reyno’s son Jeremy, also of Owings, said. ‘‘Besides that, we go to schools and organizations for free. The best part [about singing] is seeing the smiles on people’s faces.”

‘‘When we do the singing Valentines, sometimes people freeze up because they are so embarrassed,” Jason Leavitt of Owings said. ‘‘You get emotions that run that gamut, depending on what people do.”

The group will also go to nursing homes for free and area schools as well.

‘‘It’s real fun to sing in the schools,” Reyno said. ‘‘In Plum Point [school] they have this huge library and it has a spiral staircase. We went to sing to Brad Miller’s [former member of the quarter] wife and all these kids were lined up along the stair railing, going up three stories listening and eavesdropping to what was going on. We got a nice ovation at the end.”

During the previous Valentine’s Day the groups stopped at the Hermitage, and sang at Calvert Pines Senior Center in between jobs for free.

This year, there is also a women’s quartet that will sing for people on Valentine’s Day. Fathers & Sons ended up donating $1,200 to hospice from Valentine’s Day last year and hopes to do the same this year.

‘‘We always have fun when we go out and sing,” Reyno said. ‘‘We bring joy to other people.”