[Times photo: Krystal Kinnunen]
Jack Brickles – performing with wife Gail – still plays about 200 gigs a year professionally. But the parties at his mobile home park are strictly for fun.

By TERRI D. REEVES
© St. Petersburg Times,
published December 10, 2001

PALM HARBOR -- In his heyday, musician Jack Brickles shared the stage with rock and country stars such as Conway Twitty, Barbara Mandrell, Jerry Lee Lewis and Crystal Gayle.

As he grew older, he moved to Florida and found his niche playing at mobile home communities, RV parks and flea markets. For a decade, the 62-year-old Brickles has been the weekend entertainer at the Oldsmar Flea Market, playing pop favorites such as Make the World Go Away, Bad Bad Leroy Brown and After the Lovin'.

Although he still books about 200 gigs a year, Brickles' days of performing with the big names are probably gone. But his love for entertaining is not.

That is never more evident than at the holiday party that Brickles throws every year for his neighbors at Lake Tarpon Mobile Home Village, his home for the past four years.

This year's party was Wednesday night, when he transformed the park's clubhouse into a setting for his Sweetheart Christmas, the fourth party he has organized at the park. All 300 seats sold out in 30 minutes, with all proceeds going to the party.

"I refuse to play (for money) at parks where I live," Brickles said. "But I've made a good living playing for seniors, and I wanted to give something back."

Sweetheart Christmas honored the marriages of residents at Lake Tarpon Village. They dined, danced, and witnessed a staged shotgun wedding of the "10-months pregnant" Glenda Walden, a 53-year-old park resident. Brickles and his wife, Gail, 54, sang and played a medley of Christmas, country and old-time favorites. He played guitar; she was on the keyboard.

"Jack is a great guy who works like hell and won't do something unless its perfect," said Cliff Raab, 73, one of 14 committee members who helped put on the party. "He pulls people out of the doldrums, gives them something to do and a place to go and makes sure they never feel alone."

Earlier this year, Brickles organized a "bye-bye snowbird" ice cream social in March and a Labor Day potato bake.

He says he spends a year planning for each year's Christmas party. He dreams up the theme, organizes committee members, plans the menu, writes the skits and buys door prizes. And he prefers to make his own decorations.

This year, for instance, he made by hand the 470 hearts that dangled from the clubhouse ceiling, cutting out the cardboard with tin snips, painting the hearts red and gluing white lace around the edges. He also designed a giant matching heart to serve as a frame for couples getting their pictures taken.

Brickles collected 140 wedding pictures from the residents, had them enlarged to 8-by-10 sizes, and labeled and displayed them at the party along with a clock that turned backward from 2001 to 1927.

During the party, residents gathered around the pictures to reminisce.

Wilma Cook, 69, was wearing the same dress she wore 20 years ago during her wedding to her second husband, Earl.

Resident Shirley Battistella admired the wedding picture of neighbor Midge Westerfelder, 92.

"She is pretty now but was absolutely gorgeous then," she said.

Of Brickles, she said: "He is such a worker, always doing things for the park and doing it with a lot of class."

The oldest wedding photo, dated Oct. 25, 1922, belonged to John Mercurio and his late wife, Angelino. Mercurio, 100 -- who acknowledges drinking beer, wine and smoking cigars in his younger years -- was at the party dancing with his daughter-in-law.

"Jack is younger, ambitious and keeps everybody moving," Mercurio said.

Brickles' tradition of throwing a holiday party began four years ago, when he paid for a wine and pizza bash, complete with a belly dancer and door prizes.

"Everyone wanted me to have another, but I couldn't," he said. "It cost a ton of money."

His solution was to charge a reasonable amount for tickets, $7 this year, and use any proceeds for future parties. He hopes that after paying this year's expenses, he will have enough money to bring in a big-name band next year.

This year, as he and his wife played White Christmas, some of the women got up to dance.

"We can come here, feel safe, dance and have fun," Nina Varnell said. "This is great for widows."

Olga Porter was there dancing with her husband of 55 years.

"Jack is quite an asset for the park," she said. "We really appreciate him and his wife and the music they bring."

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