Young fellow serenade

He makes them blush. He makes them giggle. But more importantly, the high school senior's Neil Diamond impression makes them happy.

[Times photo: Mike Pease] Frances Miller, a Park Place resident, is all smiles as Justin Wolfe sings a Neil Diamond song during a recent performance at the retirement home. Once a month the Sickles High School senior performs at the home where his grandmother, Germaine Wolfe, lives.

By JACKIE RIPLEY, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times,
published December 14, 2001

CITRUS PARK -- Cracklin' Rosie get on board; it's Friday afternoon and Justin Wolfe is in the house.

The Sickles High School senior, with his 1,000-watt personality and penchant for all things Neil Diamond, is belting out one song after another, bringing smiles, giggles and blushes to an audience of mostly 80-to 90-year-old women at the Park Place retirement home in Carrollwood Village.

"I've listened to him every time and wouldn't miss it," says 88-year-old Virginia Kelly, whose face turns as pink as her sweater when Wolfe kneels at her feet and starts talking "honey sweet" from Diamond's Forever in Blue Jeans.

This Dec. 7 appearance is the fifth for the Citrus Park teen who admits being a devotee of Neil Diamond might be "a little weird for my age."

But it all started innocently enough.

"This song is a must," Wolfe, 17, says as he segues into Sweet Caroline. "This is the song that me and my grandma fell in love with together and got it all started."

That was a few years ago, when Germaine Wolfe was living with Wolfe and his family. He recalls coming downstairs one morning and finding his grandmother depressed.

"So I walked into the video closet, picked up a Neil Diamond Greatest Hits live video and popped it into the VCR," he says.

"The first song was America and I remember sitting there thinking, this isn't too bad. I liked the way he looked when he's doing his stuff."

After a while his grandmother began smiling, a little more with each selection, and then Sweet Caroline came on.

"We both fell in love with the song," Wolfe says. "It made her so happy and brought her out of her bad mood."

Wolfe says that's what prompted him to emulate the pop star, at first only for his grandmother, then for family and friends, and now every month or so for a packed room at Park Place, where his grandmother now lives.

"I don't want to brag," Wolfe says, "but I put smiles on their faces."

Sometimes he does more than that: "The last time I was there someone grabbed my rear end."

No doubt, this Neil Diamond changeling possesses some potent magic.

"He was wonderful," said 84-year-old Margaret Spangler after his visit last week. "He is too good and just keeps getting better."

About 100 residents and the home's geriatric chihuahua took in the concert. "When he kisses these old women, they just melt," said 80-year-old Emily Gilchrist, who said she has known Wolfe since he was a baby. It was a 90-minute love fest that at one point found Wolfe easing down next to 88-year-old Dorothea Young as he crooned, "Look at what you've done. Why you've become a grown-up girl," from Diamond's September Morn.

Mrs. Young later remarked, "He was marvelous. He was sincere. He loves people."

Wolfe, who has received an academic scholarship and will attend University of South Florida next year, said entertaining is most likely not in his professional future. But "I want to touch people anyway I can."

"Whatever I do in life," Wolfe said, "I will not be happy unless I'm making other people happy."

- Jackie Ripley can be reached at (813) 269-5308.

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