A Chair for Alice

Alice Netzen

A Chair for Alice
Terri Marie
© 2005

All she wants is a chair.
A seat.
The woman who has stood up for so many causes, events and people in
our community, deserves to sit down....
In her own chair.
It will be “Alice’s Chair.”
And no one will be prouder to sit there than Alice Netzen.

Tall...very blond...always smiling and beautifully dressed. A striking lady.
What you might not know about Alice is that she is a hero.

She wanted to give something BIG to San Clemente, probably the biggest gift
of her long, beautiful life...an Amphitheater.

It’s been her dream for years. Since the time she performed in “La Cristianita Pageant,” an outdoor performance done years ago in the hills of San Clemente
about the first baptism by Father Serra. He christened the Indian baby girl, Cristianita, “little Christian.”

Alice is no stranger to baptisms. Many of them were her own. Everywhere she
traveled she stopped at churches and joined them. “I think I’ve been baptized so much it isn’t even funny,” she said. The granddaddy of her baptisms occurred in Israel, in the same river where Jesus was baptized.

In the Cristianita pageant, Alice played the part of Sheba. Queen Sheba? No. The witch Sheba. “I was the bad, nasty one who was trying to take the baby away,”
Alice said. The witch personae worked well for Elizabeth Montgomery.
Samantha certainly charmed us. Yes, our glamorous Alice is still bewitching.

After decades of performing heroically, a light glows from within her as Alice
does what she came to do.... entertain us. Light up hearts with song. Entertainment enlightens the world, not endarkens it. We have enough of that. When you see
a great performer you are seeing a human stretched to the outer limits, giving 100%, completely open, vulnerable, sharing the best of who they are. Alice does that.
What a gift! Thank you Alice. Don’t you think she deserves a chair?

She’s played roles from Sister Mary Margaretta in “Sound of Music” to a stripper in “Gypsy.” Less than ten years shy of a century, the woman is turning up at beauty pageants, and singing her heart out at local events. Gracious, gives real hugs, a warehouse of smiles stored inside. You can still hear her sing, standing of course, at Molly Blooms every Thursday night.

Only heaven has a record of how many songs she has sung. “Whenever I hear a song,
I can sing it. I remember the words. Isn’t that funny?” Her favorite song is ‘As Long as He Needs Me.’ “For years and years I used to sing it to my sweetie, Swede” (her husband who passed away). She’s raised money for countless causes in San Clemente. Now all she asks for is a chair.

A Chair. Part of chairity from a chairished dream and a charitable heart.

Yes, she’s in the paper again. I know she was recently in an article. She was even Citizen of the Week. But now she had to go and donate for a superb cause and only request a little chair. So here she is again. She went and became a hero all over again.

On October 3rd 2005, Alice became the first Life Member of AFTA, The Association
For the Amphitheater. She was one of the initial group that decided it was time. Time to bring some singing and entertainment to the hills of San Clemente. It was her donation that somehow sparked the fire AFTA needed. Everything started to move when Alice gave her gift, when she wanted a chair.

A chair is something real. The reports and plans that AFTA needed were nonphysical. The chair is an actual thing that will go in those hills. It changed the Ampitheater to the physical. So why did she do it? She knows that we have a chance to reach out and touch the lives of the future. Someday someone else will be sitting in her chair. That makes Alice happy. "I wanted to do something more. I have such a short time to live, I wanted to see it being used now when I’m here. Because actually if
I have ten years I’d be lucky.”

“Someone told her “Don’t worry Alice, you’ll have a chair.” She told them “It better be a darn good chair!” That’s right Alice. We won’t put you in the back row. In fact, her first chair will be a lawn chair on the grass. “I’m glad we’re going to start with everybody bringing their blankets and chairs to sit on the lawn and watch the first performances.”

Like the story, The Gift of the Magi, Alice’s check came with the following words; “I want to see this thing built. I don’t think I’ll get to see it in my lifetime, but I want to give $500 towards building the Amphitheater.” The gift shocked our board meeting. We kicked into action. We have to get Alice her chair. We had to create a new category for this generous gift. We made her our first Life Member.

Alice could have spent $500 on new clothes, or on a nice trip, but she choose to spend it on San Clemente’s legacy, on a chair that she will sit in for a short while. Then others will take that seat. They will watch magic happen on the stage and smile...because of Alice.

I’ve known her one-year. She has grown even more beautiful in that short time. I first met Alice when she helped entertainer, Jerry Velasco, at the Casa Romantica. As he neared the end of his performance, Alice kept saying as quietly as she could, “Jerry. Jerry.” He continued to play. She called again, “Jerry.” No response. Finally, she said “JERRY!” He stopped, and Alice said softly, “Jerry...play ‘Rhapsody in Blue.’” Thank God for Alice. That persistence deserves a chair.

If she hadn’t coaxed Jerry into playing such a beautiful song, I wouldn’t have been inspired to write one of my favorite songs, “Casa Romantica” (I was going to call it "Rhapsody in Pink," but that just didn’t work).

Inspiration is Alice’s gift. She shows us what a full-of-life, loving-every-moment, woman of the community can be. If you’re in your 20’s and see a woman working out at Curves, you’re likely to be side by side this amazing lady. We need more examples of fine, strong, beautiful women with rich lives. Their hearts filled with memories and good friends. Always room for another. Sparkling eyes. Eyes of joy that desire to look upon the stages and talent of the future.

She has a lot to look forward to. On February 14, 2014, her 100th birthday (not that far away the way time is flying), she plans to walk the planks. I mean the ones lining the pier. She’s been collecting a gang who want to come along. Put it on your calendar.

What does she still want to do? “Sing. That’s my love. And it keeps my lungs healthy. I think it makes other people happy too. Without love and interest in other people, what else is there?”

And she still wants to travel. “I’ve go to start traveling now, because it’s getting to the point that I’ll get too old.”

But the biggest thing she’s learned from her life is “love for people.” She wants to hear people walking down Del Mar saying, “There’s a performance Saturday night. Are you going?” She wants others to get involved at a place built to experience and deliver the talent. She’s enthralled by the talent right here in San Clemente. She talks about the high school. “Have you seen some of their performances? I’ve got news for you. There’s Broadway right here! You can’t believe what those young people do. I’m praying for a big success soon for our amphitheater. I’m hoping God will help us through this because it’s going to be a big job. The minute it gets started, I think everyone’s going to help. I think it’s going to happen maybe faster than we think.”

Can we give her a hand and help her sit down? The smiling, grand lady of San Clemente. She deserves the best seat in the house – or at least in our hills. Let’s give Alice that chair and the thing she wishes for most, other chairs surrounding hers, awaiting and enjoying great performances. When that first curtain rises in San Clemente’s hills, let us see Alice’s face bright under the sparkling San Clemente stars...beaming in her chair.

9 Decades of Advice from the Grand Lady

• Age is No Excuse
One of her favorite roles was that of Electra, the stripper in “Gypsy.” Now she could have turned the part down. She was 62 years old at the time. The other strippers were 20 and 21. But Alice said, “Sure, that’d be fun!” She said she had her work cut out for her. The reward was when the papers said, “If you want to see
a good performance you’ll have to go see Alice.” She looked great. Life is a long line that doesn’t have to be slant downward.

• Listen to your mother
Alice was offered a job in Vaudeville. Initially, she was afraid to take it,
knowing that television was on it’s way in, Vaudeville on it’s way out. She asked her mother for advice, especially since the reputation of girls in Vaudeville wasn’t a good one - even though she knew that wasn’t true. Her mother said, “Alice go for it. You’ll be part of history.”

• Take Unexpected Opportunities as the Gifts They Are
A boyfriend auditioning for a radio program coaxed her unexpectedly into auditioning too. She took the chance and beat out 648 other competitors to have her own radio program during the dinner hour.

• Think ahead by thinking of those behind you.
She’s thinking especially about the San Clemente teens, and those who will be teenagers someday. To those yet to come, you may not know Alice, but she is thinking of you. “I see for the future that the city will be rewarded by getting an amphitheater because they have to go so far to see anything that is that big.”

• Do What You Love. It Will Serve You and Others a Lifetime“We had a family that loved music. Instead of bringing candy home on payday like all the daddies used to do, my father brought us a record every week. We had a Victrola. We couldn’t wait to see what we were going to get.” That developed into a lifetime of song for Alice.

• For Your Children“Have them sing with a group. Sing in church. It starts there.” And it will keep their little lungs healthy. Not to mention their hearts.

• Pray.
“God doesn’t always answer your prayers but he sure is there when you need him, I’ll tell you. I do nothing without him.”


Terri Marie is the author of “Be The Hero of Your Own Game.” She would love to hear from you at terrimarie@herobookonline.com. Share your own hero stories or recommend someone for this Hero of the Month at www.heroesamongus.blogspot.com