American Sandy Putney and rocker Burton Cummings share a moment after his concert in North Bay Saturday night. Photo by Jeff Turl.
A woman from a small town in New York, whose dream it was to see Burton Cummings live, had that wish come true over the Summer in the Park Festival weekend.
Sandy Putney noticed in a Facebook group called Burton Cummings' Faithful that tickets were just $25, something she could afford. But she had no money for travel and expenses to see the rock star perform in North Bay.
See original story: American woman: Her struggle to see Burton Cummings:
http://www.baytoday.ca/content/news/details.asp?c=80415
She had degenerative disc disease, and to top it off, her husband died suddenly, three years ago.
Then up stepped a total stranger, Carrie Scheidegger-Richardson from Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, who wired Putney $300. Because she often travels to see Cummings live, she wanted to make sure someone else would have that pleasure also.
And so on Saturday night, Sandy Putney from Lisbon New York, could hardly believe she was sitting in a North Bay park watching her idol.
And then Cummings introduced his song "Stand Tall" --- a tune that Putney had drawn strength from over years of struggles.
He mentioned her, and that he would be seeing her after the show.
Her jaw dropped, and she burst into tears. "It's me he's talking about", she excitedly told those around her as Cummings broke into "Stand Tall" dedicating it to her and others that drew strength from his composition.
Putney waited nervously after the show for her meeting with Cummings, and it was more than she hoped for.
The Canadian rock legend spent 20 minutes with her, exchanging stories of life in the fast lane, always patient, always kind.
"I'm always very moved when I read these stories," Cummings told BayToday.
"I'm not one of these non-feeling guys. I was very emotional when I heard that, it was very emotional for me.
"When you write a song that becomes a hit record you never realize the trickle down effect. Stand Tall is one of those songs, and I've heard from thousands of people through the years that it had really gotten them through some tough times and that was one thing that struck me about Sandy.
"I said, here it is again. That song has touched another heart and when someone loses somebody or they go through a trauma, Stand Tall seems to help people, and I feel very, very good about that, that I've done something and put positive energy into the universe."
Cummings has a history of reaching out to fans, getting on Facebook three or four nights a week.
"I have a huge following online, and they like it because it's actually me."
But for Sandy Putney, meeting him live and being treated so well by him --- well, she said she wouldn't need to drive home, she'd be "flying".
"It was so much better than anything I expected," she exclaimed."To finally see him in person was just amazing.
"When he announced he would be meeting someone after the show and I realized it was me, I lost it. I cried."
"When he was singing Stand Tall, it made me realize that, here we go again, that I'm stronger than I think I am sometimes. Sometimes I don't have much faith in how strong I am, and when I hear that song I can dig a little deeper and hang on a little longer."
See Stand Tall performed here:
