by Leslie Manselle
Summer 2021
(photos by Maurice D. Robertson)

You know, sometimes you meet people who just strike you as interesting, real interesting. You want to know more about them. Well, this person· is real humble, confident, quiet; low key, low profile; very giving, very generous. He’s older and kind of private, so no google. I couldn’t look him up.

What I do know about him is … He is married – long term. Attends church regularly – He’s a good person. Successful businessman – He’ll take an old house and make it new again. He’ll take a new house and make it the way you want it to be. He’s a Restorer. Just like how an alchemist works, he will take a tin hut and transmute it into a golden mansion. He is a Designer. He will take something plain or ugly and devise a way to fashion it into a ‘work of art’.

And, he has donated a lot of money, time and effort to this 61-year-old cultural organization, where we both volunteer. He calls it ‘his baby’ though he and his wife have two sons of their own and those two sons each have two kids of their own. You see, his family is important to him. He stood up, he stayed, and he made sure that his kids were educated and became successful, like him. This man came from a strong background of entrepreneurship and advocates for quality people who want to contribute, give back.

He’s says that he is “The Last Man Standing” – He is the last original member to still be active on the Board of Directors. In fact, he was appointed ‘President Emeritus’, honorary president for ever. And he has- already given 60 years. He has funded the organization when money was tight. He has even taken all of us volunteers out to dinner. He has done more to keep the organization going than anyone else in its history. I’m sure of that.

Many years ago, he went to visit the Founder of the said organization, in the hospital shortly before the Founder had passed away. He promised him that the organization would survive as long as he was alive. He has kept that promise and has helped to develop an outstanding Board of Directors and some wonderful volunteers, like me, who together with all those others through all the years, are responsible for the success and longevity of the organization, his baby.

This man is a ChangeMaker and has rolled with the punches through all the changes that have come in over a half century, plus. He is the Hero of the Summer of 2021. He is the man that all the brothers out there need to emulate. And the man all the sisters want to marry. He is handsome, stable and dependable. You know, this man deserves recognition, applause, a trophy and a dinner honoring him.

Today, I lift up Mr. Fred Ward of the Hartford Jazz Society, the oldest, continuously running Jazz organization in the United States of America. Fred says that he loves Jazz and that it is part of our culture. He says he understands the struggle of the musician and that the struggle relates to the history of Black People. Mr. Ward feels that Jazz is important and is a classic African American art form.

You know, Fred Ward is a renaissance man: successful in life, successful in love, successful in work and a giver to the community. He is an example for young men and women to follow. I am most impressed by the way he presents himself: his professionalism, the way he speaks, his manners, his suave, his cool, his calm. You know, he’s my kind of guy.

Leslie Manselle
Leslie Manselle Arts

 

Editor’s note: I contacted Leslie Manselle to get her permission to publish this essay on the Hartford Jazz Society website. In her reply, she added additional background to this story that I am adding as a postscript to The Fred Ward Story.

Leslie Manselle: I wrote this piece as a participant in the Hartford Public Library’s summer programming for adults in 2021. I took the Storytelling class with Master Storyteller Andre Keitt. The assignment was to write about a Hartford Hero. I chose Fred Ward because he is the bridge from yesteryear to today with the Hartford Jazz Society… He is an example of a strong Black man for today’s young people to look up to and model… He is, most of all, a loving and responsible husband and father… You can see why I chose Fred. He’s my hero. He reminds me of my dad and other dads in the community who stayed and played the role well, giving their all with heart and soul.