Many years ago, while living in California, where the weather was almost always sunny, I started my endeavor of performing singing telegrams.  My good friend Marilyn, had a balloon business and asked me if I would deliver balloon bouquets on Valentine’s Day. She also asked if I would do a singing telegram for each delivery, and I did.

I performed about a dozen of them all in one day, traveling on the freeway with a car full of helium balloons in my little Ford Escort, barely able to see in my rear-view and side mirrors.  It was so much fun though. I went all over the place singing my Valentine deliveries at offices, in banks, at a factory and at homes.

Each time I made a delivery, it was a surprise, which made it all the more fun.  I especially remember going into a factory, walking about a half mile in heels carrying my balloons, all the while being watched by all the workers I passed by.  The whole day was really a wonderful experience and I wanted to do it again.

A year or so later, my daughter wanted to go on a trip to Washington D.C. with her girl scout troop.  The fundraisers they did paid for a significant portion of the cost, but the girls had to pay for the rest of it.  Father’s Day was coming up, so, I thought that a good way to make the money was to do singing telegrams for the men we knew through our church. (My daughter was also a good singer.)  

My husband was in a fraternal organization in which many of the men belonged, and so we had a list to draw from.  We decided that we would make brownies as a gift for each delivery of the telegram. The idea went over big and we had the whole day booked for our brownie deliveries. We easily earned the money she needed for the trip. It was a big success!

Since then, I have continued to do them for people, this time with a specific song that I choose for the occasion.  I pick out a particular, familiar song and then rewrite it with words to fit the person and or event. I have done it like this ever since.  They have almost always been a surprise and have never disappointed. It’s a pretty rare thing to find an experience that one never tires of doing.

I just wrote one today and realized that I should start doing them as a little business.  So if you live close to me, (and you know who you are) give me a call if you are interested.