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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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Bits ‘n’ Pieces: Ridgefield teacher heart of fundraiser

By , Columbian staff writer
Published:

Hey, Meek! Have a heart, will ya?

Bob Meek, the theater and choir director at Ridgefield High School, has some kind of special gift for encouraging kids while also getting as silly as a kid himself. The result, admiring parent Rita Flatz said, is that everybody just calls him “Meek.” As in, “Hey, Meek!” No first name required.

He’s also got a special gift for easing talented wallflowers into the spotlight where they absolutely “blossom,” Flatz added. It’s largely thanks to Meek that her twin daughters won full scholarships to study theater at Grand Canyon University, she said.

That’s after Meek encouraged one of them not to stay offstage just because her twin was already on it. “You are doing yourself a discredit,” he told the girl, according to Flatz. “Don’t give up something you’re good at. I want you in my choir.” It was a turning point in her life, Flatz said.

Friends and fans are hoping to lavish on Meek a special gift of their own. That’s because Meek, who first started noticing some odd symptoms a couple of years ago, has been on the waiting list for a heart transplant for a while — and earlier this week, according to his wife, Liza, his doctors admitted him to OHSU Hospital and bumped him up to highest status on the wait list. That wasn’t unexpected, she said.

“The best guess is he caught a virus and it attacked his heart,” said Liza Meek. “It’s such a crazy thing, you go in and they do this test. We thought maybe he would have to have surgery to correct a valve. For the doctors to say no, you need a heart transplant — it’s surreal.” The stress on his heart has not been good for his kidneys and liver, she added. And, of course, the whole situation has not been good for the Meeks’ bank account.

Bob Meek is 39. The couple have three children.

Flatz was the one who suggested a fitting fundraiser: a benefit performance by fans, colleagues and former students of the teacher with one name. There will be two opera singers, including one who’s performed with the Metropolitan Opera in New York; musical theater and dance; instrumental offerings and a couple of student rock bands, too. A few who can’t make it in person will be offering performances on video — including Meek’s Broadway-star friend Louis Hobson, singing something from “Les Miserables.”

“We are so excited about the caliber of performers,” Liza said.

“The Heart Beats” variety show is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7, at Ridgefield High School, 2630 S. Hillhurst Road. Tickets are $15 for students and $20 for adults online through Feb. 6, or $20 and $25 at the door. Advance tickets are available at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-heart-beats-variety-show-tickets-15166798302?aff=eac2.

The money will be managed by the National Foundation for Transplants, www.transplants.org. If you can’t make it to the show, you can still search on Meek’s name to find him in the list and make a donation.

According to Karen Werstein, another Meek friend who happens to work for Donate Life Northwest, there are approximately 130,000 people on organ-transplant waiting lists nationally, and more than 3,000 in the Pacific Northwest. Each day, she said, 21 people die in the U.S. waiting for an organ transplant. Learn more at www.donatelifenw.org.


Bits ‘n’ Pieces appears Fridays and Saturdays. If you have a story you’d like to share, email bits@columbian.com.

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