The World According to Janie G.

Hi there. I guess a little introduction might be in order.

My name is Jane Dantona Grogan. I have lived in Lynbrook since I was seven years old and there are two things I have always wanted to do: sing and write. We’ll talk about the singing later. As far as the writing goes, I have fooled around here and there and something inside me said it might be time to try again. So here we go.

I am the oldest of seven children, and my family was the original creator of "American Idol" — sort of. We could have called it "Dantona Idol." We didn’t know it then, we just thought we were having family fun, or cheap entertainment.

After dinner, we would sit around the dining room table and take turns performing. The dining room was set up so that you could be in the kitchen and the light would be shining over you. The audience, my family, would be sitting at the table. So, on any given night, usually a weekend, the show went on.

I was the oldest so I went first. I sang Judy Garland's Somewhere over the Rainbow. My microphone of choice was a kitchen fork and boy, could I belt it out. Michael was next. He was the "knock knock" joke king and he usually told the same jokes over and over. We laughed anyway. Sal was third and he played a plastic guitar, which we called a "gitty gitty," because the little ones could not pronounce "guitar." And Ce Ce was next. All she could do was try to play with the pots and pans. The other three siblings were either sitting in high chairs, infant seats, or not born yet.

So let’s fast-forward 40 to 45 five years; Michael is still telling jokes — some are funny, some are not. Sal plays the guitar in a southern rock band in his spare time, and frequently appears at the East Rockaway Fishery; and Ce Ce is still trying to play with pots and pans. She has not yet learned how to cook — we love you, Ce Ce. My other three brothers are all out of highchairs and infant seats and successful in their own right.

And me, well, I’ve got a steady gig. I’m still singing in the kitchen. The location has changed and so has the time. I’ve switched from Whitehall Street and have been appearing on Green Avenue for the past 32 years. Instead of performing after dinner, I usually am singing on Saturday morning after returning from King Kullen while I unpack the groceries. And yes, I still use a fork when I sing. The version is different, it’s Il Divo, "Over the Rainbow." And with time brings maturity, so I’m old enough to know, as Dolly Parton would say, “If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain."

The music now comes out of my iPod instead of the old record player that we use to use.
I have had one guest appearance, at the Knights of Columbus' Karaoke Night, but that was after one cosmopolitan. Every once in a while I do get a little crazy and take my show on the road — upstairs, that is — and sing while I put clean sheets on the bed. Alicia Keys' “New York State of Mind” and Lady Antebellum's “Need You Now” are my verses of choice. I have to use a pencil for a microphone because forks are not readily available upstairs.

The reason for the current songs; I hope soon to audition for American Idol now that Simon Cowell has left the show. I wouldn’t dare have gone on when he was there. He was way to mean for me to try. So soon, I’ll be off with my fork, pencil and dream.

In closing, I leave you with this thought, which I have embellished on a bit from Fred Rogers:

"Look outside; it really is a beautiful day in our neighborhood."