Dedicating the auditorium that Harry Dengler ‘built’
Memories of a retired music teacher’s impact on the Neshaminy School District continue to echo in the minds of students and administrators of the school.
Neshaminy School District will hold a dedication ceremony of the Neshaminy Maple Point Middle School auditorium in honor of Harry M. Dengler Jr., a former music teacher and choir director at the district from 1959 to 1990.
Dengler died in April 2003 at the age of 65, but the memory of his achievements as the district’s first music teacher at Maple Point remains.
At the dedication ceremony, school administrators and current and former music students will pay tribute to Dengler, and students will sing.
The dedication ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at Neshaminy Maple Point Middle School, located at 2250 Langhorne-Yardley Road in Langhorne.
The event is free and open to the community.
Neshaminy superintendent Dr. Lou Muenker said Dengler had a good relationship with schoolteachers and students and was dedicated to his profession.
“He really touched the lives of students and the community during his tenure at Neshaminy School District,” Muenker said.
During his time with the district, Dengler organized an exchange program with Junior Singers Oyten of Germany that allowed students to sing in concerts in Belgium, Germany and Holland. Students also sang for former President Carter at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Washington D.C., for King Karl XVI in Sweden and in Bermuda.
Dengler was also a driving force behind the schools’ musicals and the school’s summer stock music program.
The school board voted to name the auditorium in honor of Dengler last spring and will name the center The Harry M. Dengler Jr. Performing Arts Center.
“The district has enjoyed a rich fine arts program in both music and art for many years, and that tradition continues today,” Muenker said.
Jeff Jenkins, a 1978 Neshaminy graduate, was a percussionist in the concert choir and four different school plays headed by Dengler.
Through Jenkins’ experience under Dengler’s instruction, his choir sang in Europe, Bermuda, Washington, D.C., and at community concerts at retirement homes, elementary schools and churches.
“He proved to us on a weekly basis that he could get the best out of us as he possibly could as a group. He put together an award-winning group of singers that accomplished some really wonderful things,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins, of Richboro, said Dengler had a very dynamic personality that had a lasting impact on students. The former student spoke to the school board on Dengler’s behalf to show support for the decision.
“He was very driven, he was a great family man, someone to admire and someone that you wanted to be like and be around,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins was always amazed at Dengler’s ability to fit so much in his day. Dengler helped inspire students to both become better people and achieve more in their lives, he said.
“What amazed me about Harry was how in the world he was able to do it all in the same 24-hour day we all have. To this day I don’t understand how he did everything he did and did it so well. With Harry everything was first-class, which showed us anything is possible,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins, who is pleased with the school district’s decision to name the auditorium for Dengler, said much like the old Yankees stadium was nicknamed “the house that Ruth built,” the auditorium is Dengler’s house.
“The impact he made on the kids that sang was tremendous. There is no greater honor or tribute that would be more appropriate than naming the auditorium in his name,” Jenkins said.
Neshaminy School District will hold a dedication ceremony of the Neshaminy Maple Point Middle School auditorium in honor of Harry M. Dengler Jr., a former music teacher and choir director at the district from 1959 to 1990.
Dengler died in April 2003 at the age of 65, but the memory of his achievements as the district’s first music teacher at Maple Point remains.
At the dedication ceremony, school administrators and current and former music students will pay tribute to Dengler, and students will sing.
The dedication ceremony is scheduled for Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at Neshaminy Maple Point Middle School, located at 2250 Langhorne-Yardley Road in Langhorne.
The event is free and open to the community.
Neshaminy superintendent Dr. Lou Muenker said Dengler had a good relationship with schoolteachers and students and was dedicated to his profession.
“He really touched the lives of students and the community during his tenure at Neshaminy School District,” Muenker said.
During his time with the district, Dengler organized an exchange program with Junior Singers Oyten of Germany that allowed students to sing in concerts in Belgium, Germany and Holland. Students also sang for former President Carter at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Washington D.C., for King Karl XVI in Sweden and in Bermuda.
Dengler was also a driving force behind the schools’ musicals and the school’s summer stock music program.
The school board voted to name the auditorium in honor of Dengler last spring and will name the center The Harry M. Dengler Jr. Performing Arts Center.
“The district has enjoyed a rich fine arts program in both music and art for many years, and that tradition continues today,” Muenker said.
Jeff Jenkins, a 1978 Neshaminy graduate, was a percussionist in the concert choir and four different school plays headed by Dengler.
Through Jenkins’ experience under Dengler’s instruction, his choir sang in Europe, Bermuda, Washington, D.C., and at community concerts at retirement homes, elementary schools and churches.
“He proved to us on a weekly basis that he could get the best out of us as he possibly could as a group. He put together an award-winning group of singers that accomplished some really wonderful things,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins, of Richboro, said Dengler had a very dynamic personality that had a lasting impact on students. The former student spoke to the school board on Dengler’s behalf to show support for the decision.
“He was very driven, he was a great family man, someone to admire and someone that you wanted to be like and be around,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins was always amazed at Dengler’s ability to fit so much in his day. Dengler helped inspire students to both become better people and achieve more in their lives, he said.
“What amazed me about Harry was how in the world he was able to do it all in the same 24-hour day we all have. To this day I don’t understand how he did everything he did and did it so well. With Harry everything was first-class, which showed us anything is possible,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins, who is pleased with the school district’s decision to name the auditorium for Dengler, said much like the old Yankees stadium was nicknamed “the house that Ruth built,” the auditorium is Dengler’s house.
“The impact he made on the kids that sang was tremendous. There is no greater honor or tribute that would be more appropriate than naming the auditorium in his name,” Jenkins said.
