Volunteers polish the bronze stars on Phila.'s Walk of Fame

On Tuesday morning, between Walnut and Spruce Streets, the stars were aligned.

The Philadelphia Music Alliance, Avenue of the Arts Inc., and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 8 teamed up for Making the Stars Shine, an unofficial start to the 2014-15 cultural season in Philadelphia.

Volunteers from all three organizations and the Kimmel Center cleaned and shined all 121 plaques on the Walk of Fame down South Broad Street. Each plaque took up to an hour and a half to clean.

"I feel very honored to be polishing Marian Anderson's plaque," Jean Kristie, 61, a member of the Friends of the Avenue of the Arts, said of the singer and civil rights advocate. "She was such a wonderful, brave, and beautiful person."

The Walk of Fame was established in 1986 by the Philadelphia Music Alliance to bring recognition to the city's entertainment standouts. Twenty-eight years later, with very few polishes in between, some of the plaques had lost their luster.

The singer and songwriter Chubby Checker paced Broad Street in search of his name in bronze. Pedestrians yelled "Chubby!" in the background, some even doing his famous twist.

"It's a tough city," said Checker. "If you make it in New York and if you make it in L.A., it's not a big deal, but to make it in Philly is a big deal."

When Checker recorded his 1960 hit, "The Twist," he said, he had no idea it would get to No. 1 on the Billboard charts. In 1987, a star bearing his name was set into the Walk of Fame, across the street from where the single was recorded.

Honorees like the songwriter Kenny Gamble, the drummer Earl Young, and the radio personality Jerry Blavat were also in attendance.

"It's wonderful that the artists of Philadelphia are honored not just by Philadelphians but the peers that came before them," said the Geator, who has attended every induction ceremony for the Walk and was himself honored with a star in 1993.

For Teddy Pendergrass II, it was a chance to remember his father, the soul singer, who died in 2010. The younger Pendergrass remembered how excited he was when his father was inducted in 1989.

"I think about the work Dad did over the years, and now he's here with industry greats," said Pendergrass. "It makes me proud."

Fred Stein, 63, was on hands and knees polishing the dedication plaque at the head of the Walk of Fame. Stein, who lives on Broad Street, has witnessed 68 of the induction ceremonies and refuses to let the legends get lost in the pavement.

"I walk this street every day," said Stein. "Most tourists don't understand the depth and the breadth of musical heritage in Philadelphia."

Paul Beideman, CEO and president of the Avenue of the Arts, said that Making the Stars Shine is "good for the public environment as well as part of our responsibility to make the Avenue of the Arts inviting and friendly."

Michael Barnes, president of the IATSE local, said that were it not for the artists, stagehands would not have their jobs. He said people had been pointing out family members commemorated on the walk and showing their appreciation for the volunteers' efforts.

After hours of scrubbing and polishing, the bronze emblems began to attract the gaze of pedestrians. Buffed and polished, the names live on - a sentiment shared by the honorees.

"Everybody represented on these plaques are family," said Blavat. "All family."