A Teacher's Teacher

(Mr. Chuck Broadhurst, Saddle Brook Choir Director from 1964-1994)

Seven years ago, the town of Saddle Brook (the town I grew up in) suffered a great loss. Today, I keep this wonderful man in my memory. He was a master educator and an true angel on earth. And his legacy lives on and keeps him immortal in our own way. He may not have been famous to the world, for for over thirty years, he is famous to the many people in came in contact with.

Chuck Broadhurst came to work as the choir director at Saddle Brook High School in 1964 with about eight or nine kids in his class. A few years later, that choir grew to be about eighty or ninety kids in the choir. The concerts he would produce were not only featuring the full choir at this time but would feature the choir in groups such as the Boys Glee Club, the Girls Glee club, and a select group of skilled singers he dubbed the name the Choraleers. And he didn't just teach your regular Jingle Bells and Rudolph but such beautiful and professional arrangements of music such as The Holly and the Ivy, Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light, and Bring a Torch Jeannette Isabella.

The Choraleers were like his ambassadors to the school and would learn not only more difficult pieces of music but able to learn pieces quickly. They would travel around town to the nursing homes, hotels, picnics and other events in the town. He also began the Spring Musical plays at the high school which were done in the most absolute professional manner. Many teachers and students were beyond impressed at the talent Mr. Broadhurst produced and how Broadway-like the productions were. To this day, Saddle Brook High School will never EVER do the play Fiddler on the Roof because the 1978 production cannot be TOUCHED!

But one of he most longest lasting legacies of Mr. Broadhurst, and one of his favorite traditions remains at each holiday concert every December. At the end of each Christmas concert, Mr. Broadhurst would end the concert with the same three songs: Carol of the Bells, Do You Hear What I Hear?, and the Hallelujah Chorus. But before the finale began, Mr. Broadhurst would invite any, ANY alumni in the audience to join the choir to sing. Students from all years would return and look so forward to coming up and singing under Mr. B's direction just one more time. It is such a phenomenal tradition that continues to this day.

Everyone loved Mr. Broadhurst. He had a wonderful sense of humor, a kind smile, a wonderful personality, and a laugh that if I closed my ears tightly, I could still hear that deep gut laugh that put a smile on so many faces. When Mr. Broadhurst passed away, it was a sad day indeed. However, I will never forget witnessing the greatest tribute to a teacher I have ever seen. At the wake, several, SEVERAL former students from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s all came. The alumni all stood in front of his casket, arranged themselves in their spots, and they sang his most favorite song Brother James Air, as if they practiced it every day. They sounded so beautiful and is something I will never forget. It is a song I find myself constantly singing when I feel happy and at peace.

When Mr. Broadhurst retired, an alumnus named Mrs. Cindy Verost, class of 1975, became the new choir director and continued many of Mr. Broadhurst's traditions. When I had her as a teacher when I was in choir and the Choraleers, the greatest memories I had were when we sang the finale of the Christmas concerts, and my mother, my aunts, uncles, and graduated friends of mine all came up to sing with us. Mr. Broadhurst must have the biggest smile on his face when he looks down and sees us still getting together for this tradition. As the holidays approach, I look so forward to returning to my alma mater to sing with the alumni as I do every year. It is almost like my own way to keeping his legacy alive, as well as the wonderful school spirit that Mrs. Verost keeps alive too.

It only seemed fitting that the auditorium at Saddle Brook High School, the place he spent most of his time, was dedicated and renamed the Charles Broadhurst Memorial Auditorium at the 2004 Holiday Concert. Another reunion of alumni from past years.

They don't make people like Mr. Broadhurst. It was a privilege and an honor to have known him. It was even MORE of a privilege to have seen him in action, teaching my mother and family members YEARS after they graduated through music. I always wanted to be a teacher like Mr. Broadhurst, a master at what he did, loved by all he came in contact with, and a model citizen for all. To the greatest role model I know, thank your Mr. Broadhurst for all you have done for all the students you taught, for the town of Saddle Brook that still loves you to this day, to the colleagues you taught with, and for being the wonderful person you were. We love you and we miss you!

Yours in service,
ANDREW TRENTO