They’ve got Hi Hopes

Young Chang

To see, say and feel what they otherwise can’t, Hi Hopes band members

make music.

When Paul Kuehn sings, he imagines a pretty woman walking down the

street and croons as if he knows what it’s like to have left his heart in

San Francisco. Kuehn is blind but through songs sees in his head what he

normally can’t.

Ron Langloe can’t speak because of a ruptured voice box and has had

more than 100 surgeries on his disfigured face. He communicates all the

statements that are pent up inside through his electric guitar,

accordion, keyboard, harmonichord, cello, banjo, drums, ukulele, pipe

organ and a host of other instruments.

Gary Ahearn has Prader-Willi Syndrome, a disorder characterized by

mental retardation and lack of muscle tone. But with his face down and

hands steady, he plays the keyboard naturally, pensively.

As members of the seven-member band Hi Hopes, part of Hope

University’s music and arts program in Anaheim for adults with

developmental disabilities, Kuehn, Langloe and Ahearn pass their days

playing beautiful music because they’re good, because they need to pay

their way through school and because they lack skills in other areas.

Hi Hopes members perform throughout the country, on television and

locally, including churches and schools for the disabled. Tuesday,

they’ll perform at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa.

Onlookers walk away touched, said group director Steven Noguera.

Fellow students at Hope watch with awed stares and crooked smiles.

Michelle Guzijan, who attends the school because she has social problems

and would get upset when people approached her, likes to sit in the

corner and make background sounds for the songs during the band’s

practice. She cheers too.

“They hear it all the time and they never tire of it,” said Hope

University director Janice Reyes.

More than half the band members play at least six instruments. Some

excel in musical genres ranging from swing to rock ‘n’ roll. Kuehn has

perfect pitch.

Music is their life-- it’s what they’re best at--and several members

are considered savants, Reyes said.

Doris Walker, who is retired and lives in Modesto, started the

university in 1979 after teaching music to Kuehn and others at the High

Hopes High School for disabled students in Buena Park.

Hope University now has 30 adults, with ages ranging from 22 to 55.

Most never really graduate. Students’ disabilities include Prader-Willi

Syndrome, mutism, blindness and undiagnosed conditions.

Students come here after graduating from high school to use their

talents rather than work in factories packaging commercial items, Reyes

said.

Richard Groves, one of the original Hi Hopes members, has speech

difficulties. He first joined the group playing the marimba. Over the

years, the band decided not to incorporate the instrument into their

sound, but now he’s a background singer.

But he works hard and cares about performing.

All the band members do, especially before an appearance. For the past

few weeks, they’ve put in long days for their upcoming Tuesday gig, often

practicing for six hours straight.

The repertoire includes “Music of the Night,” from “Phantom of the

Opera,” “I Believe I Can Fly,” “Impossible Dream” from the Broadway show

“Man of La Mancha,” “Blue Moon” and “Up on the Roof.”

During practice, the band warms up with oldies by Roy Orbison and Tony

Bennett.

When Noguera suggests they try “Pretty Woman,” Langloe plays his

electric guitar. For “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” he plays the

harmonichord. For “Let Me Be There,” his fingers work the keyboard.

Langloe, 47, was never trained to play his 14 instruments. He can hear

a song and echo it immediately, by ear. He can’t remain idle and usually

picks up the guitar and strums while waiting for other band members to

finish lunch.

Through Reyes, who interprets for some of the members, Langloe said he

likes all kinds of music and musical styles.

“My favorites are everything,” he said.

Sometimes, when he walks through Boysen Park in Anaheim and finds the

fixture group of men who always play their accordions there, he

accompanies them.

Every Thursday he plays at the Anaheim Farmer’s Market and people pass

by, dropping change in his accordion case.

And when the Native American United Methodist Church, where Hope is

located, needs a pianist at the last minute, Langloe offers his talents.

Five years ago someone donated their extra frequent flier mileage to

Langloe after watching him perform on the Channel 11 News. He went to

Amsterdam and played the street organ there. Now he wants to go to

Orlando--to Walt Disney World-- and is saving up the money he gets from

turning in bottles and cans to the local recycling center.

After Tuesday’s performance, Langloe will stay at the fair because he

said he likes the merry-go-round.

Kuehn, 48, loves ‘60s singer Gordon Lightfoot. His favorite song is

“The Impossible Dream.” He never saw the Broadway show and doesn’t know

what it’s about, but he sings it like he has dreamed.

Kuehn can hear almost any song and tell you who composed it and when.

He plays the drums and keyboard too.

He can’t see his audience, but says they love when he and the band

perform.

“They cheer, and there’s lots of applause,” Kuehn said.

WHAT: The Hi Hopes

WHEN: 9:30 a.m. to noon Tuesday

WHERE: Meadows Stage at the Orange County Fair, 88 Fair Drive, Costa

Mesa

HOW MUCH: Free with fair admission

PHONE: (714) 708-3247