What better job could there be than making children smile? Lee and Sandy Paley did just that last week during a visit to Ratushniak Elementary School in Maidstone. The Paleys, who were the stars of the popular Canadian children's television program Ballooner Landing, took several years off after the show and are now back on the road entertaining children.
They have written and recorded more than 200 songs and have 10 CDs on the market. They returned to the road last July touring libraries across Alberta and Saskatchewan and have performed approximately 200 shows since then. They are currently touring in Western Canada visiting schools and communities.
Their songs combine child-friendly lyrics with actions and messages. While some are just for fun songs, others including EARS or Environmental Awareness Rangers and Garbage is No Laughing Matter encourage the audience to take care of the planet. They took some time to speak to the audience about taking care of their own bodies and each other as well.
The children listened intently answering questions and singing, jumping and clapping along. A few of the staff members remember a visit to the school so long ago the duo was selling their songs on vinyl records. Their song One Green Jelly Bean is a favourite of local students and they jumped at the chance to sing it with the couple who created it.
Lee and Sandy Paley are reaching a whole new generation from when they started entertaining children 25 years ago and have kept up with the times utilizing iTunes and YouTube to reach out to a more computer savvy group of young people.
