David Palladino has a reputation for helping others. He is a Mason, and a Templar, and a history teacher at the Morris County School of Technology. He gives free bagpipe lessons and leads the Rampant Lion Pipe Band.
So it was not surprising that friends and family flocked to Morristown on Sunday to help David in his time of need.
The 43-year-old member of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Guests paid up to $200 apiece for a light supper with jazz by Rio Clemente, Elena Zabiyako and Steve Freeman. Alice Cutler and Meryl Carmel organized the benefit, which raised $15,000 to help David defray his expenses.
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It also came as no surprise that David, who has undergone grueling chemotherapy, would marshal his dwindling strength to encourage others:
“This is what I tell my students all the time,” he said. “As an individual, you are magnificent. Each person here has something spectacular about them.”
Video: Notes of Hope
The teacher gave everyone the assignment of mingling and meeting at least three people. Why?
“Because every person in this room is amazing. They have talent…each person has something special about them and I want you to experience that excellence as I do as well. Meet the church (people), meet the Templars, meet the Masons. Mix. Be happy.”
There were some moist eyes in the Great Hall of St. Peter’s when David closed with a hearty “Hallelujah” and added, “Now, let’s party!”
We took David’s challenge and met a bunch of people–including two Templars, Ed Brett and Jerry Price.
“We’re not Dan Brown,” said Jerry, referring to the The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown’s best-selling detective novel in which the Knights Templar help guard a secret about Jesus Christ.
“We’re Christians helping Christians at risk in the Holy Land and around the world. Unlike days of old, our weapon today is the pen and check. We fund-raise,” said Jerry, who teaches science in the Mountain Lakes school system.
Ed added: “We don’t do anything in the book. We don’t go traipsing through the Holy Land with claymores chopping off Muslim heads. Now we try to control things through the courts, the U.N. and diplomatic channels.”
