Mayor Paul Medany was front and center on the dais, with his council flanked to his left and right. The room was packed with other Deptford Township employees and Gloucester County dignitaries, school administrators, the police chief, fire department officials and emergency medical technicians, and board of education officials, too.
It was the first Monday of the New Year and everyone had come together for the annual reorganization council meeting at the municipal building. Without any new officials to swear in, the 30-minute meeting was a state-of-the-township of sorts, with Medany and his councilmen taking the opportunity to thank fellow township officials on a job well done in 2018.
But just before the meeting began, a 13-year-old boy had the chance to shine in front of a Who’s Who of major players in the township.
Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Tyler Emmons, an eighth-grader at Woodbury Junior-Senior High School, sang a stirring rendition of “God Bless America” for the second straight year at the reorganization meeting. The teenager with the golden voice was greeted by warm applause after he finished the song.
Tyler Emmons did a phenomenal job singing “God Bless America” at Deptford Township 2019 Reorganization Meeting. Mayor Medany and Council Members were amazed by his performance!
Posted by Deptford Township – Municipal on Monday, January 14, 2019
“Re-orgs are usually about your thoughts of the year, a recap, but I thought this would be cool,” Medany said. “I love to get kids involved, and we’re trying to teach about a lot of things, from patriotism, getting involved in government, those kinds of things. And we want people in the audience to realize that there are a lot of good kids out there, talented kids. Let’s recognize that and use it, let’s get them in front of the public and cultivate their talent.”
While the majority of the meeting was about patting fellow adults on the back for serving the community well, a junior high student was recognized, too.
“His mom is very proud of him, everyone is,” Medany said. “He’s just an extremely good singer.”
Emmons’ mom is Danielle Emmons, a Deptford native who is an officer on the Deptford Township Police Department. The elder Emmons said her son has been singing for as long as she can remember.
But his musical expertise goes beyond his voice.
“He does the high school choir, traveling choir, with Woodbury,” Danielle Emmons said. “He plays many instruments. The trumpet is his primary. But he taught himself the piano and the ukelele and now he’s working on the violin.”
The violin was a Christmas present. As was another instrument his mom could do without (only because it’s, well, loud).
“He’s testing an accordion,” Emmons said with a laugh.
Although he’s still eight months away from high school, Tyler Emmons is regularly recruited for the high school plays.
He had the lead in “High School Musical” and will take part shortly in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” With a strong musical background, Emmons is an easy pick when it comes time to casting parts.
But it’s not just his musical expertise that has impressed people throughout the township.
“He’s not just some cute kid getting up there singing ‘God Bless America,’” Medany said of Emmons’ complete lack of stage fright. “How many adults are scared to speak in public? And here’s this kid is singing from the mayor, council, all of these people, and he didn’t even stumble or hesitate. To me, that’s extremely impressive.”
Emmons still has an entire high school career ahead of him but he already has an impressive resume if he decides to seek a college scholarship to continue his music training. And if recruiters from “The Voice,” “America’s Got Talent” or “American Idol” come through South Jersey looking for kids to audition, Emmons could get an opportunity to sing in front of a much bigger crowd than the one at the municipal building on Jan. 7.
“I think it’s amazing,” Danielle Emmons said. “He’s very confident for such a young boy. I think it’s great.”
