The "I Now Have A New Hero In My Life" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Talking with an old friend whom I taught school with for years.  We were talking about another good friend, Dennis Denenberg, who was an administrator in the Manheim Township School District for quite a few years.  Everyone loved Dennis and his upbeat personality and how he could relate to the children in the school district.  Then we talked about some of the special things that Dennis has done since leaving the school district.  

Dennis Denenberg's book on American Heroes.

I have written in my blog a few times about Dennis, but since my last story Dennis has added one more special note to his list of accomplishments.  You may recall that Dennis co-authored the book "50 American Heroes Every Kid Should Meet" as well as spoke to my grandson's elementary school class about being a hero.  Dennis also established the student lounge at Millersville University and dedicated the room to honor his Mom and Dad (Hilda and David Denenberg) who he said had kept their vow to never say an unkind word to one another in front of their children.  

Denny made a visit to my grandson Caden's elementary school
class to talk about being a Hero. LDub, Caden and Dennis.

Dr. Dennis Denenberg was a Professor of Elementary & Early Childhood Education after leaving Manheim Township in the late 1980s.  Well, something new popped up in the local paper about Dennis a few weeks ago.  Seems as a child he loved to play with toy soldiers and over 60 years ago received a set of Revolutionary War toy soldiers for a Christmas gift.  It was that one gift that sparked his lifetime interest in history.  

I purchased books for my three grandkids
and Dennis autographed each one for me.

I too received a similar set of toy soldiers for a Christmas gift, but my brother and the neighborhood kids made sure they didn't last as long as Denny's toy set did.  His collection was so pristine that he recently donated it to the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia in hopes of inspiring the same passion in future generations of children.  Dennis said that his parents were of average means and therefore he and his sister didn't get a lot of things so what you did get you took good care of it.  He also had a Western set of cowboys and Indians, a French Foreign Legion set and an outer space set that he played with.  Those three sets didn't last like his Revolutionary War set did.  He figured it would have gone for close to $1,000 if he had put it on sale at auction.  The set had about 75 molded plastic figures, including Continental soldiers and British Redcoats in various poses such as on horseback, kneeling with rifle drawn, waving a flag or playing a drum.  

This photo shows Dennis donating his toy soldier set to the
Museum of the American Revolution's registrar, Michelle
Moskal.  The set is in the box in front of them.
Photograph from the Museum of the American Revolution.

There was also a tin building and toy cannons.  As I read the article it all came back to me.  The exact same set I had!  He said when he played the Patriots usually won, but for me, they always won.  He figured he wasn't going to play with them anymore so he decided it best to gift it to the Museum of the American Revolution to keep it in Pennsylvania.  He said the staff at the museum were very gracious to receive such a gift.  And to make the gift even more memorable to the Museum, the vice-president of collections said he had been given the exact same set as Dennis had just donated.   Denny said he hoped his childhood toy set will someday kindle in children the same passion he has for the early days of America.  "Winning the Revolution War was a miracle," he said.  My only wish is that I had taken better care of my childhood toys so I could give them to my grandkids, but that's not ever going to happen.  What a great guy and friend.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.