Bailey, member of Vic Ferrari Band, now losing weight to help youth with cancer
MENASHA — "Honor God, Love Family, Help Others." Those words, printed on a church sign Michael Bailey once saw, sum up his philosophy of life.
Bailey is choir director at St. Mary Central High School in Neenah. A native of Chilton who now lives in High Cliff with his wife and daughter, Bailey is probably best known in area as the lead singer and founder of the Vic Ferrari Band.
Michael Bailey, a choir director at St. Mary Central High School in Neenah, uses his musical gifts to benefit others. Now he is losing weight to raise money for Luke Peters, a first grader battling brain cancer. (Amanda Lauer | For The Compas)
"I started the band, choir and weekly liturgies there," he said. In 2000, Bailey started teaching at St. Mary Central High School.
Vic Ferrari does up to 90 gigs a year, which Bailey works around his teaching schedule. He knows that many times his students, his daughter's classmates, or parents are in the audience, so the band puts on a family-friendly show.
A portion of the performances Vic Ferrari does each year are fund-raisers. "When we first started it was a lot more weddings and private parties," he said. "Then we started playing, probably in the early '90s, a lot more publicly."
Bailey is part owner of Waverly Beach, a restaurant in Menasha. He said having a venue for performances makes it easier to sponsor fund-raisers. "My wife had breast cancer, so we did a breast cancer awareness show last year in October." Last May the band held a fund-raiser for a cancer victim. "We were able to raise a lot of money for that family," said Bailey.
One of Bailey's latest fund-raisers not only involves the band, but himself.
The band will be performing next April at Waverly Beach to benefit Luke Peters, a first-grader in the Twin Cities Catholic Education System, who was diagnosed in 2008 with a brain tumor.
Bailey's personal involvement is a weight-loss challenge.
"I'm taking pledges for Luke and losing weight," he explained. When he began the challenge last June, he weighed 489 pounds. In less than four months he lost 48 pounds with the help of personal trainer Isabelle Wells of Anytime Fitness in Darboy and by cooking with recipes provided by GetYourLeanOn.com.
Fans can follow Bailey's progress at www.LukePeters.org.
Bailey knows this challenge will not only benefit Luke, but himself. "I'm like any other parent. I want to walk my kid up the aisle, I want to retire with my wife, go see parts of the world that we haven't seen - and that's a lot," said Bailey. "I can't take care of my family if I'm carrying extra weight. Plus, if I can help other people lose weight, that's great, and if I can help this little kid, that's even better."
Fans of Vic Ferrari and Bailey's own band mates are inspired by his efforts.
"Some people have said this is the one thing that has finally given them the motivation to quit feeling sorry for themselves," said Bailey. "The one thing I really dig about it is there is a general caring about what goes on in the band. It's a great family to be around."
The fund-raiser is going to take a while, admitted Bailey. "I'm not dropping pounds by starving myself. I'm going to do it because it is hard. I get up at six in the morning and I lift weights and walk and run for a half hour and then make my way to school. I work with my trainer four to five days a week."
Bailey hopes his example will inspire others to give of their time and talents.
"Many times a lot of us don't want to reach out and I think that's a bad thing because right now we need to take care of our own countrymen," he said. "That's why I'm doing this thing. I like helping others. I like to see people get ahead because I've had that same opportunity where people have helped me out," explained Bailey. "We've been blessed beyond belief. I wake up in the morning and make music; at night when I go home I make music. Not too bad. I got a pretty fair shake here."
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