200 John Lennon Fans Make N.Y. Pilgrimage

NEW YORK —  Hundreds of John Lennon devotees made their annual pilgrimage to Central Park on Friday to sing and reminisce about the former Beatle 20 years after he was shot to death by an obsessed fan.

By early afternoon, more than 200 fans were listening to his music in Strawberry Fields, a section of the park that was renamed for the Beatles hit after Lennon was gunned down by Mark David Chapman outside his apartment building on the night of Dec. 8, 1980.

Some of those in the park were not even born when Lennon was murdered. Others were baby boomers who had watched the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in the ‘60s.

“John’s spirit is in this park,” said Dave Reahle, 46, who drove overnight from Warren, Ohio. “It’s been a lifelong dream to come up here.”

Lennon’s music wafted through Strawberry Fields.

Around a mosaic with the word “imagine,” some fans left handwritten notes while others took turns keeping candles lighted in the snow and wind. Some of the candles were arranged to spell “John.”

Each year since Lennon’s death, fans have gathered in the park to remember him and his message of peace.

Fran Power, 34, flew in from Lennon’s hometown of Liverpool, England. Although there were ceremonies held in Liverpool, Power said he thought this was the year for him to make the pilgrimage to New York.

“Out of respect,” he said. “The music is timeless. It’s jumped generations.”

Fans hoped to keep the vigil going into today, but Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani refused to waive the park’s 1 a.m. curfew, despite a personal appeal from the lord mayor of Liverpool.

In Cleveland, Lennon fans packed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to sign a card to the ex-Beatle’s widow and to stare--with red eyes and heavy hearts--at a collection of memorabilia from his life.

Among the items on display were Lennon’s bloodstained glasses from the night he was shot and a sealed bag from Roosevelt Hospital containing the clothes that were removed from his body.

“I’m an emergency room nurse, and when I saw the glasses, I had to walk away,” said a tearful Cyndi Campbell of Pittsburgh.