Chevy and Jayni Chase Talk Careers and Comedy at St. Matthew's Church

What do you get when you combine an environmental educator and a comic actor and writer? You get the power couple Chevy and Jayni Chase.  The Chases, who have lived in Bedford since 1995, discussed their marriage and their careers last night at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church on Route 22.

The talk was moderated by newscaster and author Catherine Crier of Katonah.

Why had they moved to Bedford?, Crier asked.

"The police were looking for me," deadpanned Chevy. Actually, the couple decided to move away from Los Angeles to the Northeast because that was where he was raised and he wanted their three daughters, now adults, to have something besides smog. "Seasons add a sense of perspective," he said.

Jayni had already been speaking to schools and educational groups about creating green  schools in Los Angeles. She wrote Blueprint for a Green Schoolin the 1990s.

"A lot of people think greening a school is expensive," she said. She has been working to put model green schools in cities across the country through the Green Community Schools Initiative, adding that one such school is running in Chicago. These schools create healthy learning environments and practice and promote sustainability, according to the group's website at www.greencommunityschools.org.

"I did this because I worry about the health of our kids," she said. The rising levels of obesity and reduced opportunities to exercise tie in with environmental concerns, she added.

"What Jayni does is get kids outside while there is an outside, to see where food comes from," said Chevy. "It all connects."

"Even if you are not fully convinced about climate change, it is still wise to conserve energy," Jayne said, adding that she keeps turning off lights at home.

Chevy immediately added, "Yeah. I can't see a thing in my house."

Chevy noted that making fun of environmentalism is becoming acceptable. "It is to the point of being as acceptable as making fun of George W. Bush."

In 1988, Jayni Chase founded the Center for Environmental Education, a group dedicated to working with schools to educate children about the environment and cultivate healthy lifestyles. Chevy Chase is well known as an actor and comedian. He was the first person to say "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!" as an original cast member of that long-running show. Since then he has starred in movies and hosted the Oscars twice. He is currently starring in the NBC sitcom Community, which means that he is commuting to Los Angeles. 

About 100 people attended the talk. "It sounded interesting. It's an opportunity to engage with an environmentalist, and a film star, and a famous news woman," said Miguel Rodriguez, who attended with his wife, Holly.

Presenting couples with interesting careers is a form of outreach to the community, said the Rev. Terence Elsberry, Rector of St. Matthew's. "Bedford is full of Power Couples," he said. The next Power Couple talk will be at St. Matthew's on June 3 at 7:30 and will feature Lord and Lady Malloch-Brown. Lord Malloch-Brown was Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and served as Minister of State under Prime Minister Gordon Brown of the United Kingdom. A donation of $15 is suggested.