It's been a busy summer for NCHS Class of '79 grad Pete Martinez, the likeable country singer in the black hat.

He came home in June to visit his parents, Pete and Isabelle Martinez, before Father's Day, and then was back in Denver at Coors Field on Father's Day afternoon, singing "God Bless America," from the outfield during the Seventh Inning Stretch.

"It was such a beautiful day and they played so well," he said in a recent phone interview.

Earlier this month, he returned to his hometown in what turned out to be a badly-kept secret to perform at The Wonder Bar during his 30-year reunion.

And then he went back to Colorado and hung out with Vince Gill and Amy Grant at the 6th annual Vince Gill & Amy Grant Golf Classic at Aspen Meadows Resort. The event benefits Challenge Aspen, which helps people with disabilities and encourages them to become active, especially by participating in outdoor sports. Gill and Grant are honorary board members of the foundation.

"That was fantastic," Martinez said. "They are such good people."

Martinez' donation of a private two-hour concert was the high bid item, $14,000, in an auction the night before the golf tournament and he agreed to do a second for the same amount, doubling the money raised to $28,000 for the foundation.

Martinez said there is a "new, formal push," by the music industry to release his single, "I Would for You," before the holiday season.

"My stock's going up," he laughed.

Casperites will remember Martinez debuted that song in June 2005 at the River Days celebration that served as the dedication for the Three Crowns Golf Course and its surrounding green space.

When he's not coming home to see the parents or singing with celebrities, Martinez the mechanical engineer and businessman continues to sleep in a room next to his office in a downtown Denver high-rise, where he just delivered his "second billion dollar water project," and is deep at work on a third.

Since he began developing water resources on a municipal scale, he's completed one for the City of Aurora, which garnered him a lengthy feature in the Frontier Airlines in-flight magazine.

But he has a message for his fans, former classmates, and friends of his mother in Casper.

"Tell them I'll be back soon to sing, hopefully in the fall," he said.

Community News editor Sally Ann Shurmur can be reached at (307) 266-0520 or sallyann.shurmur@trib.com. Read Sal's blog at tribtown.trib.com/Sal/blog.