Vanilla Ice helps Palm Bay family with therapeutic pool

PALM BAY – Vanilla Ice turned up sporting Ninja Turtle green shades, taking time to dance a few old-school moves with the mayor of Palm Bay and pose for group selfies. But the rapper-turned-home-improvement-reality-star saved his best for a few moments alone with 6-year-old Owen Johnson, sitting in a specialized wheelchair and looking on with a big grin.

"We're going to build a little pool for you, just enjoy yourself. It's going to be perfect for ya!" Vanilla Ice told Owen before showing the first-grader his tattoos. One tattoo on his right calf bears the cartoon characters from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." Vanilla Ice appeared in the live-action 1991 film, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze."

The 47-year-old rapper, whose real name is Robert Van Winkle, was in town to break ground on a new, specialized, soft-water pool donated to the Johnson family to help Owen therapeutically. The Johnsons were ecstatic with the donation of the $50,000 pool by the Deerfield Beach-based Van Kirk & Sons.

Owen grinned as Vanilla Ice gave him a TMNT ball cap.

"Every smile that comes off his face just warms our hearts and makes our day, so it's just a wonderful thing," said his father, David Johnson. "I heard we're having a party once the pool is done!"

That process will take a month to complete and is the latest in a series of outreach efforts toward the family, geared to help them with Owen's care. Owen was left paralyzed from the neck down after the deadly July 1, 2011, collision in Blue Ridge, Georgia, that claimed the life of his 6-year-old sister, Hannah Johnson, and badly injured his two other sisters, Brooke and Kathryn.

Friends, family and Owen's therapists from Ability Plus Therapy in Melbourne were on hand Tuesday to welcome the rapper.

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"I am a huge fan of Vanilla Ice. I have loved his music from back in the day," said Angela Bueno of Melbourne, who works at Abililty Plus. "We recently in the therapy gym have been bringing out that music and dancing to it with Owen and singing along, so we've been getting pumped for this day. So actually meeting him now in person has been awesome."

Karen Rhoads, also of Ability Plus, surprised the DIY Network reality star with her "old school" photo of him. Vanilla spotted it on the kitchen table, and she explained they had met years earlier at a concert. After 14 years of wondering, Rhoads asked Vanilla Ice to decipher the message he had scribbled by his signature. "To Karen: Peace, Vanilla Ice," he explained with a laugh. "This is really old. I didn't even have all my tattoos. That's really awesome."

Palm Bay Mayor William Capote welcomed Vanilla Ice to Brevard and started grooving with the rap star.

"We may not be as crazy as back in the day," Vanilla Ice said as cell phones captured him dancing with Capote, "but we got rhythm."

Vanilla Ice also briefly talked with FLORIDA TODAY about his arrest in Palm Beach last week on burglary and grand theft charges that garnered him headlines. The home renovation star's demeanor was focused as he spoke openly about what happened.

"I'm doing alright. Got in a little bit of a mess, but we'll get through it," Vanilla Ice said, adding he was hoping to move past last week's arrest that threw him back in the spotlight, two decades after his big hit "Ice Ice Baby" rocketed up the pop charts.

"Yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery," he said. "I love just being a part of putting smiles on people's faces. That's why I'm here."

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He also explained his love for charity and how when he was a 19-year-old hip-hop star with the parachute pants and angled hair, he met a 9-year-old fan who was dying of a bone-marrow disease. "He had two big Vanilla Ice posters on his wall. … It was like lightning went through my body," he said, adding he didn't fully understand the impact his music was having on the lives of his listeners. "It's just a miracle and I love being a part of that. People can make a difference."

Since then, Vanilla Ice has worked with other charitable groups, donating time and his home improvement expertise to make a difference, said Bobby Van Kirk, owner of the pool company installing the pool in the Johnsons' backyard.

Film crews captured the star breaking ground with a shovel for his reality show, "The Vanilla Ice Project," which airs on the DIY Network, a sister station of HGTV. The show's been on the air since 2010 and spotlight's Vanilla Ice's love of home improvement.

Contact Gallop at 321-242-3642 or jdgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @jdgallop