Marilyn Stevenson on piano and Kay Templeman on organ.

Joan Janzen
of The Clarion

Every week, the residents at Kindersley’s Heritage Manor look forward to a group of volunteer musicians coming to visit their facility to provide some old-time musical entertainment.

“Some say it’s the highlight of their week,” says pianist Marilyn Stevenson. “It’s a wonderful way for seniors to keep mobile if they get up to dance. We get told every week by the residents that it really boosts their spirits. Their family comes in just so they can wheel them around, so it brings in family too.”

[emember_protected for=”2″ custom_msg=’For more on this story, please see this week’s print edition of The Clarion.’]

Garth Weinhandl, on guitar says, “It’s nice to get to play guitar. I come because of the joy I see on the faces of those people when we play.

It stirs up old memories for lots of those people. I look forward to it.”

Another guitarist, Al Knutson, said he started playing for seniors 15 years ago, travelling to Biggar, Rosetown and other communities. “We visited all the senior homes. We stick to old time songs that older people relate to; sometimes someone will request a song.”

Another longtime member is Kay Templeman, who plays the organ. She told me how she got started in the band.

“It started when I moved here 10 years ago. Sonny Weisbrod was looking for someone to play with his band. I joined those fellows and we had a hoot! We played by ear, and I started getting music for everyone. In the meantime, I asked if we could play on a regular basis.

“As my poor folks started passing on, I just kept adding band members to our group. My group is so much fun! After I broke my arm, I sat back and watched and I could not believe the faces on the folks! When you’re playing organ, your back is to the people and you can’t see their smiling faces.”

And what a faithful volunteer she is, as she keeps on playing in spite of having a broken right arm. “I get my left hand going; it just comes naturally,” she says, making it sound like it’s totally easy to do.

[/emember_protected]