Choir performs for veterans at
St. Albans Community Living Center
by Deb Reiner
photo by Leroy Agudo
Traveling to St. Albans is challenging at the best of times, but this particular Sunday (October 20th) brought the additional complications of road closures due to the NYC Bike MS event, and rain! Still, 27 of us made it to the St. Albans Community Living Center this past weekend. The Center was originally built by the U.S. Navy in 1950; since 1974, it has been part of the Veterans Administration, offering extended care services to veterans on both an inpatient and outpatient basis.
Our contact Vicki was the most enthusiastic, sincere, helpful, and friendly person our Outreach team has worked with to date. Her announcement over the PA system during our warm-up was very exciting - we certainly cheered! Many folks streamed into the 2nd floor cafeteria to attend our performance, including Vicki herself.
We sang many of our favorite songs starting with Siyahamba and Shosholoza (solo by Wilfred Harris) followed by pop hits Stand By Me and River of Dreams (solo by Lis) Geoghean); Spanish songs Paz y Libertad and El Pueblo Unido; and sing-alongs Peace Like a River, Down By the Riverside, This Little Light of Mine, and This Land is Your Land.
We also debuted our new version of Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World with solos by Laura Di Iorio Moran, Andy Marino, and Brooke McGowan.
After our traditional finale, Let There Be Peace on Earth (solo by Cheryl), Vicki had one more request - she asked if we would sing the Irving Berlin standard God Bless America, in honor of our veterans - and of course we gladly complied.
Brooke, Laura and Andy solo on Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World.
Here are some observations from a few of our members:
Amanda: It was great to see some folks in the audience enthusiastically singing along with us on this rainy Sunday.
Vivian: It was extraordinarily rich for all of us who were there. The audience was so receptive and appreciative. And I loved it when Vicki, the recreation organizer, interrupted the proceedings to say one of the veterans said we were very good and wanted to know where we came from. It was definitely worth the long trek.
Lis: I told Vicki that we would like to take her with us to all of our outreaches to be our social director. That facility is blessed to have her on staff! I’m glad she had us end with God Bless America.
Danielle: It was so meaningful and deeply moving to sing there. I had a conversation with a 95-year old WWII veteran, who told me about his time in the Army Air Corps and his experiences as a POW. His ending statement before we set up was "Never stop learning." Amen.
In harmony,
Deb Reiner, Soprano 1