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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Every Tuesday, the multipurpose room of Needham’s Center at the Heights is filled with the sounds of laughter, singing, and piano notes. Keeping Needham’s most musical seniors busy, the Center’s Vintage Voices inspired participants to join the choir director, Tom Gallant, and pianist, Jack Cadigan, in performing old favorites.
With a thick packet of song lyrics in hand, the seniors sang each song as Tom helped the group to stay in sync as he sang with them. Beginning with only about a dozen participants, the group sang songs like “Tennessee Waltz” and “When the Saints go Marching,” but the choir doubled in size as the hour went on, singing “Easter Parade” and “California, Here I Come.”
Vintage Voices began years ago at the old Council on Aging with just two singers. Over time, the choir has gained popularity among the seniors, and now boasts a group of about 30 singing each week.
Although most of the seniors attend regularly, Tom stresses that the choir is informal and doesn’t require the seniors to attend every week.
“Some of these songs may sound corny. They’re not like the ones on the radio,” said one of the singers. Many of the songs were from the World War II era and were songs from their childhood, like “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” Every week features different lyric books, though, so the material is always fresh.
Tom also provided the group with jokes about old age in between songs, sending the seniors into fits of laughter as he joked about losing dentures at the movie theater and misplacing a hearing aid. Many of the seniors live alone or don’t go out often, so the choir serves as an opportunity to both sing and socialize with other members of the COA. Afterwards, the singers will usually go for coffee and a snack in the next room.
“They always walk out smiling,” said Tom. “Maybe they’re just happy it’s over, or maybe they enjoyed it.” Most of the senior singers would agree, though, that they were delighted to sing with their friends and spend the afternoon at the Center.
