As a former church choir director as well as a multi-instrumentalist, Good Samaritan Society–Prairie Creek resident Lois Nicholas was looking for an outlet for her talents as well as some friends to play music with. Fortunately, she did not need to blow on a magic conch shell to summon a musical superteam.
She found nine other residents at the Sioux Falls, SD, senior living community who are musicians and today, they play concerts for everyone on campus.
“It just feels good, making music speaks to the soul,” Nicholas said. “Seniors are really receptive, and they are not critical, so they are a wonderful audience.”
Over the holidays, Nicholas and her group performed Christmas music for assisted living and memory care residents on campus. The bells they used were not traditional church bells but rather toy versions with a different pitch. GSS-Prairie Creek senior living administrator Alecia O’Neil said that the concerts were easy to facilitate and demonstrate how the community encourages self-expression and lifelong learning.
“I think that the philosophy of retirement is that you never stop learning, and I think we’ve really embraced that on this campus and try to present opportunities for people to try new things,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of very talented, highly educated people who live with us from all walks of life, and I know I personally gain so much by learning from them and having them share their experiences with us as staff or with each other.”
Nicholas was not expecting much from the tour but was pleasantly surprised with its reception.
“I didn’t think it would be as well-received as it was, but many of them did a lot of singing,” Nicholas said. “We’ll probably take a couple months off and then start preparing for another concert.”
See the In Focus archive, and find out how to submit your photos and information for consideration, here.
