Location: DePaul Student Union & Multiple Locations
Date: Saturday, December 13, 2014; 9:30 am-12:00 pm
It was time once again to lend my
singing talents to this project. I had
enjoyed doing this last year and so signed up way ahead of time when I saw this
on the calendar. While at Lakeview
Nursing earlier in the week, I learned that it wasn’t on the list of places
that we would be visiting and that was a shame.
Unlike last year, when I was running late and had gone straight to the 1st
location, I went to the meeting place, which was DePaul Student Union. After waiting inside for some time I realized
that no one else was around and then saw that a group had assembled out on the
sidewalk. I had almost missed out again! Our Volunteer Leader was chatting with the
others and she said that she had just landed at the airport and come straight
for this project. Almost all of the
volunteers were wearing holiday gear, including ‘Reindeer Hats’ and ‘Rudolph
Nose’. I had worn my ‘Santa’ hat from last year. Today was also the “12 Days of Christmas Bar Crawl’ taking place in the neighborhood
and so there were many other folks walking about with holiday gear. The only difference was that they were on
their way to get a drink!
 |
| Aah 'The 12 Days of Christmas', one of my all time favorites |
The bus arrived and not everyone
who had signed up was here. Or maybe they did get here, but joined the other group thinking that the other activity would be more fun. On our way to the 1st stop I asked
our leader if would be getting books, because I surely hadn’t memorized any of
the carols. She said that they would be
waiting for us at the senior center that we were headed towards. As soon as we walked in and were checking-in
at the lobby, we could smell bacon. It
seems like the regular Chicago Cares breakfast project was on. We arranged ourselves in a group and asked
for requests. The residents were
certainly enthusiastic and threw out a few options. We started with ‘Jingle Bells’ and then ‘Silent
Night’, which is always interesting, since it required some skill and none
of us could have been mistaken for a professional. We then did ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’, which is always fun, and then
someone requested ’12 Days of Christmas’. I said that it would take forever, but we did
it with gusto. We concluded with the
ever difficult, ‘Feliz Navidad’ and
then ‘White Christmas’, which always
reminds me of Bing Crosby. The other
Chicago Cares volunteers who were serving breakfast cheered us on and we left
after ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’. On my way out I passed their ‘Fitness Center’ and looked way better
than the one in my current building.
Perhaps our leader wasn’t pleased
with our performance, because she made us practice on route to our 2nd
stop, which had another Chicago Cares breakfast project in progress. Once again, there were several requests and
we performed some of the same carols as before.
This time the residents joined in as well. Just as we were done, someone mentioned that
it was one of the resident’s birthday and so we performed ‘Happy Birthday’ before leaving. Our final stop was on the Southside, near the
‘White Sox’ stadium. This time we were digging deep into the book
and practicing stuff that I had never heard before.
We arrived in a warm and cozy room where the residents were getting
ready for Bingo. They all looked like
Asian immigrants and there were no requests when we solicited some. Since we had a choice of what to perform, I
told my colleagues that we should stick to upbeat carols to get the crowd
excited, rather than do the slow songs. In any case, it was as fun as before.
After this set I told the leader
that since I lived on the Southside, I would take the train rather than return
on the bus with them. I bid my team
goodbye and left after another fun and successful year of caroling. It may seem trivial to us, but I guarantee that it
means a lot to the residents of these places; to have someone come and spread
the holiday cheer. I have said it before
and I will say it again, music therapy should be a regular program on Chicago
Cares calendar. The evidence is clearly
there for all to see and if we cannot act on it, then we are just making up the
numbers.
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