Ukulele Serenaders Answer the Call

By Glenn Watanabe

“Busking” is the activity of playing music in the streets or other public locations. Volunteers at ACC recently organized two groups of ukulele players to do just that for the residents of ACC Greenhaven Terrace and ACC Maple Tree Village.

“Arnie’s Angels” and “Robbie’s Rascals” staged several outdoor performances at these locations to the delight of ACC residents looking for fresh air, good music, and great company. This project began with a general concern among ACC staff and volunteers that volunteers would disconnect from ACC during the pandemic. ACC Chief Operating Officer Melanie Segar met with them and came up with a list of ways volunteers could help remotely during the pandemic. Among them are:

Making wellness calls
Helping with language translation
Editorial writing for print and online newsletters
Production assistance for online streaming content
Remote clerical assistance

In September, the Volunteer Services Committee proposed the idea of forming two small teams of ukulele players to serenade ACC residents outdoors. Committee co-chair Linda Cabatic forwarded this idea to Melanie, who immediately emailed the managers of ACC Care Center, Greenhaven Terrace (GT) and Maple Tree Village (MTV) with the offer. The offer was accepted, and thus began the process of recruiting performers. Eight players from ACC Pocket Pickers signed up immediately. Life Enrichment Coordinators Stephanie Lue and Liana Ma arranged dates and times for performances at GT and MTV.

The First Serenade — Arnie’s Angels was the first to serenade the mostly assisted living (AL) residents from the central courtyard at GT. It was a balmy 80°F, and the residents gathered on their balconies and in the AL Activity Room with the sliders open to listen and sing along with the Angels. We chose songs that were favorites of the in-house GT-AL Happy Strummers singing group (that I started in 2014). They happily swayed, tapped their feet and sang along with our 45-minute playlist.

The MTV Double Header — MTV wanted two shows, one for their Memory Care residents (MC) and one for their AL residents. On Thursday, November 5, another 80°F afternoon, the Angels played for the AL residents seated on the sidewalk surrounding the main entrance and an hour later, the Rascals performed for the MC residents in the same locale. And, like we did at GT, we sang the favorite songs from MTV’s in-house singing group, The Songbirds (that Elsie, Nami, Frank (Yamanaka) and I started in January of 2020), so the residents could sing along. Doreen Wong, whose mother resides at MTV, danced a graceful hula to our song, “Tiny Bubbles.”

Temperatures Drop — The Rascals also performed on November 14th and 21st at GT, and it was barely 58°F. Even though their balconies were in the shade, some of the AL residents wore hooded down parkas and sat or stood on their balconies for our 45-minute show. Talk about a tough audience!

2021, Here We Come — Now that we have two experienced teams, we are starting to look at creative performing opportunities for next year. Of course, we will continue to observe the ever-changing COVID-19 safety guidelines, but these dedicated ukulele players feel optimistic about the future ahead.

Arnie’s Angels