Don't wait....do it NOW!

I have been wanting to write this for about 3 weeks, and although I have a lot to do I can't put it off any longer.  Even if we don't admit it, most of us make a New Years resolution.  And most of us don't keep them. Even though it is a couple weeks before New Years I have a great idea!  It came to me the other day when we were playing at Granger  Nursing & Rehab.  As we were playing a young man brought in mail to the residents who were listening to our music.  He would open the cards - I'm assuming they were Christmas cards and then read them to the resident.  It hit me that many of nursing home residents eye sight isn't good enough to read or need to have their mail read to them.  A light bulb probably came on over my head....wouldn't it be great if more people would make their New Years resolution to volunteer before Christmas and then keep it throughout the year.

There are many ways to volunteer, here are just a few ideas.  Help them play Bingo...this is a big one, they all love Bingo.  Painting fingernails....you wouldn't believe the smiles I get when I mention how I like the color of their nails.  Read the paper, or mail to them.  Put puzzles together, or play cards with them.  In the summer take them out in the court yard for fresh air and the activity directors can always use help with games or crafts.

Please think about going into a nursing home and meeting some of the neat people that live there.  They have so many stories to tell.  You will find you will get back just as much, if not more than you give!

Over the river and through the woods!

Several weeks ago we ventured West for three new bookings.  It was a foggy drizzly day when Phil picked me up at 7 am for our drive to Coon Rapids, Guthrie Center and Panora.  There was a little miscalculation of the location of Coon Rapids, so we did a little sight seeing - if it wouldn't have been foggy that is - before we made it to Coon Rapids.  We were still there in plenty of time to get set up and meet some of the residents before out 10:30 gig.  They were nice enough to invite us to eat lunch with them before we went to Guthrie Center for a 1:30 gig where they had us set up in a room we thought might have room for about 20 or  30 residents.  Boy were we surprised when they packed the place and then sat them out in the hall way, I would say there were about  50 to 60 people there!  We were disappointed  that we couldn't stay and meet each one personally like we usually do as we had to quickly load up and head down the road to Panora for a 3:30 gig.  There they had 5 or 6 awesome volunteers ranging from 78 to 98 handing out Halloween hats to the residents and two actually did a little line dance!

By the time we headed back home the sun was out and the colorful wet tree leaves were so pretty shinning in the sun.  We were tired when we got home at 7 pm, but felt we had been blessed by the new friends that we met.  All three facilities booked us back every other month for next year, so look forward to our fun trips West next year!  

We also had a long day last Friday, just closer to home.  We had our normal monthly gigs at Grundy Care Center at 10:00 in Grundy Center and then in Iowa Falls at 3:00 for their Happy Hour at Heritage Care Center.  We also had a booking in Ames at Burgies coffee shop for a fund raiser from 7 to 9.  A lady heard us playing at Hubbard Care Center last month while visiting her mother and asked us to play for an evening to help raise money to build schools in Guatemala.  We never know what to expect when we play for public events.  We knew we would have a great time when we walked into the coffee shop and they said, "Oh, your Sugar & Spice"!  They were so helpful and gave us coffee, fruit smoothies and sandwiches on the house!  It isn't a very big place, and I was happy to see that there were quite a few people there for the two hours that we played.  You never know when you will be blessed by meeting wonderful friends and look forward to working with them again some time!

Stop in and give them some business if you happen to be in the area, they are on the corner just South of the intersection of hwy 30 and Duff, right by Lowes.  The building is a gas station, bank and Burgies coffee shop.  While we were playing several people from the gas station side took our picture....makes me kind of nervous - hope we don't end up on some face book page titled "Only in Iowa"  or something like that!  If you stop in tell them Sugar & Spice sent you!

Slow it down!

Sugar and Spice are hitting it hard again since our week off.  We started it off a week ago with our debut at the dance in Newton at the Moose club.  We thought we had every thing under control, even had a bass player and a drummer going to help us out.  On Friday the bass player ended up in the hospital so we played it as a duo.  Things were going good until we noticed that the dancers were huffing and puffing as they returned to their chairs!  Now we kind of knew that we played our songs a little fast - the thought there was we could play more songs for the residents that way - but for dancers we had to slow things down.  That is not an easy task when you are used to playing them faster!  So now we are slowing down all our songs so that if we do play another dance we will have the tempo right for dancing.  At times I feel like I am a bobble head trying to keep the beat in my head so that I don't speed things up again!

I don't think the residents mind the slower pace and it makes it easier for them to sing along on songs that they know.  We were at Bickford Assisted Living last week and the activity director took a cordless mic around and had the residents singing along with us for a couple of songs.  I was surprised that everyone that she went to sang into the mic, no one was afraid to sing along with us.

Tomorrow starts another busy and fun week, can't wait to see what God has in store for us!

Thank God I'm a country girl!

Sugar & Spice have done some pretty cool things this summer besides our regular bookings.  We have played at farmers markets, at Rock Creek, Concert Under the Oaks and Footloose Fridays.  Last night we added to that list with a gig at Crazy Acres camp grounds by Ackley.  We got this booking when we were playing at Heritage Care Center in Iowa Falls for their Happy Hour.  Two sisters were there visiting and thought we would be a hit at the camp ground, so the booking was made.  We never know what to expect when we play for the public but these two ladies were pretty friendly, so thought it couldn't be all that bad.

We played in a big machine shed that had picnic tables and chairs for people to set at and some people brought snack food.  It was a little warm inside and with the help of a big fan - thanks again Andy - it wasn't to bad.  At first I think the crowd was there to see just what or who Sugar & Spice were.  We played from 8 to 11 and most people stuck around until about 10, but about 15 stayed to the end.  Despite the fact that the floor was concrete and was cracked and uneven we did have quite a few dancers.

There were also a few uninvited guests there, despite the breeze from the fan the flies were biting and during one song that I was singing I thought I felt something on my neck, well I looked down at my shoulder and saw a big black hard shelled bug crawling on my arm, then on my neck and THEN it went crawling "willy nilly" UNDER by shirt.  Now I'm probably exaggerating when I say it was at least an inch and a half long, but Phil's wife saw it too and she was setting about 20 feet from me........of course by the time I was done with the song it had found a new home someplace else.  Other than the funny look on my face this country girl didn't miss a word to the song!  

For you campers this is a pretty cool camping spot with a nice restaurant/bar.  They also have pens with Elk, goats and miniature ponies as well as a bunch of cats - and oh yes, big black hard shelled bugs!!  

Something about that song!

In one of my earlier posts I told about the reaction to the song "The Church In The Wildwood" from a resident.  Well, it happened again and to the same song!  Our friend Deb who is the activity director at Careage in Newton warned us that this one gentleman liked that song and probably would sing along.  I had my doubts because this gentleman usually acts like we aren't even there.  But she was right, this man didn't have much of an expression on his face when we started the song, but all at once his whole face lit up and he was smiling and singing along!  He didn't even look like the same person.  The next song we sang was "Do Lord" and another gentleman who only says "hi" sang some of the words to that song.  God was moving hearts right there in that room!

We have been to several places since I last posted, including a new place in Cedar Falls on Friday morning.  It was the independent living area and there were a lot of people there to see just what "Sugar & Spice" was all about!  We were surprised to look out and see Romona Hansen  from Grundy Center there to hear us!  It is always nice to look out and see someone you know. We had many good comments and told to expect a call for another booking.

We played at the last "Foot Loose Friday" of the year in Toledo from 5 to 6:30.  Spice does most of the setting up for the outdoor gigs and if you remember it was 98 and of course we were out in the sun.  We were surprised that there was a pretty good crowd there.  Thanks to all of our friends that sat in the heat to hear us!  Also thanks to Andy for bringing the big fan for us - that was a life saver!!  Another band - Lime Creek played after us, so it was nice to set back and listen to them crank out some really good songs!  Spice provided sound for them so we had a long fun day.

On Saturday we were invited to Andy and Marvina Jensen's home in Dysart to jam with them.  Cheri and Dan Driscol were there too.  We started jamming at 4:30 and at 6:30 stopped for a great meal of grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and all the trimmings - thanks to Marvina!  Cheri and Dan's son plays drums, so he set up his set and played with us then after supper.  Finally at 9:30 we stopped and packed up for home.  We had a blast and hope to get together again before to long!

Keith and I will be gone a week at the lake this month, so that has made September a CRAZY month for bookings.  Tried to get everyone in, so squished 4 weeks of bookings into 3 weeks.  We start off the month in Ankeny tomorrow with two bookings, with 19 bookings in the next 11 days.  Yup, like I said CRAZY.  We will need that week off!

Full house

Friday we entertained at Villa del Sol in the afternoon.  We usually have a pretty big crowd there, but this time there were a few more out to hear us.  They kept having to move everyone forward until Dale only had a tiny little place to dance in!  Several family members come to visit during our gigs and we love to meet the residents children and grandchildren.  It is usually pretty lively there and Vickie - who works there - dances with a lot of the residents to get them involved with the music.  Thanks also to our faithful friends that come out to see us when we play in town - Iona, Marcus, Mable, Loui, Marlene and Arnold who brought along two of his friends.

Later in the evening we played at Glenwood for larger than normal crowd.  Some of our friends came again to hear us...we love those people!!  A resident there just lost her husband and she told me that she really looks forward to our music. It gets her out of her apartment and brings back some of the memories of when they used to go out dancing to the songs we play.

This afternoon Sugar & Spice will share the stage with "5 For 1" up in Albion at the Methodist Church's pie and ice cream social from 3 to 5 at the Albion park.  If you are looking for something to do this afternoon and want to eat some amazing home made pie come check it out!

Weekend off ??

If you have been reading these posts you know we had the weekend off to recuperate from a long stretch of gigs.  Well, I had the weekend off, but Spice was busy going to the State Fair to listen to the group 5 For 1 that he does sound for along with several friends that have bands that were playing there.  Then he topped that off with a concert in Sioux City to see The Band Perry and Rascal Flats concert.  He said it was awesome and is still "high" on music!

Monday we played at Southridge in Marshalltown for their "Birthday Party".  Several friends came to listen and they always serve a great birthday desert.  It kind of felt like a day off since that was the only gig we had that day.

We were out on the road early on Tuesday heading to Sunrise Hill Care & Rehab in Traer.  We play from 9:30 to 10:00 in the Alzheimer wing.  When we go there Spice plays guitar and then we take turns singing so we don't have to take a lot of gear along with us.  While he sings and plays I go around and dance with the residents.  Most are happy to grab my hands and swing back and forth with me while setting in their chairs.   There are several men there that don't have walkers and so they get up and we dance.  There is one gentleman there that always tells me he doesn't want to dance. This time I kept asking him and it took a little bit, but he did get up and dance....and oh my, did we dance!  He swung me around and we did the spinning and strolling around the room!  He was grinning from ear to ear and when the nurses brought out the camera he really "hammed" it up!

Then we go out in the front room and play for an hour, we were happy to see our friend Marvina there to see us.  When we are there they celebrate the birthdays from that month.

After a yummy lunch at the Chinese place in Grundy Center we drove over to Oakview Nursing Home in Conrad.  Spice was still feeling his "music high" and things got a little silly.  Marvina must not have gotten enough of us in Traer because she was at Conrad too and she brought her husband Andy along too!  He was working in the morning and couldn't make it in the morning.  Some of our friends from Marshalltown came up to hear us too.  

Wednesday found us traveling up to Ackley to play at Presbyterian Village - I know we are supposed to be taking Wednesdays off....but this was for something special.  They were celebrating State Fair week and wanted us there to entertain them.  We have been there several times and there was a good crowd.  We always enjoy the drive through Pine Lake and Steam Boat Rock so glad when we get to play there.

This morning we played at Bickford  Assisted Living here in town.  They have a great group there and since it's in town we usually have friends that come to hear us.  We are amazed that they are so faithful and we do love them for showing up.  We think some day they could just take over for us as they probably know our songs as well as we do!!

Now this evening we will be playing in State Center Nursing & Rehab, but for now I'm going to take it easy and work on some new music.

Marathon Firday

Every once in a while we end up playing three gigs in one day.  We try not to let this happen, but there are times that we just can't help it.  Friday was one of those days.  Since we had a 9:00 gig in Grundy Center Long Term Care at the hospital I had to leave my house at 7:30.  It is Spice's month to drive, so I drive to his house and ride with him when we head up that way.  We normally are there in the afternoon so didn't know how many residents would be out and about that early in the morning.  We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived to find people already there waiting for us.  By the time we got started the room was full and there were several that had never heard us before.

We had another booking in Grundy Center, but not until 2:00 at Arlington Place which is an assisted living place.  They had a big Beach Party planed so we stopped by to see how the decorations were going before heading back to Spice's house to work on our "beach" songs.  Spice already had "Rub It In, Rub It In" ready to go and we needed to work on "Itsy Bitsy Tinnie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini".  When we got back to Arlington Place there were a few people from the community there to help party.  Spice and Kathy, the administer got in a quick game of beach ball volley ball before we played.  I do have a couple of pictures, but haven't figured out how to get them on here yet, so look for them on my facebook  page.

By the time I got home I had about 15 minutes to change clothes and pick up Keith before going to Rock Creek for our gig at the marina.  The weather was perfect for an evening at the lake.  We had a lot of regulars there to hear us along with some of our friends that travel to hear us.  Three pontoon boats sat out in the lake to hear us.  We were glad to see Andy and Marvine from Dyerst made the long trip down.  We play a lot longer than is advertised and people have come to expect us to start early, so when we get there many people are already there to get a good place for their lawn chairs and some bring a picnic supper.

Playing out side is always fun and last night we saw an awesome sunset on the lake, a few geese cruising around and a bunch of wonderful people.  Yeah it's hard to do three gigs in a day, but we wouldn't have missed last night for anything!

Look for God - He's there!

I forgot to mention something else that happened on Thursday evening at Grandview.  Things were really rocking right along when we went into our Gospel part of our show.  We have started singing "The Church In The Wildwood" and we always ask the residents to sing along.  After finishing the song we thanked them for their applause and from the far side of the room came this strong clear voice singing the chorus.  We all looked to see who was singing out so strong and feeling the spirit.  There in a wheel chair sat a woman with her eyes closed and her head held high singing to God with all her might!  It was one of those "goose bump" moments for us.  After talking to a woman who visits there often we now know that she has never heard this woman speak one word!

I think we all want to SEE God at work.  God is here, working through all of us.  Just look around - did you happen to see the smile on the persons face as you held the door open for them or the sunset last night.....yup, He's at work!

Today started out pretty calm with a booking at Newton Nursing and Rehab this afternoon.  They are celebrating State Fair week and wanted us to play outside, but it was a little chilly for the residence to be outside...yes, the middle of August and it was a little chilly out for them - nuts I know!  They made the best of it with grilled hot dogs and home made pickles.  They had face painting and the game "Duck Pond".  I think it was the biggest crowd we've had there, several new people there to hear us.

Our friend Deb is the new activity director at Careage Nursing home in Newton and she asked us if we would come and sing to one of the residence under Hospice care and is confined to her room.  Of course we said yes we would, she was tapping her toes so guess she liked the songs we sang to her. Before heading for Marshalltown we stopped for gas and as we were leaving a guy came up and said he was traveling across the country and was out of money and wondered if we could help him out.  We gave him a small amount of cash and we are trusting in God that he used the money to buy gas or food.

On the way home we were following a horse trailer with two paint horses in it when it blew a tire out on the trailer.  We stopped to see if we could help and a wonderful farmer who's farm was right there came and told them to drive to his shop and he would help them out, so we were on the road again.

This evening we played at Grandview in Marshalltown and they were on fire tonight!!  The activity director had them clapping and laughing.  Spice sang a new song "Rub It In Rub It In" tonight and she was rubbing all the men's heads - including Spices!   Several of the residence were laughing so hard I thought we might have to call 911.  We always have a great crowd there and look forward to going there each month.

So today we have had a lot of fun, but have also experienced God's grace.   Now to get a good nights sleep for the marathon we have tomorrow!

It has been over 2 years since Sugar & Spice started entertaining at area nursing homes and retirement homes.  Many times we have laughed or cried because of something that has happened at one of our gigs.  And we have said that we should be writing these things down.  SO, I have decided that now is the time.  I will warn you that I don't write a smoothly as Spice and my grammar and spelling won't always be right....but I hope that you enjoy reading about our music ministry.  Please feel free to comment or ask questions about my postings.

Today was one of those days that we laughed...well I laughed - actually I got the giggles while singing a song - a LONG song at that!  We were met with two kittens at our first gig this morning in Grinnell Nursing and Rehab.  As we were unpacking they were everywhere...in our bags, on the speakers, in the plants and on the tables.  Every time Spice would nudge the friskiest one from a plant the nudging got a little harder!  Finally we started playing and the kittens were playing in the bags in the corner behind me.  As I am singing the first song I can hear them tearing around back there!  Finally out of the corner of my eye I see Spice walk calmly back behind me and I hear a "Whack".....now I am looking out at the crowd and most of them have the "there, they deserved that" look.  Now I have the giggles...I was trying so hard to hold it together, but every time I looked at Spice - he was so calm and acting like nothing  happened I would start giggling again.  Finally the activity director came and got them and we went on with our show.

We also had the privilege to play for a 101 birthday party for Dorothy at Sunnyhill in Tama this afternoon.  An ice cream cake was served and we all sang 'Happy Birthday" to her.

Today was our 13th day in a row for singing, now tomorrow we have a day off and then hit it hard again on Thursday with two gigs and three on Fri.  Fri evening we will be at Rock Creek marina at 7, so if you are looking for a relaxing evening come on down!