Little actions, BIG results

It has been a long time since I have posted anything.  Sugar & Spice have been pretty busy, but did have some time off for illness and cold weather.  We missed two months in a row at a few places.  This morning we were in Ankeny and it was one of the places that we missed 2 months. They were so happy to see us and we were as happy to see them!  They usually come to watch us set up, I guess we are pretty entertaining!  Spice has been "opening" the show as Old Spice by singing a couple of songs that I don't play or sing on.  So while he is singing I usually walk around to make sure the music isn't to loud.  This morning as I was doing that I noticed a woman was brought into the memory unit and she was visibly upset and crying. Immediately one of the residents - Kathy came to her and held her hand and sat beside her.  As I walked by I could hear the new lady say that she didn't know if she should be there.  So I stopped to visit with her for a while.  Come to find out this was her first morning there and didn't know anyone.  Kathy was telling her how much she was going to like our music and that she would set by her.  I asked her if she had a favorite song and she shook her head no while wiping tears from her face.  By that time it was time for me to strap on my guitar and start singing.  As the show went on I could see her getting more comfortable and even smiling at some of our bantering and April Fools jokes.  Kathy was so caring and helpful to her, it brought tears to my eyes to watch them!  To top it off today was Kathy's birthday, so we all had to sing Happy Birthday to her.

We always go around and talk to each person after we are done singing, and I saw a completely different person when I went to her after the program.  I gave her a big hug and told her that we would see her again next month, and as Spice was walking by he made her feel welcome with a hug too.

Sometimes we wonder if our actions please God, today I know that what Kathy showed for this new resident was exactly what is asked of us Christians.  Something as small as a smile, hug or just holding a hand is all it takes to turn a frightening situations into something pleasant.  I am anxious to go back next month and see her again.

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!