Seniors enjoy breakfast-n-blues
Ed Finkel
Published: April 6, 2006
Their most limber and light-footed days might be behind them, but more than 100 seniors in Auburn Gresham showed they can still boogie – even with full stomachs – at the 2006 Winter Senior Blues Festival, held Feb. 23 at Thurgood Marshall Library.
Seniors got their groove back, dancing away all morning and into the afternoon.
Photo: Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corp.
After downing plates of eggs, bacon, biscuits and grits, the seniors laughed, shouted, clapped and swayed in their seats to the music of Johnny Drummer and the Starlighters.
Then a lady with a soft cast on her left foot got the party started in earnest, stepping forward to the makeshift dance floor, which soon filled up. The Starlighters, weekend regulars at Lee's Unleaded Blues at 79th St. and South Chicago Ave., helped get them moving with such tunes as "I'm Gonna Sell My Cadillac and Buy Myself a Mule" and "Rockin' in the Juke Joint," the title track to their latest CD.
The audience chuckled when Drummer — the singer and keyboardist for the group, his name notwithstanding — kidded that his Caucasian guitar player "used to be black, y'all. But this is what these blues will do to you." Later he added: "Who says a white boy can't play the blues?"
During the intermission, the seniors enjoyed CDs featuring "dances of yesteryear" like "The Roach," while those in need of a quieter moment sashayed out to the lobby area, where portraitist Dan Montrel penciled their likenesses.
Bringing people together
All this is part of a conscious strategy by NCP lead agency Greater Auburn-Gresham Development Corp. (GADC) to bring people together music, events and parties. Carlos Nelson, executive director of GADC, greeted attendees and noted that the event was held partly in honor of Black History Month. "All of you sitting in this room, you are our black history," Nelson said.
Music was provided by Johnny Drummer and The Starlighters, a band that plays locally at Lee's Unleaded Blues.
Photo: Robert Wheatley
The idea for the blues festival sprang from earlier successes including the African-American Family Festival and the Community Day celebration, both attended by hundreds of people last August, and the 4th Annual Celebrity Skate Jam and Bowl-a-Thon in December, which raised money to combat sickle cell anemia and sickle cell disease.
"We wanted to do something continuously, year-round, and we wanted to dedicate something to the seniors," Nelson said. "This is a strategy to do this, definitely: bringing people together, getting seniors out of their homes, mingling with each other, learning that there are a lot of things out there that they don't have to fear."
The event allowed seniors to get out and enjoy each other on a late winter morning.
Photo: Joe Pruitt
Neither the location nor the particulars of the event were chosen at random. "This is an underutilized library," he said. "We wanted to have people come to the library [and] see it as a place to relax, study and learn. So many people in underserved communities fear institutions.
"Everything we do we try to feed the masses. Everything we do is free. Everything we do is about empowering the community," Nelson said. "For a senior to get out and see the blues live, they'd have to go to a venue."
Snowball effect
As in past events, GADC provided a free shuttle service for seniors and received calls from as far away as the Indiana border, he said. "We told the seniors to bring people with them. It's kind of a snowball effect. It allows us to talk about our services to a broader audience."
The buffet breakfast included eggs, bacon, biscuits and grits.
Photo: Linda Johnson
Those in attendance said they appreciated the effort on their behalf. Avernell Valentine, a resident of St. Sabina's Elder Village in Auburn Gresham, said she saw a flyer posted for the event. "I try to go to most anything that's going on, if I'm up to it. It's better than sitting in the house," she said. "It's very nice. I'm enjoying all of it."
Kay Sims, another St. Sabina's resident, did not take much persuading. "I like the blues, and it's a reason to get out of the house," she said. "They served us a hot breakfast. It's nice for them to do." Sims added that she gets out to "some, not enough" events like this and she hasn't seen live blues in, "oh yeah, quite a while."
Kenwood resident Gene Armstrong, who heard about the event through a friend and stopped in on his way to work, said the turnout impressed him. "I'm delightfully surprised to see so many seniors," he said. "Seniors probably don't have a place to go where they feel safe."