Students Share Gift of Music With Elders
By Amy Polk

The Les Cheneaux Community Schools Sixth Grade Band, directed by Music Director Alan Jacobus, performs during a December 14 visit to Cedar Cove Assisted Living Community in Cedarville. Many of the Cedar Cove residents and staff, and sixth grade students who are not in the band, are in the audience behind Mr. Jacobus.

On a cold December morning, not long after breakfast at Cedar Cove Assisted Living center in Cedarville, a big yellow school bus pulled up to the entrance. Led by Music Director Alan Jacobus and a small group of parents who came to watch their children perform, 26 sixth grade students poured out, laughing, chattering, and hauling bulky instruments.

When the commotion cleared and band students took their seats inside, the facility fell quiet, anticipating the start of a performance. The band was delivering perhaps the best holiday gift of all, music and companionship, to Cedar Cove residents.

"The residents were very happy we were there," Mr. Jacobus said, adding that administrator Leroy Pieri said the staff, too, appreciated the visit.

Les Cheneaux sixth grade student Sarah Landreville (right) talks about different dog breeds with Cedar Cove resident Mary Smith during a December 14 visit.

Band students in the class performed selections from the concert they had played earlier in the week at the middle school and high school concert, including some holiday tunes. Mr. Jacobus provided narration between songs, explaining the history of the music.

Band students first visited Cedar Cove for the 2006 holiday season, nearly a year after the facility opened, when Mr. Jacobus brought both the Sixth Grade and Seventh and Eighth Grade bands to perform. This year, he will split up the performances, bringing the Seventh and Eighth Grade Band to Cedar Cove in the spring.

While Cedar Cove staff take residents in the community for activities as often as they can, not all can make it to musical performances. Mr. Jacobus considers these activities a way to bring the concert to the residents, while providing social contact between elderly members of the community and the children.

Cedar Cove's "Three Musketeers," (from left) Ray Salo, Ray Carr, and Don Patrick, were popular hosts with the sixth grade visitors, including Cara Hakola and Hilan Lysinger, here saying goodbye to the men before boarding the bus to return to school.

"We know that sometimes residents in care facilities don't always have their family nearby, and don't get visits as often as they would like," Mr. Jacobus said. "It's a great opportunity for our kids, and the residents all enjoy it. It also gives the kids a chance to give back to their community."

Sixth grade teacher and principal Eric Cardwell suggested this year the entire class accompany the band. They brought residents handmade holly napkin rings that they had made.

After the band performed, students spilled out into the audience to chat with residents. A few of the students have relatives there, which helped bridge the generational divide and make quick connections. Some students soon found things they had in common with the residents. Children were overheard asking residents about their favorite foods and pets. A group of students were entertained at times by Ray Salo, Ray Carr, and Don Patrick, who cracked jokes, calling themselves the "Three Wise Guys" or "Three Musketeers."

The visit was followed Wednesday, December 19, by a youth group performance at the facility, and Thursday, December 20, by a visit from the Les Cheneaux second grade students of Jill Schaeffer. The second grade made cards for the residents and students walked to Cedar Cove to deliver them and spend time with the residents.