Senior citizens find joy in handbell choir performance
Maria Bartley, left, and Elaine Lawson, right, perform with their bell choir Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, at Autumn Glow Senior Citizens Center in Kaysville. The choir is made up of 26 members from the Harrison Regent Senior Living Center in Ogden.
Judy Hansen smiles during a performance with her bell choir Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, at Autumn Glow Senior Citizens Center in Kaysville. The choir is made up of 26 members from the Harrison Regent Senior Living Center in Ogden.
KAYSVILLE — Looking at their huge smiles, there’s no question about whether the 21 senior citizen members of the Harrison Regent Retirement Community Jazzy Bells handbell choir enjoy performing.
Wednesday during their guest performance at the Kaysville Autumn Glow Senior Citizens Center, the singers donned reindeer antlers and Santa hats as they followed along with many handbell movements performed by their leader.
At 74, member Rosemary Ledford even got up and danced a twist to one of the songs during the hourlong program.
“It makes you feel young,” she said after the performance.
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SARAH WELLIVER/Standard-Examiner
Roberta Heckel switches from a Santa hat into her reindeer antlers during a performance with her bell choir Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, at Autumn Glow Senior Citizens Center in Kaysville. The choir is made up of 26 members from the Harrison Regent Senior Living Center in Ogden.
Standing next to her in a sweater featuring a cat and Christmas lights was Karen Clark, 80, who danced with smaller movements than Ledford’s.
“My twister is broke,” Clark said later.
“Christmas is a lot of fun, no matter what age you are,” said Roxy Rust, bell choir director and assistant manager of Harrison Regent. She spoke to the audience during the performance.
Nearby, Kaysville resident Tom Matyi was enjoying the performance even though he’d only gone to the center to play pool.
He said the music caught his attention and he decided to watch and listen.
“They are very good,” he said as the group started their finale, a lively rendition of “Carol of the Bells.”
“If that doesn’t put you in the Christmas spirit, nothing will,” he said.
There is something special about the Harrison Regent handbell choir, Rust said.
She started the group two-and-a-half years ago with only a handful of residents at the center that offers independent retirement living. The group has grown steadily ever since, she said.
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SARAH WELLIVER/Standard-Examiner
Rosemary Ledford, second from right, and Jeanne Ferrero, right, dance while performing with their bell choir Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, at Autumn Glow Senior Citizens Center in Kaysville. The choir is made up of 26 members from the Harrison Regent Senior Living Center in Ogden.
Rust has worked for Holiday Retirement, which manages Harrison Regent, for 25 years.
In that time, she has started handbell choirs at a half-dozen locations, including Utah, Arizona and California. But the Harrison Regent group’s enthusiasm is second to none, she said.
“They have all kinds of ailments but you wouldn’t know it,” Rust said of the singers. “They love what they do.”
As participants attend practices over time, Rust said she sees their physical capabilities improve.
The group meets twice a week to practice, and the members are sad when they have to miss it.
When the community’s general manager, Josh Post, walked into the Wednesday performance, several residents briefly stopped what they were doing to wave at him.
“This is one of the most exciting things we do,” Post said of the bell choir.
Once, Post got invited to play some handbells alongside the participants, he said.
“You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face,” Post said. “You couldn’t believe how much fun it is just to ring a bell.”
The manager has noticed that some facility residents who don’t participate in other community activities hover around the handbell choir.
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SARAH WELLIVER/Standard-Examiner
The Harrison Regent Senior Living Center bell choir performs Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2017, at Autumn Glow Senior Citizens Center in Kaysville.
Dolores Dalpias, 82, also spoke about the group with a grin.
Having been a member since its inception, Dalpias said the choir has grown on her.
Even while recently facing a difficult death in her family, Dalpias said she found joy in playing handbells.
“I just love it,” she said. “This is my therapy.”
Sue Orrock, 82, is the newest member of the group. Wednesday was her first performance.
Immediately she discovered playing handbells was more physically challenging than onlookers realize, Orrock said.
“Sometimes you really have to make yourself go,” she said of pushing herself when she gets tired.
Watching the handbell choir perform many times gave her the desire to join in, she said.
“I thought ‘I want to have that much fun,'” she said.
While the group practices year-round and is always ready to perform, Rust said the choir is not looking to book more performances outside its facility, Rust said.
With some members having difficulty getting into and out of their bus, Rust said she doesn’t want to over-book them.
“We started to improve our health from the inside out,” she said. “I don’t ever want to lose sight of that.”
Anyone interested in hearing the bell choir is invited to attend one of their practices or performances at the Harrison Regent, Rust said.
The public practices are at 2 p.m. every Saturday at their facility located at 4481 Harrison Blvd. in Ogden. Those who specify that they are there to hear the bell choir can receive a free lunch beforehand at the center, she said.
Listings of the group’s other performances are available on the Harrison Regent Retirement Community Facebook page, Rust said.
You can reach reporter JaNae Francis at jfrancis@standard.net or 801-625-4228. Follow her on Twitter at @JaNaeFrancisSE or like her on Facebook at Facebook.com/SEJaNaeFrancis.
