February 2008 Report

            Last month we had our biggest crowd ever; there was almost no room for us.  This month it was down a little from that.  There seems to be a lot of people sick right now.  But we had a great time.  Just about all our regulars showed, and we had at least two new faces.  There seemed to be less staff on duty, they may have been out sick too.  We also had some bad weather moving in.  Short staff makes for a smaller crowd; they get folks to bed earlier.

            We added a couple of new songs to the set, I am still not where I wanted to be with new music, but we are making progress.  I really wanted to have almost an entire new set for the start of this year, but we just haven't put the time in to do that.  Finding material we like is half the battle, the other half is getting together to practice.  Most of the blame is to lay with me; I'm the one that has to learn the guitar part for it.  I'm sure it will all work out.  The songs we have been doing from the beginning seem to hold a lot of appeal with the residents and some songs we have to do every month or they won't let us leave!

            This was just a good month with a lot of interaction with the crowd, I had all new jokes this month, and they went over great.  On the jokes, I have found that at least two good story jokes work well, very many more than that and people seem to loose interest.

 Lots of one liners or short jokes between a few songs help.  If people start to dose off it is joke time.  I like to have about 10 or 12 jokes with me.  I just write the punch line on a sheet of paper and put it in the back of our song book, when it is time for a joke; I just flip to the back. You need to know the joke well enough to tell it without reading it if you can.  You might get by with singing from a sheet of music (Lord knows I do), but you will not get by reading jokes…

A story joke will take a few minutes to tell, maybe about the length of one song, keep it as animated as you can that really helps.  And keep it simple, I love jokes you have to think about, but that is not what you want in this situation, just simple funny jokes.  I get most of mine off the internet; just do a Google for clean jokes.  Or clean Christian Jokes, it will not take you very long to come up with a few.  I use my wife as a test, if she gets the joke, everyone will! Sorry honey…

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Jan 08 Report

I am a little late updating the blog; I have been having some trouble getting online at work for some reason.

We had a blast this month, our biggest crowd yet!

There again seemed to be many new staff, I only recognized one lady.

Everyone was in the room waiting for us when we got there, it was actually a little crowded!  The gig went great; we had a couple new songs, with more in the works.  I really tried to spend more time researching some good jokes this time, and it really seemed to pay off. 

We had a couple of new faces in the room.

Things went pretty smooth, but we did have two ladies we have not seen for awhile, both talk a lot.  One of the ladies was a regular when we first started last year, but we have not seen her around for months, we though she had been taken to the hospital, and she may have been, she does not get around as well now days.  But her most distinguishing feature is the fact that every few minutes she yells out; "get me a cigarette!"  When I say yell, I mean as loud as she can.  In fact the only other thing I have ever heard her say was; "put me to bed".  Just as loudly, I might add. 

Well seated right in front of her is the other lady that talks, she is not as loud, but she will ask a question or tell a story and you can't make heads or tails of it.  Almost every question or story ends with her becoming very emotional and in tears, but within a minute or so she is back, ready with a new question or story to start the process over again.

The second lady drifted off to sleep a couple of times, only to be startled awake by the request of a cigarette from right behind her.

It was a good thing Dusty was back with us for crowd control, the two kept her busy most of the night.

Our friend Stella, she is the one we started coming to see in the first place, is now bed ridden and can't make it down to see us.  So we stopped in to say hi when we where done.  I helped her drink some water and my wife Renee sang a couple of her favorite old hymns, she sang along best she could and cried when Renee was done, so did I.

Stella told us that Jesus was coming to get us all soon, and we had prayer together before we left.  I don't know how much longer Stella has, but I pray that God continues to comfort her.

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Christmas Gig 07!

Christ birth is Christmas!

Our Christmas gig this month went great; we all had a great time.  We showed up a few minutes early, so we got started early and stayed a little late, it was that kind of a night!

My wife had hunted us up a holiday outfit, I got a red Santa hat and her and Sandy had reindeer antlers, complete with bells.  Dusty had to work and didn't make it this month. 

The hats where a big hit, one of the younger ladies caught onto the bells and she kept time to the music shaking her head back and forth wanting the girls to shake their heads to make the bells jingle, I may have mentioned her before, she use to meow along with every song.  She is getting better, and sung a little of one of our Christmas songs this time! 

Jokes of course where a big hit, I am working the girls in on more of them, Sandy read one about why she thinks Santa must be a woman…  And Renee did a couple berating men, me mostly, they always go over well…

There is a guy in a wheel chair that starting coming down a couple of months ago he normally sets kind of quite and smiles big at every joke.  I have spoken to him before, but he can't talk much.  This week he seemed to have his eye on Sandy!  He was placed in his normal spot on the front row, but no one locked his wheel chair, so he was able to move around a bit.  The girls normally stand right behind me to either side, he nearly hit my stool, we where setup in kind of a corner of the room, so he was stuck.  Sandy moved to the other side with Renee for a couple of songs, until the nursing assistant came up and pulled him back in place and locked his wheels.

I botched the first verse of Blue Christmas; I was way out of tune that happens to me sometimes, if I can't hear the guitar, I don't stand a chance.  Anyway, the second attempt worked better, but I still needed a little more practice, and I will have to be careful what song I sing before it, you can't do everything in G, then hit a song in E out of the Blue…

Renee had made up small gifts to give out, a candy cane, a reindeer treat and a pair of socks tied with a bright red ribbon.  We have a couple of ladies that have no use for socks, so she brought a tube of lotion for them.  This year we brought a few tins of cookies for the staff.  She had made several extra, so while I was shaking hands and talking to the crowd, the girls went to some of the rooms to hand out what was left.  They happened to walk into a room as a man was telling his wife all about our "show", the girls said he was so excited, they are new to the home, it was his first visit.  The girls said his wife looked to be in much worse shape than him, they are not sure she ever leaves the room.  The girls said he let on like he had really seen something.

The girls love the residents and it is easy to see, the residents just eat up their attention.  I am so blessed to get to "work" with people like that.  I'm not sure how to explain, they are not there for any reason other than loving people, and that comes from their love of Christ. 

 I remembered to sign the book this month!

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November Report!

We where all tired this week and dragging after work, but once we got loaded up and headed for the Home, things changed.  We again had a ball this month; the crowd was down just a little, lots of people sick this time of year.  But it was a very attentive audience.  We had at least one new visitor, we had met her at the volunteer night last Friday night, she is in a wheel chair, but otherwise fine.  And really adds to the life of the crowd, she knew most of our songs and sang along with just about everything.  I can't recall her name yet, but she did tell me her brother was named Squirrel, I happen to know him.  I think we had more people singing along last night than ever before.  Anna the lady in the bed chair was not able to make it down, and we missed her, she is our biggest supporter.

One of the ladies is a big Merle Haggard fan, and she requested that we learn "Silver Wings", so we included it in the set this week.  But she was not in the room when we started, my sister-in-law, Dusty went to check on a few people we noticed missing, that is how we found out about Anna, and brought our Merle fan back with her.  We where on our second song when she got to the room and she yelled "why didn't you come get me!" the second song was Mama Tried, she didn't like missing it…

The same lady told my wife last Friday night that she loved it when we came, and that she would dream about it after we left.  It was rather touching that something we have so much fun with can have that kind of effect on someone.  It really makes you think about the impact we have on other people and don't even know it.

Marge is one of the ladies that makes it just about visit, she gets around fine and will often go in and out of the room depending on what is going on at the time, she likes most of the music, and the jokes, but she does not care for it when me and my wife sing together…  She told my wife and Sandy that she loves me and doesn't care if we are married!  This week she gave me a big hug and told me that she "looks a lot better with her teeth in".  It's great having groupies!

On the home front, our first grandchild was born three weeks ago!  Her name is Faith Marie Manship, born to my oldest son Noah and his beautiful wife Kayla.  Mother and baby are doing fine; it will be a great Thanksgiving and Christmas this year!

You can see pictures of her on this my space page.  You will also find pictures of our new Church, in September my wife and I accepted the position of Pastor and wife of the Rock Springs Community Church, after seven years as a Youth Pastor at Marengo Wesleyan, we felt the call to make the move.  Keep us in your prayers.

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Volunteer night!

The Activity director called us last month and invited us to a volunteer night at the Home.  It was a lot of fun, we got to meet some of the other volunteer groups that come to the home, and they had cake!

Each group was recognized by the director and asked to step forward and introduce themselves and how long they had been coming to the home.  She then gave each member a candle with a label that thanked us for our service in 2007.

There where four groups that came, two where Church groups and the guy that does "singing with Jim" and us.  I wanted to talk to Jim more, but didn't get the chance, I would love to know what type music he plays, and it sounded like Jim has a friend that comes with him most of the time, but could not make it Friday night.

Both of the Church groups had been coming for about 10 years!  Both of the Church Pastors where there, one brought his two young daughters.  I took it that both of the Churches would sing a bit and they offer some type of message, one of the Churches comes every week! 

It was great meeting everyone; I hope we can do it again sometime in the future.

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October 07 report!

We had a blast again this month, seems everyone is getting to know us; we have several die hard fans now.  Anna is a young lady that has been in a wheel chair her entire life; she has been our biggest supporter from the start.  She always sings with us, and helps us with jokes from time to time; she makes a big difference in the lives of several of the residents in the home.  Other that her physical disability she is a very capable and intelligent woman, much younger than most of the other residents.  She talked with us after our program this week and told us how much fun she had when we came; she also said that the humor we bring makes all the world of difference.  She is too kind.

Another wheel chain bound lady, Susie had asked that we learn "I'll Fly Away", this week we did it and she was so thrilled.  Susie can't speak, but has a large marker board attached to her wheel chain with words and letters written on it to allow her to communicate with us.  She always points to "Thank You" and "God Bless You" on her board, she is too kind.  I'll Fly Away has been added to our set list for every month.

We discussed the set list at dinner after the program and decided to add a few more songs, allowing a larger rotation.  One Merle Haggard that was asked for was "Silver Wings"; I had down loaded a version, but had not done anything with it.  I need to get it into the rotation, as the lady that asked for it is present every month.

I saw a lot of new staff again this month, and I think they may have a new activity director, again.  I called to make sure we where on the schedule earlier in the day and the woman I spoke with did not sound like the same one I have spoken to before.  As long as they keep letting us come.

Our oldest son bought a new video recorder; he gave us his old one, one we had bought him for Christmas when he was still in high school.  We may try and make use of it, to record some of the program! 

We are also expecting our first grand child any time!  Her name will be Faith; we are waiting for a call any day! 

My wife and I took a position at a small Rural Church just up the road from us.  We are now Pastor and wife of the Rock Springs Church.  Our best friend Sandy also made the change.  Several in our new congregation have expressed interest in taking part in our Nursing Home visitation!  God is doing great things, He always has…

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Sept. report

The house was rockin last night!  My sister in law Dusty was back for the first time in months, she is a big help with the residents, it always makes things go smoother when she is there to help with anything that arises.  Seemed like everyone was awake and hitting on all cylinders last night.  This is the first time we planned to start at 6:30 instead of 7, maybe that is the difference?  It was a packed house, maybe the most we have played for so far.  Saw a couple of new faces in the room!

Something we talked about on the way home last night, many residents will show almost no reaction during the music, but after when we go around shaking hands and thanking everyone for coming out, they will talk and smile and seem very glad we came.  Personal contact is very important; sometimes I can make it with residents during the show, but others it is only the one on one that seems to make the grade.

We tried something new this week, to mixed reviews.  I used the harmonica on a couple of tunes.  The first was to mimic the mariachi trumpets at the start of "Ring of Fire" and the other was for my wife and Sandy singing "Go Rest High on the Mountain".  Everyone loved the girls song, including me, but Ring of Fire was kind of a bomb.  I used a G harp for the Cash tune and a D for Go Rest High, the G harp was not very popular.

I even had a woman leave during the song, but she came back later, only to leave again when the girls sang.  We will have to work on that…

I use a cheap harp holder that goes around your neck so I can play guitar and harp together, it is not very hard.  If you are use to playing and singing at the same time, you will have very little trouble picking it up.

There was some ruckus down the hall with one of the residents, it lasted 10 minutes or so, lots of screaming!  We did a couple of loud upbeat numbers to cover, it worked pretty good.  Good thing to keep in mind, this is not the first time this has happened.  Maybe keep a good one in the very back of your book for such an occasion; I think we did "Do Lord".

It was good to have everyone back this month, had two new requests for songs, I'll Fly Away, and Silver Wings by Merle.  I did feel the AC come on two times while we where playing, I would give a dollar if they had left it on. 

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August report

Our August trip was nice and hot!  They don't say warm as a nursing home for nothing.  In the warmer months I think it is smart to gig in a Tee shirt, glad I did this month!

When we got there the people where waiting in the recreation hall like they have been, but the sound of piano music could be heard in the hallway.  It seems they missed up the time we where suppose to be there, and told the staff we would be there at 6:30.

I'm not sure how that happened, I even called Monday to make sure everything was a go; we have had some problems with the staff not being informed before.  The lady on the phone Monday said everything was written down.

When we get there the calendar in the hall has "singing with Jim 6:30pm", written over the top of a movie, The Gambler.  So the staff had everyone in place for a for a 6:30 show that didn't start till 7!  One of the nurses filled part of the time by playing a few tunes on the piano.  We never did see "Jim", being my name is Mark.

I called the activity director Wednesday to try and get everything straightened out.  Turns out they have yet another new activity director!  It took longer than it should to get things cleared up over the phone and she still didn't get what I was telling her.  And "Jim" still didn't have his spot written on the correct day on the planner in the hallway, but I'll let him work that out I guess…

We talked it over and we think we can make it by 6:30 from here on out.  It will be a little tight on time, but it should work with our current work schedules.

One of the residents at the home is a big help, she has been a great support of us from the start.  She helped me out with a couple of jokes; mine where pretty lame she decided.  So I asked her to have a few ready for next time, she is very excited, I am too.  We decided after the show that we need to add some new material and talked about a couple of songs to add.  I'm looking for a couple of songs where everyone knows the chorus, like "City of New Orleans".  I'll provided an updated set list next time I report.

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The July program

It is hard to believe I have waited so long to update this blog.  We are still playing once a month and things are going very well.  There is now another guy coming once a month to play, I don't have any idea what type of music he does.  I would love to meet him just to talk about our shared experience, perhaps in the near future.

Seems we have had a hard time staying on our schedule this summer, we keep moving the nights we can play.  My son's baseball season had something to do with it, and then we had our Vacation Bible School program this month.  So we pulled a Friday nighter this week, it was a great time.  Brought our nieces with us again, we could not get them to sing but they did tell a joke.  It went over very well, even if my wife had to help just a little.

Our friend Sandy was running a little late, but she only missed the first two songs.

We had a packed room again, now that the staff brings the residents down and has them waiting our crowd has grown almost every month.  The home has added a large screen TV to the recreation room and some furniture, seems like there are more decorations on the walls, I haven't asked the girls about it, but if I noticed I'm sure they do.  The acoustics of the room have changed a bit, it seems like it is a little harder to get the sound to carry.  I could foresee a time in the future where we might have to pack our amp with us…

Jokes continue to be a big hit.  I can make better eye contact and more of a connection telling a joke than I can while singing.  I still spend too much time looking at my music, but it is getting better.  It is hard to find practice time in the summer, and it's hard for me to make progress on my goal of not reading the music as I play.

When I first entered the room this week the nurse on duty told me it would be better if we came at 6:30 rather then 7, as so many residents had already went to bed.  I know this is a problem, but with our work schedules, unless we move it to a weekend, 7 is about as early as we can get there.  We will continue to work on ways around this.  The one time we came in the middle of the afternoon, everyone was a lot livelier!

We took a few pictures last trip, but they didn't turn our so hot. 

Note to self, don't sing when a picture is being taken...

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April Report

Seems like it has been awhile, I need to update some things. 

The Nursing Home show is going great; we keep adding material and asking for request for the next visit. 

Some things have changed; the Home now has two activity directors, one during the day and one in the evening.  They called last month to see if they could help us in any way, if the time was good for us, that kind of thing.  Both are new, and she just wanted to touch base with us.  There seems to be more staff around when we visit, and our guests are now in the activities room waiting on us when we get there!  This has been great and has increased our audience almost two fold!

We also have a book we sign noting that we have been there, who came and how long we stayed, this have been around a few months now at least, the girls had been signing it and I didn't even know it was there.  There is also a very large poster in the hall that shows the activities for each day, this is pretty new I think.  We had to reschedule our April visit by one week; it was noted on the poster.  "Singing with Mark", had been crossed out and "Relaxing Music" was written in its place.  The night we came they had marked out "Relaxing Music" and replaced it with "Singing with Mark"!  I guess it's us or a CD of ocean sounds…

We now have a coupe of new regulars coming and several more that sing with us and interact with us.  The jokes still continue to be one of the biggest hits.  This last month I tried something new, I told the same joke more than once.  I acted like I forgot I told it, by the third time one of the ladies that never speaks, yelled out the punch line, it was great.

"What do you call a boomerang that doesn't come back to you?"

"A stick"

It was so funny when she said stick, we would have bet money she didn't even know we where there before that.

I might tell that same joke again next month!

I also noticed something cool in the guest book.  One of the local Churches has a birthday party every month for anyone that had a birthday.  I think that is a pretty neat idea, I'm sure there is a good story about how they got started.

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