OPINION: Musical sunshine warms dreary day

A weekly column by retired Vidette reporter Tommi Halvorsen Gatlin

Though folks are hankering for sunnier weather, we’re still seeing plenty of dark skies and cold rain.

That can be daunting, especially for senior citizens who often “feel it in their bones.” But after living through more than 70 summers (and springs), I know the sun always returns — even if a little later some years than others.

At times, though, we do best to hie ourselves somewhere else for a short time where the “climate” is warmer. Attired last week in my winter coat, for example, I dodged rain drops and mud puddles to make my way from my car into the Beehive Retirement and Assisted Living center in McCleary for a “sunny” hour or so of music and laughter, courtesy of the Grays Harbor Banjo Band.

As if the music, 15 golden oldies, wasn’t enough, the bands’ antics were hilarious, warming both the hearts and spirits of everyone present. Starting off with “Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” the band’s president, Tom Shorey, and his stuffed steed, Mr. Ed, hammed it up, delighting the several dozen audience members, including two small girls.

A special ‘first chair’

Some band members didn’t play banjos, though. “Capt.” Pete Darrah, an 82-year-old former history and English teacher, fascinated me with his unique “instruments” — including his red metal, folding “1st chair.” With various drumsticks and a studied countenance, Darrah helped keep the performance upbeat.

He’d “tried out 175 chairs before he found the one with the best sound,” Shorey told me later. Darrah confirmed that, pointing out the “1/175” written on the chair in black marking pen.

He also “played” an adjustable window screen for the band’s rendition of the American folk song, “I’ve Been Working’ on the Railroad,” recreating the sound of train wheels by “opening and closing” the screen at increasing/decreasing speeds. “This song wears me out,” he quipped to an audience member, rolling his eyes as he sang. Darrah also effectively provided the sound effect of a steam locomotive coming to a stop.

While the band performed “San Antonio Rose” from 1938, Richard Woolsey of Elma added his expertise with a solo on a five-string bluegrass banjo. (Most banjos have four strings.) Introducing the selection, Shorey noted that five-string banjos are picked, not strummed.

With rapid “costume changes” (various hats — some droopy, adding to the amusement), the nostalgic offerings also included “Swinging on a Star,” crooned by a stand-in Harry Lillis “Bing” Crosby, retired veterinarian “Doc” John Stevenson. Singing the song from the soundtrack of Crosby’s 1944 movie, “Going My Way,” Stevenson even sported a brown pipe in the corner of his mouth, a la Crosby.

The afternoon’s tunes also included “Elmer’s Tune,” recorded in 1941 by the Glenn Miller orchestra, and the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” sung by the band’s tall drink of water, Nick Campbell, with Steve Hepp on the recorder (and Darrah actually drumming a real drum).

“Elmer’s Tune” was dedicated to former band member, Leona Keel, present in a front-row seat. Music Director Marilyn Redding and Shorey (who continued hamming it up) joined for a duet of “Play a Simple Melody.”

“Amazing Grace,” a couple Hawaiian songs, one featuring a dance, and others added to the diversity of the selections.

50 years of musical fun

Currently in its 50th year, the band was founded in 1968 in Aberdeen by Myron Hinkle, a professional musician, who had begun the Seattle Banjo Band in 1962. The Seattle band performed at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, noted Hinkle’s daughter, Linda Hall, who also performed with the Grays Harbor band for 25 years. Her brother, Ron, a banjoist, as well, who got his start in the Harbor band his dad founded, went on to serve in the military but didn’t leave the banjo far behind.

Their late father was inducted into the American Banjo Museum’s Four-String Hall of Fame in 2009, Hall said.

With about a dozen and a half musicians, the Grays Harbor Banjo Band is “dedicated to good music, good times and the community,” its Facebook page says.

The group, a nonprofit organization, can receive donations from performance venues but doesn’t charge for attendance. They’re also looking for new members, Shorey said. “All acoustic stringed instrument players are welcome to play with us, but what we really want and need is people interested in playing the 4-string banjo,” including those who want to learn to do that, he said. “And we’re always looking for good singers, and we’re interested in younger people, as well,” he added.

They practice at 7 p.m. the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at the Montesano Senior Center. Interested persons can call Marilyn Redding at (360) 533-4219 for more information.

For last week’s finale, Nick Campbell offered a vocal solo, “Till We Meet Again” — when “the skies will seem more blue down in Lover’s Lane, my dearie.”

I’m taking that as a promise and will be watching for notices of future public performances by this exceedingly entertaining group. Those reading this might want to do the same.

And thanks much, Grays Harbor Banjo Band, for the lovely sunshine on a day when it didn’t come much from the sky.

Tommi Halvorsen Gatlin is a retired reporter, who still contributes to The Vidette. Contact her by emailing the editor at editor@thevidette.com