AUGUSTA, Maine — In regular years, schedules at nursing homes and assisted living facilities would likely be busy now, booked with choirs coming to sing Christmas carols and bring some holiday cheer. Like most other things, that tradition won't look the same in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic. One group based in Augusta, however, is trying to help seniors feel connected in a different way.
The Maine-ly Harmony women's barbershop chorus was incorporated in 1989 and has been visiting places like nursing homes and senior residential centers in central Maine during the holidays for years -- for free. A number of the women in these choirs are in their sixties and seventies, so they say they understand why this year has been tough.
"We know how the isolation can be -- how bad it can be," Janet Dunham, a Maine-ly Harmony member from Belgrade, expressed to NEWS CENTER Maine.
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It's why these 25 women from all different parts of the state decided to get creative and turn to technology. Since June, they've been meeting Wednesday evenings at their regular time to rehearse virtually with learning tracks. They decided to choose a few Christmas carols to each record individually, and Dunham and fellow member Barbara Combs of Topsham edited together two videos to send to senior facilities.
"We had been watching a number of virtual choirs, and we thought we'd give it a try," Combs told NEWS CENTER Maine about the process. She says any feedback they've received from the eight locations to which they were able to send the Vimeo video has meant a lot.
"It's a lovely feeling to get an email back, saying, 'Thank you so much. This was just what we needed," Combs expressed.
The effort is also touching to staff members at these facilities. They say this year has been tough and that this kind of connection is perhaps more important than ever to try to maintain some kind of normalcy.
"Usually, people come inside -- and unfortunately, we can't do that," Bobbi Jo Welch, the director of activity services at MaineGeneral Rehabilitation and Long Term Care at Gray Birch, said. She sat one-on-one with a few residents to watch the videos and says their reactions were priceless. One woman even said she was a former member of the chorus.
"Just watching their faces, their smiles -- they were toe-tapping. They were singing word for word," Welch laughed.
For the Cedar Ridge Center nursing home in Skowhegan, this was the first time they had connected with Maine-ly Harmony. Recreation director Jamie Doiran says normally, they see a few entertainers a week, but that came to a stop earlier this year. For residents, this video came at a good time when the holidays are a bit lonelier than usual.
"I was thrilled. I was absolutely thrilled," Cheryl Washburn, a resident who has been at the Cedar Ridge Center for three years, admitted. She lost a friend to the pandemic, and units at the facility have been isolated for health reasons -- so she says any joy is welcome. "They were beautiful. Their singing is beautiful."
It's an indication that in our darkest days, music still has the power to bring people together.
Dunham says Maine-ly Harmony is always looking for new members. To learn more, you can visit their website.