The Simcoe Songsters embodied the joy of music, bringing cheer along with favourite tunes into nursing and retirement homes for the last 12 years.

Special care is given to selecting oldies but goodies for a freshly themed repertoire. The choir performs every Tuesday. while rotating visits to about 15 different residences.  

Songs like Mockingbird Hill, Red Red Robin, It’s a Small World, I’m Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover, and Something to Sing About, have been ushering in the season.

Musical director Christina Jay has been leading the group for the last 10 years.

“We sing the old musical numbers from songs people remember, and pieces they can sing along to,” Jay noted. “Even people with Alzheimer’s, when they hear a familiar tune, you see them singing it, mouthing the words.”

Having lived in Barrie for 21 years, Jay retired briefly to Brampton with her husband, Rev. Donald Jay. Having directed a number of church choirs and founding a hand-bell choir in Barrie, Jay decided to form a hand-bell choir in Brampton as well. In her work as a social director for a senior’s retirement home there, she regularly saw the importance of music in later years.

“I would go down and play the old hymns and they would sing them. One man was a great pianist. I would lead him to the piano and start a tune, and he could play that you would weep. He didn’t know his wife’s name … Music really does speak to people – so we do songs seasonally,” she said.

The Simcoe Songsters began with the inspiration of two founding members, Marjorie Stewart and Anne Campbell. Stewart, who is 95, is the oldest member of the group, and continues to bring her voice and enthusiasm to the performances, which were occasionally known to include the ukulele.

Ron Sclater, a retired Barrie principal, entertains with the group as well, and has been know to present some enjoyable selections like When I Was a Lad, I Am the Pirate King, as well as a duet with Stewart, The Alphabet Song, with its fun, “A, you’re adorable,” lyrics.

Keeping things simple means The Simcoe Songsters have managed to maintain a low budget, which enables them to continue singing. They don’t purchase sheet music, they car pool to locations and keep practices to a minimum.  

With 40 shows per year, the choir does not charge for their appearances, but at times an honorarium has been offered. Over time, the small sums have added up and the group was glad to give back to the community once again, with a recent donation to Hospice Simcoe.

The main goal is to sing happy songs, and each show ends with Go With a Song in Your Heart.

“It’s a real team effort,” Jay said. “Everybody in the group is very supportive and it works like clockwork.”

The idea of seniors singing for other seniors has been very engaging for all involved.

“I think they look forward to us coming. It’s so rewarding to see how people get so much pleasure out of it and how they perk up when we come. Most of us feel that as long as we can do it, we’ll do it.”