The Senior Scene

Ninety-two-year-old Jeanne Wheelock says she is “just a plunker.”

She is so much more than that.

Wheelock shows up for every weekly practice session of Tacoma Banjo Club and the group’s performances, as well. She also serves as the club secretary.

“I’ve been playing since 1988,” said Wheelock.

Wheelock said Frank Rinehart started the club and formed the band by putting an ad in a newspaper. A tuba player and five others showed up. Now the members come from all over Pierce County and from Kitsap County.

At a recent rehearsal at the Asian Cultural Center in Tacoma, the number of folks who came to sit in on the session outnumbered the banjo players.

Since 1991, James Ozanich has been a regular attending the practice sessions. He busied himself as soon as he arrived, bringing more chairs in for other audience members as the room quickly filled up.

As the session got underway, folks in the audience began tapping their feet and clapping.

Club president Gary Hauenstein said the group has a steady following,

and most of the folks attending practice sessions and performances (at retirement communities, casinos and private parties, among other venues) have gray hair and bald heads.

“The 1920s, ‘30s and ‘40s is their type of music,” he said. “We all have memories of a song, and to the majority of the people, everything is related to music. They remember what they were doing and where they were as a kid.”

Hauenstein said the group usually draws the elderly crowd because they take those memories back to their youth, and the players enjoy looking into the audience to see their reaction.

“There isn’t one time we go somewhere and play that we don’t see folks tapping their feet, eyes closed, smiling or crying, because it brings back memories,” he said.

The Tacoma Banjo Club is a very friendly group. And popular. “We are already booked for 2018,” Hauenstein said. 

Hauenstein has been playing since he was 9 years old, when his dad, who also played the banjo, put one in his lap.

“I never had any formal lessons,” he said.

Hauenstein, a retired fire chief with Central Pierce Fire and Rescue, said club members play a Dixieland style of music, and they have a real following.

Lorraine Lewis, who plays the washboard, said she started on the banjo back in the 1960s and with the group since its beginning.

“Of course I like the music and the people – we are a very closeknit group, like a big family. We enjoy playing and hope it improves someone’s day,” she said.

Lewis said sometimes when they play a melancholy piece, she has seen members of the audience tear up. But mostly the group performs upbeat songs.

“We feel like we are doing the audience some good and doing ourselves some good, and each one of us loves playing,” she said.

Pianist Joyce Fischlin has been with the group for four years and compares it to doing a form of community service.

“I am simply here for the enjoyment,” she said. “It gives me an opportunity to ad lib and pull music out of my head to complement the other instruments. It gives me an opportunity to jam – just start playing – and I really like the people,” she said.

Beverly Dallman, one of the two pianists with the group, said she has been playing piano with them since she saw an ad in Senior Scene in 1998. “They wanted a pianist, a player who would work for food and fun,” she said, adding she couldn’t wait to sign up.

Recently, focusing on holiday favorites, the all-volunteer group kicked off the season in style, performing for residents and guests at the Willow Gardens retirement community in Puyallup. Resident Judith Abeyta was meeting a friend at the holiday event and said the performances were a highlight for everyone.

Members of the banjo club wore their sporty red outfits as they performed songs everyone could relate to, including “Frosty the Snowman,” “Silver Bells,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas,” just to name a few.

Bob Ritter opened the concert by reminding the banjo players, “Find your favorite C chord.” And just like that, the performance was off and running.

Audience members were tapping fingers and feet as the musicians never missed a beat, performing holiday favorites everyone could recognize. Staff setting up for the residents’ dinner were nodding their heads and lip-synching to the music as they worked.

“When we go to the facilities and see folks faces light up and toes and fingers tapping, it brings joy to my heart, “said Fischlin. “I have such a good time. It warms my heart to see the reaction of our audience and also the camaraderie in the group. A bunch of musicians just sitting down and enjoying each other. It is such a hoot.”

 

Guests pouring in to the Puyallup Activity Center on a recent Friday had to arrive early to snag a seat for the performance of the Korean Children’s Choir. Every one of the 75 seats was filled a half-hour before the choir took the stage.

The Far East Broadcasting Company – Korean’s Children’s Choir use their singing ability to witness Christ and express their appreciation for American missionaries and soldiers who died for the Korean people, according to Joy Kang, executive assistant to the chairman of Far East.

“The primary theme of the choir’s performance is Christian gospel and hymns, as well as local folk songs and patriotic songs to make people aware of the privilege of living in their wonderful country,” she said.

All choir members’ families are responsible for their own expenses, including air and bus fare, lodging and meals.

The talented children, ranging in age from 7 to 13, are selected through a rigorous audition process, and their concerts are free to the public.

Choir member Hannah Shim was visiting the U.S. for the first time when the group performed in Puyallup, and she said she hoped to rise to the level of being a really good singer.

Tour director Simon Kim said there are 12 groups of choirs.  “All the kids are great,” he said, adding they have performed all over the world, including at the White House and United Nations.

The colorful performance at the Puyallup Activity Center included traditional favorites “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho,” “Oh Susanna,” “My Old Kentucky Home” and “Swanee River,” as well as a host of other folk and patriotic songs that had the audience members clapping and tapping their feet.

Bob Chapman, executive director of the Meridian Hills retirement community, brought a group of its residents to see the choir.

“Our folks love going to events in the community,” he said.

Anne Troccoli and Uta Schier, friends since 1976 who get together every week, also came to enjoy the music.

Trudi Bocott, a senior services assistant for the City of Puyallup, was pleased she was able to arrange for the performance.

“We are very blessed to have this group come to our senior center. They are world-renowned, and I am so thankful. I made bags of chocolate-covered raisins for the kids,” she said.

All too soon, the performance was gearing down with patriotic songs and a huge American flag that had audience members standing, cheering and wiping their eyes.

Choir members then rushed into the audience, hugging each and every guest and whispering into their ears, “God bless you.”

Kim addressed the audience and expressed the choir’s gratitude to the United States for sending missionaries to Korea and troops to fight in the Korean War – and to issue a plea for peace in the current Korean situation.

“You sent them to protect our country so these kids can be here to express our gratitude. We thank you, United States. Our country is in danger. Pray for Korea,” he said.

 

Joan Cronk, who wrote this article, is a freelance writer from Puyallup.

 

 

 

Dan Zwink is a recycling expert. And an artist.

“I’ve kind of evolved over the years,” said Zwink, whose unique, large creations include a giraffe that stands 11 feet tall, a larger-than-life rooster, and a Tyronnosaurus rex.

He toyed with welding things together when he was in high school. “First I was making little metal sculptures and then started welding coat hangers together, and that led to making creatures,” he said.

They’re all made from a wide array of recycled materials. He is, however, picky about his coat hangers.

“I like the thicker ones,” he said.

Zwink got his start about 10 years ago. He and his co-worker buddies at Boeing got together when the plant announced it was on the hunt for artistic folks.

“I got on a team and we built a Bill Boeing statue – 10 feet tall made out of tools that we welded together, a team of five of us, and that got me thinking about what I was doing and how I could advance it. It looked so cool,” he said.

His creatures are built from the feet up, are colorful, interesting, large, and each one has a unique color theme.

Zwink said collecting all his supplies are half the fun.

“First I build a big frame, like a big birdcage, and use welding wire and coat hanger wire,” he said.

Each design begs the viewer to spend time walking around, looking high and low and inspecting every inch for the interesting touches he adds. Every item in the creation has a purpose. There is a lot to see.

After constructing the frame, he fills the open spaces with recycled material, such as orange buckets or plastic pumpkins he cuts up to close the gaps. A closer look reveals Sponge Bob and other toys, color-coordinated sunglasses, plastic toys, or a broom on the giraffe to complete his mane.

The T. rex dinosaur, named Roary, was entered in a contest for kids at the Washington State Fair and received the People’s Choice award for eight days. It sports a bright green skin, while the rooster stands out with blues, oranges, reds and bright-yellow legs.

“I like to build things that are bright,” he said.

Zwink uses colored zip ties to attach materials to match whatever color he is using, and he incorporates recycled material for almost all of his projects. Friends often drop by with a bag full of items they think he might be able to use in future projects.

Zwink said his artistic endeavors are his therapy, and he spends a lot of time in his 10-by-12-feet shed in the back yard of his Puyallup home, working on his projects while listening to Mariners games on the radio.

His wife, Kim, supports his hobby. She said Dan has always been creative.

Kim also has a creative decorating touch and likes to visit garage sales. When Dan tags along, he usually heads for the free bin, always thinking ahead to his next project, to see if any of the recycled items will be useful to him.

The giraffe, which took a couple of years to complete, is the largest piece he has made. It’s light enough for Zwink to move by standing underneath. He will enter it in the Washington State Fair’s art show during the annual fair in Puyallup in September. He has his fingers crossed that his design will make the cut.

While walking around the giraffe, admirers who look closely can find pumpkins, orange sunglasses, cookie cutters and part of a newspaper box among the design.

Never in it for the money, Zwink donated a Bengal tiger he constructed to a Gig Harbor grade school. 

Zwink will retire in a few years and already has a project in mind for that time. A few years ago, his dad picked up a handful of watches at a garage sale and they are in a box in Zwink’s shed.

“I’m going to use them for a time machine,” he said.

 

Joan Cronk, who wrote this article, is a freelance writer from Puyallup and frequent contributor to Senior Scene.