the dexter senior center's phenomenal music program

​By Aimee Bingham Osinski anbingham@gmail.com
 
The music center of the brain is the last to shut down in Alzheimer’s patients. According to the Mayo clinic, listening to or singing songs can provide emotional and behavioral benefits to people with Alzheimer’s. It can relieve stress, reduce anxiety and depression, and reduce agitation.
I witnessed the effect of music on my own grandmother as I was losing her little by little to dementia.  I brought her to a church service, and she started her day frustrated and angry.  The minute the church music began, she belted out every single word of the song as if she had no memory loss.  I was surprised enough to hear her sing so loud and clear, I turned to look at her and the look on her face was pure joy.  .The music gave her back her happiness.  Nothing did that  at the time.   So, when I heard the Senior Center Choir, Friends in Harmony,  was going to have a practice after lunch,  I wanted to wait and see if I saw the same change of expression on some of the singer’s faces.  I waited for the choir to arrive. I watched as members of the choir pulled chairs out of the craft room and set up for practice.  I was pleased to be introduced to the seemingly, perpetually cheerful Choir Director,  Janet Potter.  Intrinsically, I could tell she spent a lot of time on stage.  Maybe it was her confidence and the way she commanded the room when she walked in, maybe it was the sparkle in her eye or maybe it was the little grin on her face as she spoke.  But, it seemed clear to me Janet was a pro on stage.  Her natural joy and pleasant demeanor made her very likable immediately. 
Janet’s face took  a more serious look when she told me how she ended up directing the choir for the Dexter Senior Center.  She explained that she’d lost her husband and moved to be with family.  She didn’t know anyone in the area and joined the Senior Center because she wanted to learn conversational French.  When she did she asked if there was a choir, when she found out there wasn't one, she started it. Now it’s very sought after.
She tells me the choir started the season with 8 songs and now they're up to 16 or 18. She says,``we're having so much fun singing, we want to perform.” And perform, they do. They have about 7 concerts lined up for the year: four during the holiday season and another three in the spring.  Once the majority of the choir arrives, she takes her place behind the new piano the center was able to get through a trust.  It travels with her when the choir performs.  She has them open their music to Sing, by the Carpenters.  I carefully watch the expressions on the faces of the members, which do light up as soon as the music starts.  I believe she lives by the lyrics of the song and uses it as a lesson for her members who are a little less confident about their ability to start.  I think she pulls them out of their shell with her charm.  And in doing so, she’s gifting the choir members with the ability to deal with anxiety and depression in a healthy natural way. 

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