I had this flash earlier tonight at Mansion Bingo Night that it would be a wonderful thing to do a weekly Karaoke show at the Mansion. We were all singing and laughing during Bingo tonight, and I’ve also heard the songs of some residents – Madeline, in her 90’s, loves to belt out Broadway show songs.
They would love Karaoke, nothing lifts their spirits more than song and laughter and stepping out of themselves. I’m excited about this idea although I know nothing about Karaoke or how to do it or what equipment we will need. I’m looking online and doing some homework.
I already know we will need a Karaoke stand and a digital screen to put it on.
We’ll need some music software also. That’s all I know, it doesn’t sound too expensive.
I think the staff and the residents will have a blast. So I’m going to go ahead and figure out what we need and price it. I’ll probably start with this stand, assuming Mansion Director Morgan Jones gives me the go-ahead.
She would be the first one to get up there and sing.
If you want to help with this or other Mansion activities we support, please send a contribution to Jon Katz. c/o P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected].
And thanks. Please mark all payments “the Mansion,” or if you prefer, “Karaoke.” Think of the videos.
Ellen didn’t win tonight, and she didn’t like my singing either. She let me know, Ellen has a wicked sense of humor. Matt won five different games, he is the runaway Bingo Champion this year.
It was another night of small acts of great kindness.
Ruth wanted a printout of a photo of her on the Lake George Steamboat Thursday for her “hubby,” Kenneth, who is in a rehab facility.
I bought a $299 fireplace/heater insert for the Mansion Great Room at the request of the staff, in cool and cold weather the residents love to sit in the room in the evening, and the fireplace insert crackles and glows and has a safety turn off if the insert warms at all.
The residents have always pleaded for an insert, it feels like a real fire to them.
I scored a victory tonight with Jack. In the three months in which she has been coming to the Bingo games, she has never accepted or wanted a single one of the many prizes I’ve bought and the Army Of Good sends regularly to the Mansion.
I’ve tried just about everything, from stuffed animals to singing flower pots, but no luck until tonight. She accepted a large print novel. Jackie is bright and very serious, Maria got her to laugh and smile tonight. She is quite serious about Bingo and never misses a night. I know what to get her now.
Jackie
Today, the new easy-to-use lightweight scale arrived at the Mansion, the residents can simply roll up onto it to be weighed, it will save the staff a lot of work. I’ll take a photo when it’s assembled.
The Army Of Good cleaned out the new Amazon Mansion Wish List, Halloween decorations and party plates are on the way. Any personal contributions of Halloween symbols or crafts would be most welcome.
I bought Tim a $40 gift certificate at the Battenkill Book store, he is a little down after his leg amputation, and dealing with some of the aftereffects. He seemed understandably depressed to me, it’s no fun losing a leg. If you’d like you can write him c/o Tim, The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.
Jean loves her new wide sneakers, he feet do not hurt for the first time in many weeks.
Buying book is one of Tim’s absolute loves, the certificate always gets him visiting Battenkill Books.
The refugee/ Mansion fund is unusually low, down to $800. The boat trip, scale and underwear/clothing purchases took a toll. I’d like to get it a bit higher, soccer season approaches.
If you can please consider helping by sending a contribution to the fund c/o Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. Please mark the payments for “The Mansion.”
Here is a list of Mansion residents who wish to receive mail. You can write them c/o The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.
Peggie and Kassi went out on the deck together and spent a long time staring out at the water, talking to each other, guessing who the rich people were who lived in the big mansions, and sharing the beautiful day with one another.
This kind of time is rare at the Mansion, where the staff is so busy, and the residents are less active. It is hard to replicate the experience of being outside and free in such a beautiful space as a boat on a lake, I was pleasantly surprised, ,even shocked, at how different everyone was outside of their daily lives.
Everyone kept telling me again and again how much they loved the boat and wanted to come back.
Peggie loves to dance, and so does Kassi, so at the end of the boat ride, I asked if they wanted to do a video of the two of them dancing. They did. This was love you can see and almost touch, a special world.
Of all the Mansion residents, Madeline, who is in her 90’s and grew up in an orphanage in the Bronx, loves music the music. A musician came to the Mansion today, and he sang the Beatles song “When I’m Sixty-Four.”
The song was especially prescient and empathetic for Paul McCartney, who wrote it, and the very young Beatles, who sang it. It showed an almost exquisite sensitivity for older people and the things they feel and worry about.
At the Mansion, almost everyone has seen sixty-four a long time ago, and while the Mansion is a warm and loving place to be, aging can be lonely and sad sometimes. The people there have left so much behind, and lost so much,, and struggle for things to look ahead to. They often feel abandoned and forgotten.
It is a pleasure to watch Madeline sing along with the music, she loves all the music she hears and knows every Broadway show tunes.
Her face is music all its own. I took a short video of the Mansion residents listening to that song today, and I felt the loneliness and sadness that is sometimes an inevitable by-product of getting to be far past sixty-four. Come and see.
The Mansion Art Show was full of energy, artistry and appreciation. There was even some music. Alice and Madeline applaud the art show winners. Maria teaches a monthly art class at the Mansion, and the Army of Good has supplied them with art supplies that have touched off a great artistic renaissance among the residents.
I gather that they have just about used up the existing cache of art supplies, and can use some more – paint, paper, brushes, arts and crafts. If anyone wishes, they can send some to the Mansion, c/o Julie Harlin, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.
