Fill me up buttercup ukulele chords4/8/2023 ![]() “What’s hurting?” the instructor asked the class of about nine people. I lost track of time listening to the ukuleles, and before I knew it, it was time for gentle yoga with Sheila. The Senior Center’s ukulele group playing “Blue Bayou.” “It almost sounded like we knew what we were doing!” one player exclaimed after a particularly rousing rendition of “Blue Bayou.” Then they’d jump right in, with about half the group singing while they played. (Typically, they don’t get their own room and have to play in the common area, because the Regional Food Bank is distributing food in the art room on Thursdays, but this week the food bank was rescheduled to Friday.) Someone would suggest a song-“City of New Orleans” or “Fill Me Up Buttercup” or “Tulsa Time”-and the group would discuss the chords needed to play the tune. After finishing my reading (I’ll let you know if it was accurate in 2023), Mary had appointments for the next four hours, with a steady stream of seniors coming in to see into their future.Īfter my reading I scooted over to the already-in-progress ukulele group meeting, where six women and two men, who had been playing ukulele for anywhere from four years to one week, were gathered around the table in the art room with their instruments and sheet music pulled up on iPads. “The seniors tell me, ‘We just love to come and talk to you,’” she said. Mary is a retired nurse and cancer survivor who has been reading cards for close to 40 years, and hosts her own radio show on Mondays from 2-3pm on 91.1FM. I immediately made an appointment with her at the front desk for 10am, and just before then, Mary was ready for me. On the tour, Stacie had told me about Tarot card reader Mary Shimp, who comes in every Thursday to do individual readings. Tarot, Lenormand and Crystal Ball reader Mary Shimp offers readings in a small back room of the Senior Center every Thursday. (They’re currently waiting on a building permit to begin construction on a new Center next to the Saratoga YMCA.) “A lot of the members don’t want to say ‘senior center,’” Stacie tells me. Instead, Marketing and Outreach Coordinator Stacie Barnes gave me a tour of the space, which, it was clear to see, the Center has outgrown. Unfortunately, Liam, the Skidmore student who teaches the class (and whom some of the seniors find cute) wasn’t in that day. I showed up to the Center at 9am, just so I could get my bearings before the 9:15am start of Japan and its Culture class. This past Thursday, I spent the entire day at the Senior Center, participating in any and every activity I could Lois and her staff pretty much gave me free reign. Ceramics? Trivia nights? Van trips? Book Club? I’m so in.Īnd so, naturally, I used Saratoga Living After Hours as an excuse to get myself in there, despite being a couple decades too young (the center is open to people 50 and older, who can join for just $25 a year). Saratoga Senior Center members waiting to see The Forgettable Four barbershop quartet.Įver since interviewing Lois Celeste, executive director of the Saratoga Senior Center, for our 2021 Capital Region Gives Back feature, I’ve been wishing the Senior Center wasn’t just for seniors.
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