This one is probably behind a paywall but maybe most of you can read it. I’ll briefly summarize below for those who can’t.
Colette Hawley has made it her years-long mission to visit senior centers and sing to residents. The Chicago-based performer hit a snag when the novel
coronavirus started spreading, so she decided to bring in some heavy machinery.
With nursing homes across the country prohibiting visitors, Colette rented a 30-foot cherry picker bucket truck to serenade residents from a safe distance: outside the third- and fourth-floor windows of Chicago Methodist Senior Services.
She has been singing to seniors and Alzheimer’s patients across the country since 2014. When the pandemic hit and she realized she could no longer go inside nursing homes, she decided she had to take drastic measures. She turned to Google and typed “cherry picker rentals.”
After calling a few local rental companies, she asked friends to pitch in to help defray the rental cost and, after receiving the necessary permissions and signing a waiver, she soon found herself placing her 28-inch speaker and wireless microphone into the bucket of a giant piece of unfamiliar construction equipment. The rental company gave her a brief lesson and she taught herself more when she reached the nursing home.
With the blessing of the nursing home, she raised herself 30 feet into the air. Once she was at the fourth-floor window of residents, she belted out “All of Me.”
Then she sang “Tutti Frutti” and a stirring rendition of “America the Beautiful.”
The cherry picker gave isolated nursing home residents an up-close view of the performance. It was a spectacle, and they loved it.
What a great spirit figuring out an innovative way to bring happiness and song to nursing home residents!