UM kitchen band helps take seniors down memory lane

By Rachel L. Toalson
Staff Writer
Their faces say it all.
Not all the seniors seated around tables at Vista Village, a retirement community in New Braunfels, may be able to express their nostalgia or sing with tunes they remember from childhood. But their joy is apparent.
At the first strains of “You Are My Sunshine,” the elderly men and women begin to beam, swept away on a journey back in time.
And members of the Jolly Jubilee Jammers, a kitchen band from Windcrest UMC, know they have once again fulfilled their mission.
“We’ve covered the waterfront of senior centers and assisted living facilities,” said Frank Bristow, 74, who performs with the band. “Many of these folks have lost contact, but when they hear the old songs and the music, you see a recognition happening. It’s a wonderful experience to see these folks be touched in a special way.”
Bristow’s wife, Doris, another band member, added, “You start singing ‘Jesus Loves Me’ or jitterbugging or slow dancing or waltzing, and people can relate to that.”
The Bristows often do the jitterbug during one song in the show, and Doris, 73, sometimes tap dances. When they aren’t swaying in each other’s arms, Frank plays the kazoo, a trumpet-like rhythmic instrument, and Doris uses kitchen pan lids as cymbals.
Jolly Jubilee Jammers began in February 2004, when newcomer Helen Marsh, who had played a toilet seat guitar with a kitchen band in Dallas, suggested forming one at Windcrest.
Deb Mayes, music minister at Windcrest, admits she had no idea what a kitchen band was and thought it was a little “weird” after Marsh explained it to her. But she advertised in the church bulletin and the newsletter about a formation meeting to see if anyone was interested.
Three people, including Mayes and Marsh, showed up.
The three pushed on, Mayes said, and today the group has grown to more than 30 performers.
“It was really something I saw as being an outreach to the elderly in our church,” Mayes said. “We have a really large senior group here, and not many (seniors) are involved in the music ministry. And for this, you don’t have to have a huge amount of talent.”
Jammers keep time playing saltshakers, cooking pans, wooden spoons, washboards, toilet seat cellos and guitars, dust-pan bucket bass guitars, and any other kitchen utensil that might make noise. Mayes leads the songs on a piano, and members sing.
The show has evolved into an hour of entertainment, Mayes said. The show changes twice a year, with only one element remaining the same—the patriotic medley with which every show closes.
In 2005 the group received the District Superintendent’s New Ventures in Ministry award at the San Antonio District Celebration.
The average age of members is 69. The oldest member will soon turn 90.
Collectively, members have been married for 1,121 years, with about 45 years the average, Mayes said. They volunteer 250 hours every week in the church and community.
Mayes said she was sensitive to their lives outside the kitchen band and tries to keep shows to once a week. Some weeks are busier than others.
Typically the group stays close to San Antonio, playing at nursing homes, retirement communities and, lately, daycare centers. Jammers traveled to Kerrville for the senior retreat at Mount Wesley Conference Center.
The Windcrest performers have been asked to visit Corpus Christi next year.
Sometimes the group receives an honorarium, Mayes said, but it’s never required.
Members are from Windcrest UMC and other churches, Mayes said. Sometimes the church gets new members from the ministry.
Wherever the Jammers travel, Mayes said she makes sure that people know the group is a ministry. The band performs a religious set of hymns and old camp songs between songs from the 1930s and 1940s—because “those are the songs people remember,” she said.
Mayes said she believes the Jolly Jubilee Jammers is one of the most rewarding ministries Windcrest has offered. Many groups go to retirement communities. But Jolly Jubilee Jammers don’t just want to sing at residents. The band wants to involve residents in the shows.
“There have been times when a nurse will come to me and point to somebody in a wheelchair and say, ‘This is the first time we’ve heard them talk,’” Mayes said. “Music has a connection that lots of other things don’t have. Even Alzheimer’s patients can remember songs.
“We’ve found a niche that other people didn’t seem to be addressing. And we’ve brought a whole group into the music ministry that wouldn’t otherwise be here.”
Frank Bristow said he enjoys the end of the show, when members begin to sing the medley of patriotic songs. He’ll watch the elderly—many of whom can barely stand—rise from their seats with their hands over their hearts.
“It’s a wonderful feeling that goes through your soul,” Bristow said. “We’re out there touching souls and taking Christ with us. It’s been a wonderful three years with the group, taking the Lord out to all those folks.
“They tell us we’re the best entertainment they’ve ever had. We always say we’re the only entertainment they can remember. But we’re touching them. That’s the important thing.”
For more information about starting a kitchen band in your church or to ask about the band’s availability, contact Mayes at (210) 654-0404, ext. 18.