By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
PEMBERVILLE—One by one, a group of Otterbein Pemberville Senior Life Community residents came together through the common bond of music, only to discover their music united a larger community.
The group of seven musicians and three behind-the-scenes supporters, now named “Adventures in Music,” joined forces to share the magic of music, first with one another and later with other Otterbein residents and their families and friends.
What started as pianist Carolyn Rebar and cellist Patricia Hinds playing music together went from a duet to an ensemble of three then four then up to seven musicians, each with their own talents and personalities.
According to Rebar, the five original musicians have all had years of musical training and performing experience, ranging from orchestra cellist, dance band saxophonist and announcer, rock band and church vocalist, and classical and popular piano performers. Though they come from varied backgrounds, today the group is dedicated to learning new music to perform for the enjoyment of their Otterbein colleagues and friends.
As the story goes
Every group has a leader, captain, or in the music world, a conductor. For Adventures in Music, Rebar would be considered the conductor, or more descriptively, the instigator who brought the group together and organized the practices and programs.
As Rebar recalls the group’s beginnings, she visited Patricia Hinds in her nearby Otterbein villa and noticed she had a cello. When she learned Hinds had recently played in the Terra State Community College Symphonic Orchestra, “I immediately asked Pat if she would like to get together to play music,” she said. “We began practicing and decided to play a program together.”
In the meantime, another Otterbein villa resident and pianist, Margie Shaffer, talked to Carolyn’s husband, Jim, and inquired if Carolyn would consider playing piano duets with her.
“When we sat down to play together, it was as if we had been duet partners for years,” Rebar said.
The three musical friends and neighbors Shaffer, Rebar planned, practiced and presented a Christmas program. After the successful Christmas program, David Ziems liked what he heard and asked about bringing his tenor saxophone skills to the group. It didn’t take long for him to join the weekly rehearsals.
The fifth original member to join the group was singer Kay Heilman, who was described to Rebar as “a vocalist who could sing anything.”
Doris Pylant and Richard Reece are the newest additions, officially making the musical ensemble a septet. As the group expanded and the programs involved more performances, Jim Rebar, Dennis Ramge and Norris Hinds stepped in to support them as photographer/videographer, stage manager and usher, respectively, as well as to provide extra eyes on the audience to make sure there were no health issues.
The senior lineup
The ensemble’s bond is obvious as they chat and joke together in practice. They are like-minded musicians, but they each bring their own life stories to the team. Here is some of the basic biographical information about the players, presented in alphabetical order.
Kay Heilman is the female vocalist, who has been singing since she was four years old. She never learned to read music, but she can pick up on most tunes effortlessly. In her professional life, she was an administrator, and in retirement has taken on graphic design of the flyers and programs for Adventures in Music.
Pat Hinds followed in her mother’s footsteps and learned to play the cello as a child. Because music “was never a really high passion” for Hinds, she put the cello down and spent more than 30-years as a school psychologist, assessing the academic needs for thousands of children. “I can’t imagine a better job,” she said about working with children who needed extra help in school.
Her mother continued to play the cello for enjoyment and in church until the pain of arthritis made playing difficult. She gave the cello she had purchased in the 1930s to Hinds, who eventually had it restored.
Instead of letting the beautiful string instrument sit in a closet, Hinds took lessons from Terra State’s Barb Siebold who eventually convinced the retired psychologist to join the college’s community orchestra. “I couldn’t play that well, but I did my best and really improved” in the nearly 10 years that she performed with the orchestra. Her husband, Norris, supports her and the group, serving as an usher during the programs.
Doris Pylant, at 94 years old, is not only the oldest of the group, but she might also display the most diverse musical talents. She started playing piano in the third grade, but added hammered dulcimer, fiddle and spoons to her instrumentation.
She also composes music. “But I’m not taking credit for that. I credit the Lord,” she said.
Dennis Ramge loves to sing, but his role with Adventures in Music is to make sure the microphones are where they need to be and to help with logistics as needed. He also seems to provide comic relief, as he pointed out during the interview that when he went to music camp in the mid-1950s the thing he learned best was to play poker. He continues to sing in his church choir when he can.
Carolyn Rebar is a pianist and coordinator for the group. “She’s very organized,” Hinds said about her. She’s the force behind arranging the group’s practices and scheduling the programs, but she is also a force as she masters the magic of the piano’s 52 white and 36 black keys.
She has studied piano for a lifetime, starting when she was five years old. She won numerous awards as a young pianist and continued playing throughout her life. She worked as a federal employee for the National Security Agency, but continued to teach even while she lived in Germany for several years.
After retirement, she continued working on her piano skills with various professionals. Most recently, she studied with Dr. Laura Melton, professor of piano and chair of the music performance program at Bowling Green State University.
“That time was a real gift,” Rebar said, where she specialized in learning 62 of Joseph Haydn’s piano sonatas. Her husband Jim is the biggest advocate for her and the musical ensemble, helping promote them by taking photos and videos of the programs, and helping oversee the needs of the audience.
Dick Reece lends his outstanding tenor voice and animated performance skills to Adventures in Music. He was a beloved music educator for 19 years at BGSU, earning the ProMusica Faculty Award in 2004 for exceptional service to BGSU students.
He also taught vocal music in Paulding and Bryan schools for many years.
Margie Shaffer is an accomplished pianist and a co-coordinator with Rebar.
She started piano when she was five. “It was a gift I enjoyed through high school and for groups and churches,” she said. She also was church organist or awhile.
Shaffer, a talented sight reader, said, “Music has been an important part of my life.”
David Ziems plays saxophone and serves as emcee during the programs. He also thought up the ensemble’s name and contributed a vast library of sheet music for their selections.
He has been an instrumentalist since he was in eighth grade. He started playing the trumpet after he auditioned to sing in a school musical and was encouraged to try an instrument instead, he said. He switched to trombone until he learned about the cool sounds of a saxophone when Elvis came on the scene. “I wanted to be like him,” Ziems said.
He worked in statistics and mainframe computers but was always happy to leave work behind when he headed to band practice. “No matter where we lived, I always had local bands to play in,” including Genoa Legion Band and the jazz band and symphonic orchestra at Terra State. His computer skills came in handy for transposing and arranging music using a computer program.
Putting it all together
The seven Otterbein Senior Life residents came together because of a mutual love of music. They believed in the power of music for themselves and for the listeners.
Because of their devotion to sharing music, the Bowlus Life Center at the senior community comes alive bimonthly with the group’s musical performances.
They don’t all play together; instead, each individual, duet or trio chooses a few songs from their favorite repertoires.
“Each person chooses their own music because no one should do music they aren’t passionate about,” Rebar said.
The programs are always balanced featuring music that ranges from favorite hymns and classical compositions by some of the greatest musical composers to more contemporary songs that jog a memory of days gone by.
At February’s program, an array of love-themed songs kept the audience entranced for nearly an hour. They enjoyed the harmony and balance of several classical pieces featuring pianos and saxophone.
The back-and-forth of “My Funny Valentine” by Heilman and Reece had the audience laughing, and the upbeat version of “Yankee Doodle Rhythm” featured Shaffer and Rebar together on piano and Pylant showing off her amazing spoon-clacking skills. Toes were tapping and heads were bopping.
Sue Donaldson, one of the group’s biggest champions and a frequent audience member, has nothing but praise for the ensemble’s efforts.
“After I heard them at Christmas, it was heart-warming to see what an impact it had on our community,” she said. “Their talents continue to give back to the community.”
The power of music is visible among the residents, Donaldson added. “You can see the cognitive issues settle down” when they hear the music. She understands the importance of tapping into memories for those with cognitive issues. Her mother, Kathleen Coffman, passed away in 2017 at Otterbein after living with dementia for 11 years. Music would often calm and delight her.
According to a recent article in AARP Magazine, scientists have identified that music is able to tap into the depths of the brain where “melodies and lyrics lurk … ready to be released at the sound of a few notes.”
Memories that are thought to be lost forever can often be stimulated through music, and singing along with others to a beloved song can awaken feelings that have been hidden away.
Thus, as Adventures in Music wraps up each program, they encourage audience participation. The fitting finale for February had folks singing along to “Sentimental Journey.”
Gonna take a sentimental journey.
Gonna set my heart at ease.
Gonna take a sentimental journey
To renew old memories.
The group’s next bimonthly program is on April 13 at 2 p.m. in the Bowlus Life Enrichment Center at Otterbein Senior Life Community, 20311 Pemberville Road. Four members of the group are preparing a different music program entitled “Hymns and Their History” on March 15 at 2 p.m.
