BAND MAKES BIG DENT IN VETS' LONELINESS.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
Danny Davis Danny Davis is the name of:
After 14 years of sitting in every Thursday afternoon with Georgia Cotner's VA Band in the rec room at the Sepulveda VA nursing home, the professional musician never fails to see his old pals out there - on the grateful faces of the terminally ill Terminally Ill When a person is not expected to live more than 12 months. Notes: Any gifts given out by the afflicted person at this time may be considered as a dispersion of the estate rather than a gift. vets. ``It's beautiful and sad to see, the songs bringing tears to their eyes, smiles to their faces, and warm memories to their hearts,'' says the 88-year-old musician, who says he came for lunch one day and stayed for 14 years. During the Big Band era, Davis performed before sold-out audiences all over the country with such legendary bandleaders as Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was a popular United States musician and band leader, and a well-known trumpet virtuoso. Harry James was born in Albany, Georgia, the son of a bandleader of a traveling circus. , Spike Jones, Paul Whiteman Paul Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was a popular American orchestral leader. He was born in Denver, Colorado. After a start as a classical violinist and violist, Whiteman then led a jazz-influenced dance band, which became locally popular in San Francisco, , Artie Shaw Noun 1. Artie Shaw - United States clarinetist and leader of a swing band (1910-2004) Arthur Jacob Arshawsky, Shaw and Guy Lombardo Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo (June 19, 1902 – November 5, 1977) was a Canadian bandleader and violinist famous in the United States. With his three brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown of London, Ontario, he formed the big band The . Now he's playing vibes with a makeshift band that hasn't missed a Thursday in more than 20 years, performing for a handful of vets who make their home at Building 99, as the nursing home is known. This is one of the best gigs they've ever had, the band says. They're not making a dime, but the payoff is bigger than any check they've ever received. It's out there on the vets' faces every Thursday. Their old pals - tears, smiles and memories. ``There would be an immense hole left in Building 99 if these musicians stopped coming here every week,'' said Howard Cooperman, director of volunteers at Sepulveda and West Los Angeles
Only one other group has made this kind of weekly commitment to these vets - Post 603 of the Jewish War Jewish War can relate to:
``These are all men and women veterans too ill to go anywhere, so people have to come to them if they are to stay in touch with the outside. ``That's what Georgia and her band have been doing faithfully for more than 20 years - every Thursday,'' Cooperman said. Faithful is the key word. Last year, the band played at the annual VA luncheon at the Beverly Hills Hotel The Beverly Hills Hotel is a hotel in Beverly Hills, CA, at 9641 Sunset Boulevard. It was opened on May 12, 1912 and started by Margaret J. Anderson and her son, Stanley S. Anderson, who had been managing the Hollywood Hotel. to honor hundreds of volunteers in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. who help out at local VA hospitals. ``I asked the band if they'd be willing to do it again, but forgot that this year the luncheon is on a Thursday instead of Wednesday,'' Cooperman said. ``They all said, no, they couldn't make it. That's their day at the nursing home, and they couldn't miss that.'' The band turned down a gig at the Beverly Hills Hotel to play a VA rec room. That's all you need to know about where the heart of this band is. ``As good as the nurses and doctors are here, it's a killer, the loneliness,'' said veteran John Quinn John Quinn or Jack Quinn can refer to:
``Then Thursday comes, and the band shows up to start playing songs they recognize, and you start to see life again in the faces of the vets living here,'' Quinn said. Speaking on behalf of the 50 veterans living in the nursing home, recreational therapist Patrick Gregorio says the music Georgia's band provides is as important as any medicine in keeping these vets alive. ``It lifts their morale,'' he said. ``It gives them something, someone to look forward to seeing every week who takes them back to better times in their lives. ``I've asked the band members why they do it week after week because they're not getting paid. They say it gives them pleasure. So it works both ways, I guess, because they're giving us a lot of pleasure, too.'' Piano player Georgia Cotner, who took over the band after the previous leader died more than 20 years ago, was unavailable for an interview Monday, but Davis agreed it does cut both ways for the band. They're getting as much as they're giving in that rec room. ``Sometimes it's tough, though, because you get to know some of these vets personally and begin to recognize faces that all of a sudden aren't there anymore because they've died,'' he said. ``But then someone new arrives, and you start playing those old standards for them, and it's there again on the new faces,'' Davis said. Your old pals. Tears, smiles and memories. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Danny Davis and other band members entertain veterans every Thursday at the Sepulveda VA Hospital. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer |
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