‘Old Tyme Music, Real Time Fun’
The Georgia Mountain Music Club draws crowds to play, listen and dance to music.
The Georgia Mountain Music Club draws crowds to play, listen and dance to music.
Walking by the Charles C. Parker Center for Active Adults on a Wednesday morning, you might be pleasantly surprised to hear what sounds like a mountain concert wafting from the sides of the building. Every Wednesday at 10 a.m. the Georgia Mountain Music Club meets at the center on Kingston Highway to have a little singing, strumming and bootscooting fun for all.
The 278-member club fills the meeting room of the center looking to enjoy “Old Tyme Music, Real Time Fun” as the group’s banner says they have had since they were founded in 1986.
“I come because I love the country music,” Wayne Casey said, “I started singing and playing country music when I was 5 years old and still love it today.”
Casey said that he had been a member of the club for at least 12 years.
“Once a year we have a competition to see who top entertainer is,” Casey said. “I won back in 2012. It was a great honor with so much talent around me.”
Linda Forsyth, who serves as the group’s secretary, retired from the Rome News-Tribune in 2006 and has been coming to the club on Wednesdays ever since.
“I love to meet new people and hear all the wonderful music,” Forsyth said. “It is a great form of entertainment for all of us and a wonderful reason to get out of the house.”
Forsyth said that the group hosts a lot of social events throughout the year — such as a picnic at the Lock & Dam and a Christmas party at the end of the year.
“The performers will sing at nursing homes and other centers on Thursday as well,” Forsyth said, “Everyone loves to hear the music.”
Members pay $10 a year to be a member and are welcome at any and all festivities. Forsyth said that they also take up a donation at every meeting
which they present in totality to the Charles C. Parker Senior Center at the end of the year, the group is considered a nonprofit.
Friendship
Sandy Stark, a retired professor, said that she and her husband Jim never missed a meeting.
“We come for the friendship,” Stark explained. “It really helps to nurture your caring about others when you come and enjoy something like this with a large group.”
The group also allows nursing homes to bring
in any patients that might want to come in and listen or even dance.
Bass player Maureen Dillard said that the meeting was the highlight of her week.
“We all need some place to be with people,” Dillard said. “I love to perform and look at and see all the smiles out there looking back at me.”
Dillard almost always plays and sings a solo for the group. She has been playing both the guitar and bass for over 40 years and enjoys playing old time blue grass and country music.
Toward the end of the meeting members are recognized for birthdays by the president of the group Malcolm Talley and any needs or sickness is shared with the group. Anniversaries of all sorts are celebrated as well.
In the most recent meeting held on Valentine’s Day, all the ladies were given long stem roses from the club president and long-standing club members Lee and Brenda Ivey were named club sweethearts after achieving 64 years of marriage. The couple was awarded chocolates, roses and a great round of applause from the group.
“I have been in the GMMC off and on since 1987,” Malcolm Talley explained, “Work would sometimes interfere when I might be on first shift, but I always ended up coming back.”
Talley said this was his second time serving as president for the club. He
said as a lifelong bachelor it had always been a great source of fun and a way to meet new people in the community.
“I have always enjoyed playing old type music, especially bluegrass,” Talley smiled. “My oldest brother was first to bring me to the club because he enjoyed it — I have been coming ever since. The music is very therapeutic for me.”
Anyone interested in joining the group for a boot scooting time can sign up at the Charles Parker Center for Active Adults. The group meets every Wednesday at 10 a.m. for fun and fellowship in the meeting hall. The membership fee is $10 per person annually.
In addition to the Wednesday meetings they have also added Monday night “Jam Sessions” 6-8 p.m. inviting anyone with musical ability to come and join the group.
“It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or have been playing a long timeyou are invited to participate,” Talley outlined during the meeting. “Any acoustic stringed instrument or harmonica is welcome.”
Talley also said that they are teaching guitar lessons on Wednesdays 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the south conference room of the Parker Center.
The group also has information and videos available online on Facebook. You can find by searching for @gamtnmusic or Ga Mountain Music Club in the search bar.