Musician volunteers time to entertain
By PAMELA BRUST, pbrust@newsandsentinel.comPARKERSBURG - Jerry Halverson doesn't consider himself much of a musician, but some of his fans at Worthington Manor Skilled Nursing Facility might disagree.
You'll find Halverson, decked out in his straw hat and barbershop quartet armbands, tickeling the ivories every Wednesday as he entertains the nursing home residents, their families, and staff.
Jerry and his wife Lois (Pokey) Halverson of Parkersburg began volunteering with FaithLink through their church, Stout Memorial United Methodist, about ten years ago. Halverson retired in 1997 from his position as a bank president at WesBanco in Gihon Village. Pokey is a retired nurse.
"I've always been involved with helping people, so FaithLink seemed like something I would be interested in," Jerry said.
"And it was something we could do together," his wife added.
Faith Link matches elderly and disabled needing assistance with trained volunteers to help out. There are currently 300 care receivers and approximately 120 community volunteers. In 2007, 138 volunteers provided more than 2,000 hours of volunteer service to 282 individuals in need.
"We match volunteers with a care receiver according to the volunteer's time and interest availability and location and the need and time requirement of the receiver. We have some volunteers who only provide transportation; others are matched with a specific person. They may take out the trash, do light household work, just stop by or call for a visit. Others may take them grocery shopping, or just provide some help with chores. All the caregivers are volunteers," said Jean Phillips, Faith Link community liaison.
The Halversons assisted a couple with weekly grocery shopping. The wife suffered from Alzheimer's disease, and her husband was legally blind and had difficulty hearing. Jerry also provided transportation to doctor's appointments for another elderly woman and her disabled daughter. Jerry, 72, used to accompany another care receiver on walks, take him shopping or just stop by for a visit. Then the man was sent to Worthington Manor. Jerry continued visiting his FaithLink friend, going over around lunch time.
"When lunch was over, I'd start playing the piano. That's when the program director there asked me to start coming in to play on a regular basis. I asked him how I was doing. He told me I needed to pick up the tempo a little bit. I got a big kick out of it," Jerry said. That was in June 1999. The care receiver died in 2001, but Jerry continues to go to the center and play piano.
"It's a quiet time, there are residents, their caretakers, and staff members, probably 80-90 people there on Wednesdays. I developed a good rapport with them and I enjoy it too. I'm not really much good at playing the piano, I got some old Reader's Digest songbooks, with the older popular songs in them. One they really like is "Blue Tail Fly," they really get caught up in it. Some of them hum or sing along, some of them call out requests. There's one gal who loves Amazing Grace, so I always play that," he said. "I'm also playing now at Wingate assisted living home in the evening, they seem to enjoy it."
"We love having Jerry come in and play," said Judy Redmond, actvities director at Worthington.
"We really enjoy hearing him, we like all the songs he plays," said Donna Miles, one of the nursing home residents.
Halverson said he started taking piano lessons when he was 9.
