Joy & Action

Around the first of November we received a call from Tricia who works at  Sunrise Senior Living home in Lawrenceville, Georgia.  She wanted to find out more about our program and had not attended one of our workshops or presentations.  We talked, shared, rang bells on the phone and she said she was ready to try it. The following are several emails we received from her.

“I held a rehearsal yesterday with a Christmas CD I found at Sunrise. It went very well. The marketing director was actually moved to tears when she heard us play. She is as excited as I am about our upcoming performances and
offered to purchase shirts for our bell ringers. The residents suggested “Bells of Sunrise” as our group name. They had a ball and caught on quickly. They can’t wait until the next rehearsal.
Thanks for your help and support.
Tricia

Hi Linda,
Yes, I received the bells today and the CD’s a couple of days ago. The residents reminded ME that rehearsal was today. They were actually waiting for me when I got back from lunch!! They all had smiles on their faces and one resident said she could stay out here all night and ring her bells. Haha…So much fun. I think I might have to have 2 rehearsals per week they enjoy it so much.
Thanks so much.
Tricia

My 1st “performance” by our bell ringers went well. We performed for the residents and staff. They all thought they were just wonderful. I will ask if I can send you pics. I am sure the bell ringers wouldn’t mind.

I start practice tomorrow using the In The Garden CD. Our next performance will be in the Spring and hopefully include family members. I am also adding residents from our other 2 neighborhoods. I will keep you posted on how that goes. The only other “activity” that gets this much excitement is bingo! Ha ha. They just love their bells!”

Tricia really is a special gal. She learned, taught and held a performance in less than a month in her assisted living home! Congratulation to Tricia and the “Bells of Sunrise”!

Red Bell = right hand
Blue bell = left hand

The residents mirror you, so your red bell is in your left hand and the blue is in your tight. Listen to the CDs over and over again so you will know when the music changes and stops. Plan shows – use a variety of costumes and props so that the residents can be more than just themselves. Name you bell ringing group – tap or stomp your feet, wiggle for crying out loud and never, never, never forget to SMILE! Be noisy, have fun, let your hair down – you’ll be surprised what their response will be. Now go out there and take on the day – be positive, be happy, be an awesome activity director with an awesome program that your peers will just wish they could match!!!

You can only succeed if you trying – Failure is the only option of not taking a chance. I know you can – You must at least think you can!!!

Iris Bowden ACC
Faculty Adjunt St. Phillips College
San Antonio, Texas

We have been busy presenting at conventions in New Jersey, New York, Indiana, Montana, South Carolina, North Carolina, Texas, New Mexico, Florida, and more. We receive wonderful emails from Activity Directors who have implemented this program in their home or senior center. It fills our hearts to hear about each new group — even from as far away as Alaska!

Joy & Action went international with orders from fifteen Holiday Corporation Homes in Canada! When we began this program I dreamed of having Joy & Action Bell Ringers all over the world, and we have made big start!

I have always known that Activity Directors were very special people but meeting the hundreds of AD’s we have met over the last three years validated my thoughts. YOU ALL ARE GREAT! Your positive, caring, energy continues to ring in my heart, and I admire you and your work. I have learned so much from you and so enjoy your stories. (One girl in Indiana waited patiently for time alone with me to share a story about a male resident, how much he had improved, and how excited she was to hurry home and encourage HIM to be the bell ringer director. This is just one of the many times that will always remain in my heart.) Some of you really challenged me when we role played… That was great fun.

James loved playing with and for you for our presentations and for your special events. I do believe he is an AD in his heart! Hopefully, we will have new CD’s in 2011! We will let you know when they are ready so keep checking out this site.

Also, thanks to my daughter Beth who does our web site.

Send us an email and/or pictures and let us know what is going on with your groups.

Love you ALL,
Linda

We received a most wonderful letter from Tami Young – an Activity Director using the Joy & Action program in her home. We thought we’d share it with you:

Hello Linda and James!

I just had to send you a quick note to tell you how your program has been working for us way over here in Miles City, Montana. When I took your short seminar this past spring in Helena, I was certainly excited to buy the bells & program and get started, but I wasn’t really convinced by your many testimonials. They sounded a little too fantastic to be real. All I knew is I had just found a fun exercise program that someone without musical talent (me) could easily lead and teach to our residents.

We really had a lot of fun the first time we tried bells with the residents. They got a great workout while moving to the music. Then we all became a little more ambitious and decided to enter the group into the annual Miles City Bucking Horse Sale Parade. The Bucking Horse Sale is an event that spans 4 days every mid-May that includes horse auctions, rodeos, horse races, street dances, and a huge parade down Main Street. Thousands of people travel from all over the country for the event.

Our bell ringers, the Holy Rosary Extended Care Cowtown Ringers (a name they gave themselves), chose to play to the tune of “Happy Trails”. If you could have seen the pride on the faces of our residents as they earned applause and standing ovations all the way down Main Street. Every resident sat a little straighter in his/her wheelchair and chins were held so high…

We have one lady in the group that had a stroke a couple of years back and has been unable to use her left arm and hand. We would just prop the bell in her left hand and told her not to worry about missing the notes, just concentrate on hitting the notes with the right hand. During the last few practices before the big parade, this lady had the bell gripped in both hands and was ringing BOTH bells in perfect time with the music. Since then, she has been motivated to take up trying to play the piano again—something she had not done in several years! I now believe those testimonials I read about the Joy and Action bell ringing program—it is truly amazing to watch, and enormously empowering to the residents who participate!

The Cowtown Ringers have since performed at another big parade and their group photo earned a spot on the front page of our local newspaper. They have watched themselves on local TV and performed at hospital functions.

The Cowtown Ringers in action

Thank you, Linda and James, for such a wonderful program with such fantastic results. Add me to your list of true believers. Tami Young, Activities Director

Hello! Check out the Joy and Action bellringing program in action!