The halls are alive with the sound of music – at least one afternoon a week.

That’s when Jennifer Collins, activities director at Stillwater Healthcare, brings the residents together for choir practice. Also lending their voices to the group are residents from Ross Manor.

The Bangor facilities work together, using their respective vans to shuttle singers to rehearsals and concerts. Sometimes residents from Orono Commons get in the act.

It all started a couple of years ago while Collins was still working at Ross Manor, sister facility to Stillwater Healthcare, with activities assistant Joe Weisheit. It was a Saturday and an activity for the residents was canceled.

Determined not to let the residents down because they looked forward to the activities, Weisheit decided to play the piano while Collins sang. When the audience members began to sing along, Collins spontaneously started directing them and the Community Choir was born.

There were 11 people in the audience that day. As a testament to the popularity of the choir, 57 residents attended a rehearsal on a recent afternoon.

And the concerts are just as well attended.

“At the performance, there were about 100 people in the audience, staff and families,” said Collins. “They were backed up into the hallway.”

Collins, who has a background in music, is amazed and delighted, although she always knew the power of music.

It’s just incredible how the residents react to the choir, said Collins, with a wide smile and even wider eyes.

“When it’s time for practice, they all come out of their rooms and you can hear them coming down the hall with their walkers,” she said, drumming her fingers on her desk to mimic footsteps. “One man, who only left his room for meals, was doing ‘la la la’ as he made his way down the hall. I started doing it with him, then I started singing the words and so did he.”

Amazingly, the man still can not speak words but he can sing them, added Collins. He has come so far with the choir that his caregiver bought him a special outfit to wear when he does solos.

And then there’s Janet, a petite woman with a personality the size of all outdoors. Janet cannot speak or sing, but comes to choir practice religiously.

“Janet sings with her eyes, her smile and her wiggling feet,” said Collins. “The choir is a chance for her inner star to shine and for her to show people what she is really made of. The choir has changed her. She no longer just sits in the lobby. She has something to belong to. She is sharing her talent with people and still has a purpose and a heart.”

And her power to inspire others is a talent all its own.

As is Collins’.

“There’s a joy to singing, not only for yourself but for others as well,” said Ruth, choir member. “And Jen brings out in us what we didn’t even know we had.”

Florence, fellow choir member, agrees.

“Jen has an aura about her,” she said. “Makes you want to go with her.”

“[The choir members] educate people all the time,” said Collins. “They taught me a lesson. I always sang in choirs and played guitar, but I developed essential tremors and stopped music. Then I started working with the residents. And if I was asking them to be brave, then I had to be brave, too.”

And so the teacher became the student.

“They gave me my love of music back. They take me places I never thought I could go,” said Collins. “They’re changing my life and I am changing theirs.”

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. For more information on EAA, call 941-2865, toll-free (800) 432-7812, e-mail info@eaaa.org, or visit www.eaaa.org. TTY 992-0150.