Senior Games/SilverArts Performance competition rocked Generations Center on Friday night

JUDIE HOLCOMB-PACK 

THE CHRONICLE 

On Friday, May 23, line dancers, tap dancers and a Tai Chi sword dancer did their best to dance their way to the Best of Show medal, but it was a singer/songwriter who ended up capturing the hearts of the judges at the annual Piedmont Plus Senior Games/SilverArts Performance competition. Held for the first time at the Intergenerational Center for Arts and Wellness in the Main Street Theatre, Naila Lyles-Elcock, SilverArts coordinator, welcomed everyone and invited attendees to enjoy the buffet dinner catered by Chef Pam before the show started. DJ Jay provided background music during the dinner. 

The competitors knew they were in for a fight as the Jazzy Ladies, who won locally and competed in the state competition last year, were in the house. The Prime Time Tappers showed that they were up to the challenge. Being small in number – four ladies wearing flowing red skirts and black tops with red flowers on the sleeves – they tapped as they kicked up their heels and danced from one side of the stage to the other. They received a rousing round of applause. 

But the Jazzy Ladies were up to the challenge. These ten ladies dressed in black from top to toe, including black cowboy hats and black shirts with each member’s name emblazoned on the back, danced in unison without missing a beat. The sound of their feet stamping out the moves was accentuated with the sharp snap of their fans. The audience went wild, and it looked like they would be a shoo-in. 

Then the tempo took a change as singer/songwriter Steve Wilson came on stage, sat down with his guitar, and started to tell a story about being the youngest of 10 children and how his mom took care of him, a story he began to sing in a strong voice, even hitting the high notes without effort. His down-home folksiness was like Dom Plemons and there was a hush over the room as he sang. He was rewarded with cheers and applause as he took a bow. 

The last dancer was Julia Schafer, who has competed in several SilverArts competitions. Dressed in a beautiful, flowing two-color green gown, she unsheathed a sword that was about as long as she was tall and gracefully performed a tai chi sword dance to the amazement of the audience.  

Interspersed between each act was the announcement of the medal winners for the Literary competition. As president of Winston-Salem Writers, a new sponsor this year, I had the pleasure of announcing the gold medal winners and presenting each with a certificate that will cover the cost of the winner to register to compete in the State Senior Games/SilverArts. It had been observed in the past that some winners were on a tight budget that couldn’t cover the $50 registration fee, so they didn’t compete at the state level. Winston-Salem Writers outreach committee decided that they could eliminate this roadblock to competing at the next level by covering the cost of registration.  

The first gold medal winner was Kelly Moyer for her inspiring essay, “Let Me Be a Bluebell.” She wrote about growing up in a financially well-off family with many opportunities to travel and enjoy the finer things of life. However, she writes, “… my ‘accomplishments’ say very little about me. Rather, they speak to the innumerable gifts of grace I’ve been given.” At the end she wrote, “… I’d like to think our humility can blossom just as the bluebells do in the spring … not a single one that doesn’t have its head bowed, and they’re all the lovelier for it.” 

Retired Moravian minister Bill Gramley, who has been a competitor both in track and field, as well as in the visual and literary arts, snagged two gold medals, one for his Life Experience/Memoir submission, “Biking.” In it he tells of taking his two older daughters, ages 15 and 13, on a bike ride from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to North Carolina. It’s an amazing story of facing challenges, enduring pain, thirst and flat tires, camping outdoors, and riding 465 miles in six days. He continued for several years to lead teenagers on bike trips, including one during the Bicentennial celebration where they traced the route Moravian missionaries had followed in pioneer days. 

Gramley’s second gold medal was for his short story, “Imagine That,” written from the viewpoint of a ten-year-old boy who witnessed all the superheroes – Captain Midnight, Captain Marvel, Daredevil, Plastic Man, Batman and Robin, Spiderman, plus the Lone Ranger and Tonto, the Roadrunner and others – who came to watch a battle to the finish between Superman and Captain Marvel. It was a creative story that ended when Dad came out to ask the usual question: “What are you guys doing out here?” And the usual answer: “Nothing much … just kind of daydreaming.” 

The gold medal for poetry was awarded to Bill Furnas for his poem “1968.” It was a very touching narrative poem about the year he was drafted and went to Vietnam. He painted a picture of the dangers and terrible conditions soldiers endured during the war. He wrote, “After your tour, with years and miles away / You still think of Vietnam, each and every day” and ended with: “Before we repeat this, here’s some advice / Visit a VA and see who’s still paying the price.” 

And finally, what everyone was eagerly waiting for – the announcement of the winners of the Performance competition. The Best in Show, who will represent Piedmont Plus Senior Games/SilverArts in the State Games in Raleigh in September, was Steve Wood. His amazing talent as a singer, songwriter and guitarist put him on top of the judges’ scores. Wood has been singing since 1966 when he was a freshman in college and won a spot in the college quartet, the Ambassadors, at John Wesley College (now Carolina University in Winston-Salem). When asked to say a few words about his song about his mother, he said, “It was all true.” Then added he was working on a new song about his parents called, “I’m Glad You Didn’t Stop at Nine.” 

To choose the second and third place winners, it was audience-participation time. The remaining three acts took the stage and the audience applause brought it down to two acts – The Prime Time Tappers and the Jazzy Ladies. The applause was so loud for both groups that it was finally decided it was a tie for second place. 

It was an inspiring evening featuring the amazing talent of older adults in our community. This was a great salute to Older Americans Month, and the participants certainly were the epitome of this year’s theme: “Flipping the Script on Aging.”