How do you celebrate the life of an 94 year old jazz enthusiast whose memory is failing, but who wakes every morning with a song on her lips? You create an evening of music and dancing, with dress and décor from a decade of her youth.
The 1940’s Sweetheart Swing Ball was the brainchild of A Life Celebrated co-founder Traci Rusk. It is she who sings with Eve in the morning, and Traci wanted to create an evening that would potentially spark some wonderful memories for Eve. "With memory loss does not come the loss of enthusiasm for life,” explained Traci. “Memories of the past can be recreated to bring back the excitement of yesterday, and this is exactly why this wish is being brought to life for Eve."
The evening was amazing – with beautiful decorations and swinging music. Residents of the senior residence where Eve lives were decked out in vintage clothing provided by A Life Celebrated. A Life Celebrated volunteer Audry Schieble pounded the pavement night and day to find the clothing. “Finding enough dresses was the biggest challenge,” said Schieble. “We just had to go from shop to shop looking for clothing in the right sizes.” Audry said that they first tried sending letters to area vintage clothing shops asking for donations, but when they got very little response she headed right out to make some deals!
The highlight of the evening was the arrival of Dorothy Waddell, a hospice nurse who played the role of Billie Holiday for the evening. She sang “Moonlight in June,” and other Holiday favorites. Near the end of the evening she invited Eve to sing with her – the same song that Eve sings each morning as she wakes: “Summertime.”
Oakland University graduate Paul Carryer was the DJ for the evening, and he brought along dancers from the Detroit Swing Club. As with most partners of A Life Celebrated, Traci found Paul on Facebook.
Backdrops were researched and made with the help of senior residents. One backdrop included a wooden crescent moon behind a bench – creating the illusion that they were sitting on the moon! There was popcorn provided by the Detroit Popcorn company and raffle prizes donated by Patricia Vergelt, a Mary Kay cosmetics representative.
Although she poured her heart and soul into the Swing Ball, Traci admitted that the event wouldn’t have been possible without Audry. “Audry is a joy to work with…just give her the spark and she sees every task to completion!” When asked how she became involved with A Life Celebrated, Audry explained that she was inspired by the Shirley’s 90th Ride celebration. “We were chasing after the motorcycle riders and seeing how happy Shirley was – what a great feeling!”