Sonya English

A band of young musicians brought Palm Desert  seniors to their feet when the Fountains at the  Carlotta hosted a 1940s-themed evening of dinner  and dancing.

The Heatwave Jazz and Show Band, the La Quinta- based Boys & Girls Club's band with members from  several cities including Indio, performed last  Thursday for more than 150 guests at the retirement  community's quarterly event for residents and their  guests.

Big-band jazz music — and a sampling of music  from later decades — helped create an ambience that  made Fountains resident Gene Williams feel far from  home.

“Every holiday, anything that goes on, they do such  a wonderful job that you feel like you really — how w ould you say it? — you're on vacation all the time,”  she said.

Baritone saxophone player and La Quinta High  School grad Bryan Cross, 18, said he liked playing  music from eras past — even if he couldn't place  exactly which era he was playing from.

“(We're playing) a lot of dance stuff,” he said. “A lot  of, like, I don't even know what year it's from, but  way before any of our time.”

Anthony Salas, 14, of Indio has played bass  trombone in the band for a few months. He said he  was a fan of the Big Band jazz music they played.

“It's slow, smooth,” Salas said. “I like it. It's music.  What's not to like?”

A disco ball shimmered above a checkerboard dance  floor, while silhouettes illuminated by red spotlights  lined the walls.

Four times a year, the Fountains goes all out for a  big event and creates fictional venues that transform  its space into places like Thursday's Carlotta Big  Band Starlight Lounge.

 

 When directors of communication Rae Ann Coombes  and Rena Kearney heard the Heatwave band perform  in March at a fashion show in Palm Desert, they said  they knew they'd found entertainers for the Big Band  lounge.

“It was already on the books,” Kearney said. “Then  when we saw these kids, we thought ‘That's who we  want.'”

 When he kicked off the event, Fountains executive  director Paul Sibel admitted he had initial doubts  about the young band.

“I said, ‘Well that's nice. The Boys & Girls Club, huh?  OK, has anybody heard them?'” he said, getting  laughter from the room. “(I was told) ‘Oh yeah,  they're really good. They're really great.' And I gotta  tell ya, you really are. Not only are they really good,  I've got goosebumps.”

In its third year, the Heatwave band has 26  musicians, ages 9 to 18, from 14 area schools. For  the Fountains event, there were two dinner seatings  and two hourlong sets of music — so one group  could eat while the other partied with the band, said  Jim Little, director of the Heatwave band.

The band had three hours of music in its repertoire  that included plenty of Big Band swing.

The band performs six to 12 times each month,  

Little said, which helps supplement the donations  and grants that fund the program which provides  free instruments and instruction to participants.

“We gotta earn our keep,” Little said. “They do a lot  of things that normally you wouldn't see kids of this  age group able to do.”

Julius Hoffman, 91, wasted no time making his way  to the dance floor. The former professional ice  skater said he has memories of dancing to Big Band  tunes at the height of their popularity in the 1940s,  when he was serving in Army Air Corps.

“We had dances but nothing like this,” Hoffman  said. “We never had a floor like that, either, and we  had, oh, just a few people playing synth  instruments. But nothing like this. This is  wonderful.”

Cross said he could see people enjoying the music.

“It's a big high,” Cross said. “It makes it that much  more fun to play for them.”

 

Ariss Durazo , 13, sings accompanied by the Heatwave Jazz and Show Band on July 22 at the Fountains at the Carlotta, a retirement community in Palm Desert. (Richard Lui The Indio Sun)

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Times may have changed, but motherhood hasn't.

It's still a joy, a privilege, a challenge and one of the most fulfilling roles some women will ever have, veterans of motherhood said ahead of today's Mother's Day. “There's nothing better than being a mom,” said Lorraine Knabb, 89, a resident at the Fountains at the Carlotta in Palm Desert. “It's one of the best things in life.” Knabb and a group of elder moms recently took a moment to give young moms advice

The most agreed upon piece of advice: Cherish every moment. “I think it's harder for young couples (to do this) these days,” said Jeanette Collins, 88, mother of two adult daughters. “Husbands and wives work. There's a lot more stress.” Ruth Jensen, 65, is familiar with the stresses. The Palm Desert resident had a blended family. She raised four children and helped raise her husband's five children.

I worked when my children were young,” she said. “So I had to enjoy all the stages.

”Every moment is a snapshot and every incident a learning experience, said Helen Slayton, 93, also a resident of the Fountains at the Carlotta. “My oldest daughter used to be a stewardess,” Slayton said. “She used to supervise other stewardesses. One day, she called me and told me, ‘It's a good thing you were so tough on me. Because when these young girls get out here on their own, they go wild,'” Slayton said. “She remembered what I taught her.” They usually do, said Eleanor Agapito, mother of two boys and a girl. “But you have to talk to them,” Agapito said. “There are so many things pulling at parents these days. We have to set our priorities.”

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Watermark Retirement Communities Reappointed as Manager for Fountains Portfolio

Watermark Retirement Communities, Inc., formerly Fountains Retirement Communities, has been reappointed as manager for 16 retirement communities previously managed by Sunrise Senior Living, announced David N. Barnes, President/CEO of Watermark Retirement Communities.

“Watermark was the obvious choice for managing the Fountains portfolio because we know the communities so well,” said Barnes.

After selling 18 properties within the Fountains brand to Sunrise in 2005, Fountains Retirement Communities was renamed Watermark Retirement Communities. Over the past four years, with his partner David Freshwater, former Fountains CEO, Barnes has grown Watermark’s management portfolio to 11 communities plus three home health agencies in six states. The addition of the Fountains portfolio brings Watermark’s total managed communities to 27 in 16 states.

“We very much look forward to the coming weeks and months as we personally welcome back so many former residents and associates into the family of Watermark communities. It feels like we’re putting the band back together,” stated Barnes.

Watermark Retirement Communities has owned and operated successful, innovative senior housing communities for more than 20 years. According to Barnes, Watermark is committed to creating extraordinary communities where people thrive and a culture where everyone is encouraged to express their creativity, passion and inner child – to express their true selves. As a result, Barnes says, Watermark communities are full of spirit, character, compassion and adventure.

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