Crowds flock to Senior Follies benefit

Every parking space within a quarter mile of the Carson City Community Center was filled for the Senior Follies matinee on Sunday.

Inside the theater, Linwood Gallagher played the accordion for the song "School Days."

"I remember it as if were yesterday," he said, and the crowd erupted in applause.

The Senior Follies is organized each year by the Carson City Senior Center as a fund-raiser for the Meals on Wheels program which delivers a hot lunch to shut-in seniors. The theme for this year's performance was "A Song for All Seasons."

Acts ranged from a recitation of the classic "Who's on First" by Joe Dietsch and Frank Taylor to a magical set by the Hosanna Bell chorus. Their version of "Jingle Bells" was quite possibly the most perfect ever played at the end of May.

"Those bells they played are worth about $18,000," said master of ceremonies Tom Strekal, a local actor.

First time performer Pat Puchert laughed backstage while the Golden Girls did a line dance to "Zatchu Santa Claus?"

"You see what happens when you turn 65?" she asked. "You have to be 65 to be in this."

Gladys Langson-Veitch was one of the Golden Girls. She belonged to a line dancing group for 15 years in Houston before moving to Carson City six years ago.

"I'm so happy to be here. I enjoy the show and I enjoy the whole city."

She and her group practiced twice a week for three months.

Producer Carolyn DeMar was impressed.

"They only had one tech rehearsal last week," she said. "They're doing extraordinarily well for only having had one tech rehearsal."

She and most of the backstage staff are members of the Proscenium Players, Inc. acting group. They all volunteered their time for the Saturday and Sunday shows, she said.

"Working with the seniors is so much fun. Some of these people are just hilarious."

The eight members of the Reno YMCA Kool Kickers came down just for the show.

"We came all the way down from Reno because Carson is so nice," said Rose Moratti.

"And we really enjoy the senior program here in Carson," added Maridee Dixon.

They danced to "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "Sunny Side of the Street."

This year there were only two shows - Saturday night and the Sunday matinee - instead of the regular three.

"So it's really good that they've maxed out every performance," said DeMar.

Other funds came from cookies hand baked by the seniors and 188 gifts given by area businesses. Raffle prizes were donated by Cue-Phoria, Howlin' Good BBQ and Zima's Mobile Dog and many others.

It's unclear exactly how much money was raised for Meals on Wheels this year, said senior center director Janice McIntosh.

"We won't know that number for about three weeks," she said, noting they raised almost $23,000 last year.

"We've had a lot of big-money donations from people directly to Meals on Wheels. The people of Carson City have been sensational. They've been so generous."

Contact Karl Horeis at khoreis@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.