When I turned 44, the call to serve came, loud and clear! My minister, the Reverend Boyd Johnson at Union Church, Waban called to say, “I know you’ve left teaching at Rhode Island School of Design, to begin a singing career – and that you might be available tomorrow on Ground Hog day to lead the hymn singing in my ecumenical worship service at local Brae burn Nursing Home.” In addition to the two hymns we sang, that day, the residents got quickly into my “interactive poem-song.” One woman, Mrs. Dunmore, stood out, laughing, and energetically calling out words and phrases on the theme of “husbands”. Energized by a story from the morning newspaper for our “group poem,” Mrs. Dunmore had a great time, and consequently, so did everybody present. Later, as I was leaving the nursing home, Barbara Lidmann, the Activities Director, caught me at the door, and said, “Mr. Wiggin, you may not realize it, but the woman in the second row who had such a good time practically inventing the whole poem with you, and then singing it with you, has not spoken since she entered Braeburn 6 months ago!”

I was delighted at those early MUSE concert-visits, watching the enthusiasm of my new MUSE elder audience friends, as they sang along with me! My mother told me early on, “music is a magic gift you have – share it with all”. My father, a mason and a medical doctor, advised me at age twelve, “Son, the best life is a life of service to others!” In my mid-life, singing in the quartet at Temple Sinai, Coolidge Corner, Cantor William Kopans shared his favorite Hebrew Midrash with us, “Tikkun Olam” which means “Heal the earth!” This is what MUSE has meant to me and many others for 35 years.

Recent statistics indicate a significant rise in the numbers of centenarians, from 15,000 in 1965, to 600,000 today. Also, the numbers of shut-in elders is forecast to DOUBLE over the next 40 years. Something’s happening here. What it is is exactly clear! MUSE 35 year track record with popular public support all along the way, has positioned us to be of help. The need for a proven quality solo concert-visit service for elders is something we know we can provide. It’s not so much of a problem, as a healthy challenge, and it’s not going away. MUSE stands ready, with its continuing program of concert-visits and with new scholarship to help move MUSE into the future. Please help us to be able to continue to knock the socks off any song, to the joy and jolly satisfaction of their large, demanding and deserving shut-in elder audiences.