By Diane Sullivan
There was a party atmosphere in the air when the Pudsey Music Makers arrived for their weekly get together this week.
Several rows of tables had been dressed in red white and blue in readiness for a VE Day Anniversary Celebration, there were flags to wave and refreshments to share.
The usual meeting room in Pudsey House located in Pudsey Market Place was about to be taken over by a 1940s style Celebratory Street Party.
The sound of wartime classic songs brought the party atmosphere alive. Dressed in war time uniforms the talented singing duo Two Non-Blondz real names Kate and Lynsey encouraged everyone to sing along from the get go!
Dressed in a smart military style uniform for the occasion Karen Mitchell, MHA Community Co-ordinator, welcomed everyone to the party.
The regular Music Makers, Acacia Court Residents and MHA members from Penny Lane and other groups quickly got in to the swing of things.
Refreshments were enjoyed, there was singing, dancing and foot tapping throughout the afternoon and a real sense of togetherness.
Singing along to familiar songs and war time favourites proved a big hit with the party goers who shared memories of some of the most popular wartime songs.
One particular song We’re Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line was remembered well by Mike Barr, who recalled that the Siegfried Line was a German defensive line. The patriotic song was written as a morale booster for the Allied troops and popular in Britain during wartime.
Mike had “done his best” to represent a soldier for the VE Day Anniversary Celebrations and was dressed in khaki green and certainly looked the part. Others like Shirley Webster hit the right note when invited to sing on stage wore patriotic colours to mark the occasion.
The afternoon brought back lots of memories of times gone by and was a huge success in putting a smile on so many faces.
Joyce Tidgewell told the WLD that whilst not remembering VE Day the afternoon’s celebrations brought back memories of being put in a wicker basket under the stone slab in the cellar as a baby during wartime to keep safe.
Joyce recalls her mother telling her about the wicker basket and that she would have probably thought it was a game. The stone slab in the cellar, recalled Joyce, was used for keeping food fresh in bygone days.
“We had a bonfire to celebrate VE Day,” recalled Jean Dawson, who will be 90 in July and has lived in Pudsey since 1939. Jean said there wasn’t a street for a party near the row of cottages where she lived as a child in Fartown, so a bonfire it was!
After much flag waving, singing and dancing the smiles across the room were clear to see and there was a round of applause for Karen from MHA Communities and the singing duo from Music Box for creating an afternoon to remember.
The final song of the afternoon was a very fitting We’ll Meet Again made famous by Vera Lynn and first recorded in 1939. Plans to meet again were already being made as lifts home were been offered and plans made for future activities and outings.
Reflecting on the afternoon Oli Craven, Scheme Manager at MHA Communities Pudsey and Farsley told the WLD that the Pudsey Music Makers group was really successful in bring members together including residents from local care homes.
Pudsey Music Makers is a MHA Communities Activity Group run in partnership with Music Box and is suitable for people over 55 living with dementia and their carers. For further details of MHA Communities activities and groups please see here.
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