Billerica MA Senior Center

Senior audiences have delighted in Tim Van Egmond’s programs. They’ve responded with smiles and laughter, voices joined in chorus, deep sighs, nods of recognition, applause, warm comments and memories to share. Many Senior Center Directors and Resident Service Coordinators have brought him back again and again for repeat performances.

Funding support for Massachusetts senior organizations is available through Local Cultural Council grants. Tim has assisted many sponsors with the simple application, or has written and submitted it himself with their letters of support.

PROGRAMS include:

Hats Off To Seniors – Stories, songs, and poems celebrating the wit, wisdom, and spirit of seniors.

The Helping Hand – Honoring the helping hands and generous hearts of volunteers with inspiring and heart-warming stories, songs, and poems.

Young Fogies and Old Whippersnappers – An intergenerational program of tales, songs, and riddles –  from rib-tickling to spine-tingling to heart-warming – highlighting the special connection between seniors and children.

The Landscapes of Hope – Songs and tales about what draws a community together; a shared sense of belonging and inspiration drawn from the landscape, the fabric of family, friends and neighbors, and the hope everyone shares for peace and plenty.

Songs and Tales for the Season And The Day – Celebrate any holiday or season with a heartwarming program of lively songs and captivating stories, tailor made for the occasion.

Tim’s Unique Talents Have Helped to Celebrate:

• National Older Americans Month (May) or National Senior Center Month (September)
• Volunteer Recognition
• Grandparent’s Day
• Intergenerational Programs
• Holidays and Seasons: Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, April Fools, Halloween, Veteran’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah, New Year’s, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.

Enjoy Tim’s Engaging Humor, Spell-binding Talent, and Warmth as he . . .

• teaches the audience to play the limberjacks he’s handed out (rhythm puppets that tap dance on a paddle board) to accompany an old-timey song.

• sings “The Bluebird Song,” Jean Ritchie’s beautiful memory about her mother passing on a tradition to her.

• tells “The Old Woman And The Rice Cakes,” a Japanese folk tale about a frail but resourceful old woman who outwits the fierce and fearsome pack of trolls who have imprisoned her to be their cook.

• plays toe-tapping tunes such as “My Grandfather’s Clock” on his beautiful hand-made hammered dulcimer.

• relates how a community realizes that its elders are a boon rather than a burden, when their gift of wisdom saves the community in “Grandfather’s Advice, a Latvian folk tale.

• sings a hilarious song from the 1940s, “I’m My Own Grandpa.”

• tells jokes, quotes proverbs, recites poems, asks riddles, and more!

Goshen MA Council On Aging

Some of Tim’s Past Performances Include:

Senior Center, New Lebanon NH
Congregate Housing, Hamden CT Housing Association
Metro West Jewish Community Center, Framingham MA
Intergenerational Program, Ipswich MA Elem. Schools
U.Mass. Medical Ctr. Volunteer Recognition, Worcester MA
Pocono Environmental Ed. Ctr. Elder Hostel, Dingman’s Ferry PA
Sharing The Fire Northeast Storytelling Conf., Boston MA
Over 200 Councils On Aging and Housing Authorities throughout Massachusetts

Over 100 Senior Housing Complexes under MassHousing’s Tenant Assistance Program