Music fills the air

The sounds of old-time gospel hymns began to fill the hallways at Heritage Manor Nursing Home on Tuesday afternoon.
The music was originating from one of the facility’s activities rooms, where inside sat an old Baldwin piano and a very grateful and enthusiastic piano player.
“This is so special because I hadn’t been here in awhile,” said Tim Swinnea, a Bayou Chicot native who volunteers his time playing the piano for residents. “It is truly a blessing.”
Swinnea had spent months playing his favorite gospel songs, such as “Amazing Grace,” “Supper Time” and “In the Garden” to name a few, for the residents at Heritage Manor. But those musical hours took place at its old location on Thompson Street.
Ever since Heritage Manor moved into its new facility on West Main Street last year, Swinnea has been unable to play for the residents because the old piano was left at the former location.
That piano was deemed not safe and sturdy enough to be transported from the old facility to the new one. So that meant, even though Heritage Manor had a nice brand new activities room for its residents there was no live music being played for them.
That all changed with the efforts of the nursing home and volunteer Karen Soileau, who asked the local community to donate a piano so that the residents could once again hear music.
That is when Bryan and Cenevieve Fontenot of the Pine Point area decided to lend a helping hand, or in this instance a few dozen keys.
The Fontenots had a piano in their home for the past 30 years, but it hadn’t been played on a regular basis for more than 15 years, with the occasional grandchild goofing around on it.
“The grand kids are a little upset that we gave it away but we told them, ‘you might have played with it but you hadn’t played music on it,’” Mrs. Fontenot said. “When we heard that the nursing home needed a piano we just thought they could use it more than we could.”
Added Mr. Fontenot, whose parents Otis and Rosabelle were Heritage Manor residents, “It looks so much nicer in here than it did in our house.”
The Fontenots were on hand Tuesday for Swinnea returning to play for the residents. As he went through song after song, the music seemed to draw more and more residents into the room as more than 20 residents sat for the performance.
Many residents sat in their chairs or wheelchairs and nodded their heads to the music, others closed their eyes and hummed along while others sat there smiling as hymn after hymn was played.
The gratitude for the donation was evident by the joy the music brought to the residents, but they were not the only ones filled with appreciation for the donation made by the Fontenots.
“It is just so great for someone to have done this,” Swinnea said. “They said they didn’t know how good the piano would play and I told them it was perfect. I thanked them three or four times for that.”
“It is simply wonderful,” Heritage Manor Activities Director Patricia Dupelchin said. “The residents are just so excited to have music again. We are going to try to have someone come by every week to play for them.”