An upcoming Valentine’s-themed dance at a local senior living community will focus on big-band hits and romantic songs from yesteryear.
The dance, titled “My Funny Valentine,” will be held from 2-4 p.m. Saturday at the Oak Park Arms, 408 S. Oak Park Ave., with Chicago area band The Freenotes performing.
The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments and optional tours of the retirement community will be available.
The Freenotes’ band leader and first trumpeter, Ron Chochola, said the 18-member band has been together since the early 1970s, with some changes in personnel over the years, and they’ve played all over Chicagoland.
“We play mostly jazz, but we play a little of everything,” including patriotic songs and show tunes, ranging from the 1930s to the ’60s, Chochola said.
The band, which includes saxophones, trombones, piano, bass, drums and a vocalist, typically performs at such events at the Arms several times each year, he said.
“They’re a very good audience at the Arms,” Chochola said.
Heather Lindstrom, marketing director at the Arms, said the classic big-band dances remain popular with seniors, and the Freenotes perform danceable hits seniors remember and love.
“They know the music; they know the genre,” Lindstrom said of the Freenotes.
Lindstrom said she enjoys the nostalgia and the stories stirred up by such events, as seniors recall days they spent hopping from dance to dance during their younger years.
“We offer them because our residents love them,” she said of the dances. Plus, “it allows people from the community to come in and enjoy the music,” she added.
Such dances are typically well attended at the Arms, Lindstrom said. All female attendees will receive a flower.
For more information, call 708-386-4040 or go to www.oakparkarms.com.
Caitlin Mullen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.