Last night, Saturday the 18th, my friends and I went to the Franklin Arts Center here in Brainerd to watch the Geritol Frolics. For those of you who don't know about the Frolics, it's a group of talented senior citizens who took time out of their lives to organize and put on a musical show that is a medley of the songs we all grew up listening to and loved so much. I believe this was their 11th year of performing.
In 1697, William Congreve, in his writing of the Mourning Bride said, "Music has charms to sooth the savage beast." It's so ironic that the same things we might say to someone in verse become so much more meaningful when set to melody. Unless you're the author of the Gettysburg Address, those same words are soon forgotten but put to music, they hang with you forever. So many of the tunes these people performed were a step back in time for all of us.
There are some amazing artists that have come along over the years and yes - still today. Their music takes us from a world beset with fear and problems and like Congreve said, in his own poetic way, "It makes it all right again," albeit for a short while.
So thanks to the singers and dancers of the Geritol Frolics for a great evening. For letting us leave our troubles on your doorstep and step out onto that yellow brick road once more. Thanks to the Franklin Arts center for their part in this too.
Mike Holst
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Crosslake
