With my performance of “Happy Songs Only!” on 19 March at The Creekside, I’ve now penetrated Woodinville for the first time—it’s No. 1 for me in that city! And on my list of retirement communities in the Greater Seattle area where I’ve performed, it’s No. 41.
When I arrived, I was ushered into an intimate room for the show, “Happy Songs Only!” It consists of 26 spirit-lifting songs. And these two songs are good samples of the repertoire of this show: “Keep on the Sunny Side of Life” (1899, written during the recession) and “Cheek to Cheek” (1935, written during the Great Depression). People sang along or hummed the tunes. For this show, I used only four of my five horns: trumpet, pocket trumpet, cornet and flugelhorn. What a lively audience! They interacted with me and each other. That is so fun.
The Creekside is an MBK Senior Living community (please see MBK Senior Living | Senior Living). MBK has communities at six locations in Washington: Woodinville, Bellevue, Mercer Island, Seattle, Mountlake Terrace, and Olympia. In total, there are 38 MBK communities in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado.
Photos are courtesy of The Creekside. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
It was great to come back—this was my fourth performance at University House, Wallingford (UHW) in Seattle. I returned on Friday, 29 May, to present my one-hour trumpet show, “Happy Songs Only!” It’s a collection of 26 spirit-lifting songs that are very familiar to the residents of retirement communities. I used four horns in this performance–my trumpet, cornet, pocket trumpet, and flugelhorn. Two residents at the show told me they also play trumpet!
My previous performances were all of my show, “I Stand for the Flag,” on or about Memorial Day and Veterans Day in 2019, 2021, and 2022. I now have 7 different trumpet shows and am working a new one to premier in 2027.
UHW has a very pleasant, spacious lobby and Olympic Auditorium (see photos). UHW was developed in 1997 by Eli and Rebecca Almo, real estate developers specializing in retirement communities. They now have a family of 8 such communities in the Greater Seattle area (please see http://www.eraliving.com). The sister community to UHW is University House, Issaquah (please see my blog post of 30 March 2019). Both communities have affiliations with the UW Schools of Nursing, Pharmacy, and Social Work and the UW Retirement Association for the benefit of their residents. There is an emphasis in their programs and services on a “lifetime of learning.” Please see http://www.eraliving.com/about/health-wellness-partnerships/.
UHW offers independent and assisted living care services. It has 146 maintenance-free, senior residences in one or two-bedroom floor plans, ranging from 530 to 1,040 sq. ft. Please see http://www.eraliving.com/communities/wallingford/floor-plans/.
Memorial Day Ceremony, Lynnwood, 2026, hosted by VFW Post 1040
I’ve been sounding “Taps” or “Echo Taps” at morning ceremonies every Memorial Day since 2011, but this year for the first time, I also got to do so in the afternoon. As VFW Post 1040 Bugler, I sounded “Echo Taps” with my partner, Eduardo Gomez Luis, at the ceremony at Veterans Park in downtown Lynnwood at 11 a.m. Then at 3:00 p.m., as a member of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), Sno-King Chapter 423, I again sounded “Echo Taps” with Eduardo at Floral Hills Cemetery, also in Lynnwood, east of the I-5 freeway. Eduardo is a junior at Lynnwood High School and a trumpeter in the band. I used my Getzen bugle, and Eduardo used his Yamaha trumpet.
And at Veterans Park in the morning, I also sounded two other bugle calls: “Assembly” to call the ceremony to order and “To the Color” as the flag was raised to full mast at noon. What a fulfilling day for this bugler!
Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
At Veterans Parks, hosted by VFW Post 1040:
Photos by Ashley Nash, My Lynnwood News:
At Floral Hills Cemetery, hosted by VVA Chapter 423:
On 15 December 2017, I performed “Showtune Favorites,” my very first one-hour trumpet show at my very first retirement community, then called SHAG Lynnwood Center, now Destinations Lynnwood. Rate Tate, a resident, scheduled my first performance anywhere. It was in their Community Room.
On 22 May 2026, eight-and a-half years later and only three days before Memorial Day, I returned to perform “I Stand for the Flag,” comprised of 24 patriotic marches, songs, and bugle calls. I used all five horns—trumpet, pocket trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn, and bugle—and wore my VFW uniform.
It was Happy Hour on a Friday afternoon, outdoors, where the audience sat at tables under umbrellas on a gorgeous day and ate snacks and drank delicious drinks. They sang, they clapped in rhythm, they marched in place, they laughed. I smiled again and again and played till we finished with the Pledge of Allegiance and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” standing and singing with hands over hearts.
We stretched our recognition of St. Patrick’s Day by one day, 18 March, so that I could perform my trumpet show, “St. Patrick’s Day Celebration,” at Queen Anne Manor in Seattle. It was the 41st retirement community in the Greater Seattle area where I’ve performed since I began doing this 8 years ago.
This show consists of 26 Irish ballads, jigs and reels and one limerick, two riddles, and 10 Irish jokes. I use four horns: trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn, and pocket trumpet. Many of the residents said they have Irish ancestry. They knew the songs and sang along as I played, and they laughed at my jokes.
Queen Anne Manor captures first prize for being the oldest building where I’ve performed—built in 1911. Originally, it was three stories, and a fourth was added ten years later in 1921. At first, it was the site of the Children’s Orthopedic Hospital, founded by Anna Herr Clise. She had lost her son, Willis (5), in 1898 to inflammatory rheumatism. At the time, there was no physician or hospital in Seattle that specialized in pediatric care—no facility to treat crippled or malnourished children.
In 1907, the 23-woman Board of Trustees of the newly formed Children’s Orthopedic Hospital Association adopted a policy to accept any child, regardless of race, religion, or the parents’ ability to pay. The hospital operated at temporarily locations until its new building was completed. Queen Anne Hill was chosen for its superior air quality, up high in fresh air, away from downtown yet served by streetcars. It had 40 beds. That increased to 78 beds in open-air wards upon completion of the fourth floor. President F.D. Roosevelt, a polio victim, visited in September 1932, during the Great Depression.
The hospital relocated to the Laurelhurst neighborhood in 1954. After that, the building was occupied by a King County Health Department clinic (1954-1968) and then county offices and a morgue until 1980, when the building became a retirement home with private apartments. The place has been modernized and yet retains characteristics of its 115-year history.
For more information about Vineyard Park at Queen Anne Manor, please see Assisted Living in Queen Anne, Seattle, WA | Vineyard Park at Queen Anne Manor | CarePartners Senior Living. It is one of more than 30 communities in Washington and Arizona in the Care Partners Management Group, home based at Mercer Island. In Washington, there are 20 facilities, located from Lynden to Everett to Seattle to Bremerton to Tacoma to Covington and in Spokane.
Some photos are courtesy of Queen Anne Manor and others were taken by me. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
What a day! First, 17 March 2026 was the first time I’d ever performed for Boulevard Park Place (BPP) residents in Burien. Second, I got to perform my trumpet show, “St. Patrick’s Day Celebration” on the actual St. Patrick’s Day. Third, this is the 30th anniversary year for BPP—1996-2026—congratulations! And fourth, this was the 40th retirement community where I have performed in the Greater Seattle area since I started doing this in 2018. Wow! Makes me aim for 50.
This show is comprised of 26 Irish ballads, jigs and reels plus ten Irish jokes, two riddles and one limerick. The audience sings along (and hums) to these favorites, “My Wild Irish Rose,” “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary,” “Too-ra-Loo-ra-Loo-ral,” “Red Is the Rose,” “Danny Boy,” “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,” and 20 more. I provided a handout with the lyrics to seven of the most popular songs. In this show, I play four horns: cornet, flugelhorn, pocket trumpet, and trumpet, and I use different mouthpieces and mutes to produce various sounds.
There are two songs deserving of special comment here: “The Wearing of the Green” and “Down by the Salley Gardens.” The first is about how the British crushed the Irish Rebellion of 1798. It was against the law, punishable by death, to wear the Irish national color, green. The first verse ends, “…they’re hanging men and women there for wearing of the green.”
The second is a poem by William Butler Yeats that was published in 1889. It was set to music in 1909 [the year my Daddy was born]. “Salley Gardens” refers to a place where broad-leafed willows grow. It was there that a young man, eager to make love, was cautioned by a young girl to slow down. Here are two excerpts from the song: “…She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree; But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree…She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs; But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.”
The residents have formed a choir called the BBP Singers. With her guitar, the choir director is both a singer and accompanist. They sang Irish songs for about 15 minutes in the beautifully decorated room.
Boulevard Park Place, Burien
Every retirement community is unique but usually in different ways. BPP is the first family-owned retirement community where I’ve performed. I spoke with the owner who said this was his dad’s dream. He’s a builder, from a family of builders, and they built it themselves, on a hillside, no less. BPP is an age-55+ community where “residents enjoy cooking their own meals in their own kitchens while enjoying the freedom from other responsibilities of home ownership.” There is no dining room where residents gather daily in common for meals that are cooked and served by staff. But in the main building, there is a large meeting room with a big adjacent kitchen where periodic events are held, and that’s where I performed. Residents simply sign a month-to-month rental agreement—“no financial disclosures, income qualifications, second-person charge, long-term leases, or contracts.” All the building maintenance and yard work is done by management. It’s all aimed at giving residents the freedom and independence to choose their own daily activities, make friends, and live active, enriching lives.
Some photos are courtesy of BPP. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
On 6 March, I returned to Merrill Gardens at Renton Centre (MGRC) for the third time to perform my new one-hour trumpet show, “Happy Songs Only!” It is comprised of 26 songs, and the two which I usually cite as samples are “Keep on the Sunny Side of Life” (1899, written during the recession) and “Cheek to Cheek” (1935, written during the Great Depression). This show calls for four instruments—cornet, flugelhorn, pocket trumpet, and trumpet. I vary the sounds by using various mouthpieces and mutes.
MGRC advertises “A beautifully balanced lifestyle…Our residents love it here.” It’s quite large with 208 apartments, “like a hotel,” said a staff member. It offers studio, 1- & 2-bedroom apartments for independent living, assisted living, memory care, and transitional care. Learn more at https://www.merrillgardens.com/senior-living/wa/renton/merrill-gardens-at-renton-centre/.
There are 12 Merrill Gardens communities in Washington state, and I have performed at four of them multiple times. Merrill Gardens, the parent company, has communities in 16 states. Learn more at https://www.merrillgardens.com.
Photos are courtesy of MGRC. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
Hey, I’ve been here before—my fifth appearance—but 2 March was the first time I’ve ever performed “Happy Songs Only!” for the residents here. I love coming back to Edmonds where I lived for 21 years.
The staff set me up in the dining room with the audience’s chairs arranged in theater style. And then the clock rolls around, the seats fill up, and off we go with 26 spirit-lifting songs. I use four horns—my trumpet, pocket trumpet, cornet, and flugelhorn—and the people sing along or hum the tunes.
Of those 26 songs, the two samples I usually cite are “Keep on the Sunny Side of Life” (1899, written during the recession) and “Cheek to Cheek” (1935, written during the Great Depression).
And then there’s “Make Someone Happy,” sung by Jimmy Durante as the credits roll at the close of the movie, “Sleepless in Seattle” (1993). The ending lyric is “Make someone happy and you will be happy, too.” There’s a formula for ya. Sounds good…but it’s idealistic. The x-factor in the equation is that other person, right? And sometimes, the x-factor can turn negative. So, I agree with those who say that in the end, each of us is responsible for our own feelings, are we not? Still, it’s a great song, like “When I Fall In Love,” and I won’t eliminate either of these idealistic gems from my repertoire. We ought to fall in love, and we ought to contribute to another person’s happiness. Right?
Photos are courtesy of Edmonds Landing by Cogir. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
Early arrivers at The Talus Room, well before my trumpet show
What a wonderful place to perform, and what a wonderful place to live! Situated in Issaquah upon the lower, eastern side of Cougar Mountain above State Highway 900, the Timber Ridge at Talus retirement community is a gem. On sloped terrain, it has 8 floors plus an underground garage on two levels.
For my first appearance there, I performed my new show, “Happy Songs Only!” on 20 February. My audience in the auditorium, named the Talus Room (see photo at left), was about 80 residents. It’s a superb venue, the staff was expertly helpful with the lights and sound equipment, and the crowd was warmly receptive. They sang along (and hummed) as I played 26 familiar songs on my four horns, trumpet, pocket trumpet, cornet, and flugelhorn, and laughed as I told a few jokes. In our age group, who doesn’t remember songs such as “Keep on the Sunny Side of Life” (1899, written during the recession) and “Cheek to Cheek” (1935, written during the Great Depression)?
This is the 38th retirement community in the Greater Seattle area where I have performed one or more of my 7 shows.
The maps above and photos below are courtesy of Timber Ridge at Talus. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
It’s always fun to perform for the residents at Quail Park in Lynnwood. On 13 February 2026, I did so again, for the third time. The secluded campus is on a hilltop, so driving along the street below you’d never know it was there except for the sign pointing the way uphill along a short county road that turns into a private drive. Once there, it’s a nice surprise— it’s gated and not only is there a large, main building, but also there are cottages. Looks like an exceptionally pleasant place to live. And judging by the residents’ response to my new one-hour trumpet show, “Happy Songs Only!” that must be the case.
The show consists of 26 spirit-uplifting songs. All were written before 1978. That’s the year that Jacques Morall, Henri Belolo, and Victor Willis wrote “Y.M.C.A.,” the “youngest” song in the show’s repertoire. When I was developing this show, I was surprised by how many of the positive-message songs were written in times of trouble and stress—the recession of 1899, WWI, the Great Depression, and WWII. Maybe songwriters were offering diversion, encouragement, and hope through entertainment. Anyway, I presented the songs as if they were messages from our peers, parents, and grandparents. We heard them, and it’s good to be reminded, for example, of “Keep on the Sunny Side of Life” (1899) and “Cheek to Cheek” (1935).
Glenn's Trumpet Notes 