What a day! First, 19 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.

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.