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PHOTOS: Bagpipers inspire Victoria seniors to dance on their balconies

Local pipers serenade residents at Amica Somerset House

While COVID-19 keeps residents of a Victoria long-term care home apart physically, the joy of Celtic music on a spring day helped to bring their hearts together.

Residents of Amica Somerset House smiled and waved from their balconies Thursday afternoon during a series of courtyard performances from local pipers.

Tartan blowing in the wind, 95-year-old Scotty Day danced with a stuffed mouse in hand, pointing to residents in the adjacent apartment building in an effort to get them in the spirit too.

Rachel Koller, community relations director at Amica, laughed, saying the regular outdoor performances, which range from guitars to vocalists, are all organized in an effort to keep the spirits of the home’s 152 residents high.

“When we see them it’s always big smiles and big hellos, we do miss the encounters we used to have with them, we have to always be gloved and masked now,” she said. “To see them smiling and beaming, it’s great.”

READ ALSO: Nightly singalong raises spirits of Victoria neighbourhood



nina.grossman@blackpress.ca

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