Claremore Veterans Center Creating Music Library To Help With Vets' Dementia, Pain

<p>The Claremore Veterans Center became certified with a program called Music and Memory last month. It pairs each vet with a&nbsp;personalized playlist of songs that make them nostalgic and happy.</p>

Tuesday, March 14th 2017, 11:07 pm

By: News On 6


Chances are, when you see Bobby Kaiser, he'll have his headphones on, listening to gospel music.

Bobby got an mp3 player not too long ago.

"I call them a 'doohickey,'" he said.

Bobby is a Marine vet and he's been in and out of the hospital and physical therapy lately; but he can't stop smiling.

"I'm a happy man. I'll tell you people right now, I'm a happy man. And this here helps," he said, holding up his music.

The Claremore Veterans Center became certified with a program called Music and Memory last month. It pairs each vet up with a free iPod, earphones and a personalized playlist of songs that make them nostalgic and happy.

"What we're hoping to do is allow our veterans that opportunity to go back and connect with that emotional memory," said Monique Dilonardo, the Center's recreation program administrator.

Dilonardo said studies show the music reduces anxiety and depression. It especially helps those with dementia or suffering from constant pain.

"Not only seniors, but anybody with a physical or mental challenge, that they can use music to help them through those difficult times and creating good memories," she said.

The Center needs to expand its music collection and needs original CDs from certain genres and time periods.

It's also hoping to get some donated iPods - 300 of them, for all of the vets who live at the Center, so that Bobby's happiness can spread through the entire veterans center.

"This is the best thing that has ever come to my life except my wife of 61 years," Bobby said, smiling.

If you're interested in donating a CD, iPod or headphones, you can drop those items off at the front desk at 3001 West Blue Starr Drive in Claremore, just east of Rogers State University.

Donated CDs must be original, not copies. These artists are preferred:

20s and 30s

  • Cole Porter
  • Ethel Merman
  • George Gershwin

Easy Listening

  • Burt Bacharach
  • Engelbert Humperdinck
  • Rosemary Clooney
  • Barry Manilow
  • Andy Williams
  • Glen Campbell
  • Neil Diamond
  • Barbra Streisand
  • Peggy Lee
  • The Four Lads
  • Les Paul & Mary Ford
  • The Carpenters
  • Gene Pitney
  • Anne Murray

Country Oldies

  • Johnny Cash
  • Loretta Lynne
  • Conway Twitty
  • Charlie Rich
  • Willie Nelson
  • Dolly Parton
  • Kenny Rogers
  • Merle Haggard
  • Hank Williams
  • Tammy Wynette
  • Patsy Cline
  • John Denver
  • George Jones
  • Vince Gill

Piano

  • Liberace
  • Vladamir Horowitz
  • Glenn Gould
  • Rachmaninov
  • Arthur Rubinstein
  • Vince Guaraldi

60s Rock

  • Buffalo Springfield
  • Forrest Gump soundtrack
  • The Big Chill soundtrack
  • Creedence Clearwater Revival
  • Three Dog Night
  • The Guess Who
  • Rolling Stones
  • Simon & Garfunkel
  • Beach Boys
  • The Hollies
  • Blood, Sweat, and Tears
  • The Beatles
  • The Rascals
  • The Duprees

Smooth Jazz

  • Kenny G
  • Vince Guaraldi
  • Dave Koz
  • Grover Washington, Jr.
  • Chris Botti
  • George Benson
  • Chuck Mangione
  • Herb Alpert
  • Boney James

Jazz Vocal

  • Nina Simone
  • Billie Holiday
  • Bobby McFerrin
  • Edith Piaf
  • Melody Gardot
  • Liza Minelli
  • Ella Fitzgerald
  • Louis Armstrong
  • Manhattan Transfer

Jazz Instrumental

  • Miles Davis
  • Wynton Marsalis
  • John Coltrane
  • Louis Armstrong
  • Quincy Jones
  • Duke Ellington
  • Count Basie

Blues

  • Muddy Waters
  • Stevie Ray Vaughn
  • Blues Traveler
  • BB King
  • T Bone Walker
  • John Lee Hooker

Classical

  • Beethoven
  • Bach
  • Mozart
  • Chopin
  • Vivaldi
  • Brahms
  • Tchaikovsky
  • Stravinsky

Broadway Musicals

  • Cabaret
  • Carousel
  • Anything Goes
  • South Pacific
  • Annie
  • The Music Man
  • West Side Story
  • Gypsy
  • Camelot
  • The Lion King
  • Phantom of the Opera
  • Les Miserables
  • Cats
  • Oklahoma!
  • Hello Dolly
  • My Fair Lady
  • Sunset Boulevard
  • Chicao
  • A Chorus Line
  • Mary Poppins

Big Band/Swing

  • Benny Goodman
  • Glenn Miller
  • Artie Shaw
  • Guy Lombardo
  • Les Brown
  • Eddy Duchin
  • Duke Ellington
  • Woody Herman
  • Count Basie
  • Andrews Sisters
  • Tommy Dorsey
  • Billy Eckstine

If you have any questions, contact Monique Dilonardo at mdilonardo@odva.state.ok.us.

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