Independent LivingWings on the Mountain!
May 30, 2018
For the month of May, we are featuring two residents at Brightmore of Wilmington, Clara Hodges & Tom Craven, who are both in the musical group “Wings on the Mountain!” Wings on the Mountain performed at the 2018 New Hanover County Sr. Games Arts & Follies Showcase in the musical instrument portion this past May 18th. A large group from the Brightmore retirement community went to the performance to cheer them on, and we are so happy for them because they won and will be traveling to the State Championship in Raleigh, NC! Clara Hodges has lived at Brightmore for one year and five months. Clara has been playing the banjo for only 7 months! Clara purchased her banjo 42 years ago and had lessons for about 1 year. Clara put it away after that first year when her instructor moved to Nashville. Clara taught herself how to play the piano when she was 10 years old and played church hymns. Clara decided to pick up the banjo this past year to challenge herself. Once she found a few people to play with, she decided it would be a fun challenge and new adventure if they entered the music portion of the Sr. Games. Clara states that her favorite part of being in the Sr. Games was “Performing on the stage and having all the Brightmore folks there cheering us on! And of course, winning a chance to participate in the State finals in September!” Tom Craven has lived at Brightmore for two years. He has been playing the fiddle off and on for many years. Growing up, Tom also played the Mandolin, Harmonica and Guitar. Besides getting talked in to entering the Sr. Games by Clara, Tom is very familiar with the Sr. Games because he has entered in the athletic portion for years and the music for three different years in the past. Tom was a triathlete before moving to Brightmore. Tom states that her favorite part of being in the Sr. Games was “The excellent organization of the games and winning of course!” Brightmore looks forward to hearing “Wings on the Mountain” many more times in the future!