WWW arkcity.net

By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer

Singing keeps her young, says 91-year-old Iyla Mason, the senior member of a group of senior citizens who perform for fellow seniors at retirement homes and nursing homes.

Mason joined The Twilighters when the group was founded 22 years ago. She said she sings because it makes her feel good to make people happy.

"I may be so discouraged and tired," she said. "But if I see one person in the audience doing this" -- she gestures like she's keeping time to music -- "that makes it worthwhile."

Mason and several of her fellow singers talked about their organization after a rehearsal Thursday afternoon at the Senior Citizens Center.

Although The Twilighters are well known in senior citizen circles, they get little attention otherwise. The 12-member group seldom is publicized and its history has not been written down.

When the chorus started, it performed only locally, in Arkansas City. But it soon started getting requests to sing elsewhere, and now covers a wide area.

In recent years, The Twilighters have traveled by car to performances in Winfield, Blackwell, Okla., Newkirk, Ponca City, Cedar Vale, Mulvane and Derby.

The group does not charge admission, but occasionally accepts a donation for expenses, the members said.

"Bob Parker started it with men here, around 1985," said Shirley Moore, the only other original member besides Mason. "But it quickly turned into a mixed group when members of a church group joined."

The group's current director, Eva Reyez, took over about 15 years ago, she said. She wanted to keep the group going after Parker, who was retiring and moving out of town, left.

"I had heard a few numbers of them from Mr. Parker," Reyez said. "All those old-time (Arkansas City) singers were around and they loved to sing."

Reyez said she took over as director even though she had no professional training. Her experience in music was limited to church choirs and singing in the mixed chorus at Arkansas City High School. She is a 1949 graduate of the high school.

She credited Charles Hinchee, then the high school music teacher, with inspiring in her a love of music.

After a bout of cancer -- she now is a five-year survivor -- the late Don Patterson, who was assistant director of The Twilighters, took over for Reyez for about a year while she recovered, she said.

The Twilighters have an appeal to their audiences for a couple of reasons, Reyez said.

"(They) don't get visitors very often," she said. "They don't expect real professionals, real trained voices. And they like the songs we do; our last two numbers are a few traditional hymns like 'Old Time Religion.'

"It's recalling the good things in their lives."

The group's repertoire consists of "old-fashioned songs, modern songs in their era," added chorus member Richard Fair, who has a college degree in music education.

The Twilighters performed upbeat songs including some from musicals, movies and TV in a performance Wednesday afternoon at Medicalodge East. They included "Tie a Yellow Ribbon," "Somewhere My Love" (from "Doctor Zhivago") and "Davy Crockett."

"We like those that have some bounce to it," said Carol Goldwater, who arranges the group's schedule and acts as music librarian.

Fair said the group has a repertoire of about 500 songs of various types: western, country western, popular, and show tunes.

The Twilighters rehearse three times a month and work on different music depending on the season. At Christmas, the group focuses on Christmas carols, for example.