Clinton Lewis/Daily News

The Singing Seniors were performing Everybody Will Be Happy Over There and a woman in a wheelchair was waving her arms. A man in a wheelchair began to clap. Singing Senior Tommy Cooper raised his hands, too. At 68, he was older than some of the residents who were listening to him sing at Rosewood Health Care Center in Bowling Green, but he had earlier said, When I see the elderly people smiling and enjoying themselves, then my soul is blessed. Cooper drove from Railton in Barren County just to sing Thursday night, when many roads were still covered with snow and ice. To him, the risk of driving was minuscule compared to the enjoyment he gets from singing with the southern gospel group he joined about five years ago. I love the fellowship, their sweet spirit, he said of the other members. Theyre all Christian people, and they have that love that draws people to them. About 40 singers from several southcentral Kentucky counties and several church denominations form the Singing Seniors. But these seniors do not appear to be elderly. Each Thursday night, rain or shine, the ones who can make it head to Rosewood to sing, including 91-year-old soloist John Stokes of Bowling Green. Most places he gets a standing ovation, group founder Roy Lee Carrier of Bowling Green said. They cant believe he can sing that good. The seniors have performed in 25 churches this year. Weve had about 91 or 92 appointments in nursing homes, at worship services, at funerals and other places, Carrier said. Sometimes theyve sung at funerals for their own group members, including Frank Weaver and Ed Dye. It hasnt been easy. But worse was when Weaver was confined to a nursing home because he suffered from Alzheimers disease. It was so sad, Carrier said. Carrier formed the Singing Seniors in September of 1993.The thought came to me to organize this, said the 70-year-old who attends Cave Mill General Baptist Church. And I kept putting it off some. Finally, I started calling and got it started. I wanted to make sure the Lord was in it that way. I thought, Well, if the Lords in it, itll work out. If not, itll fold up. Only five or six singers made up the group then. Then some others heard about us and wanted to join us, Carrier said. Before long, the group was going strong with members who had sung in quartets, trios and choirs all their lives. In 1996, the Seniors recorded their first cassette tape at a studio in Barren County. Since then, theyve recorded three more cassettes. Carrier has written some of their songs. Senior John Petty, who is 75 and the groups songleader, is pleased with the groups success. I hope Im never in here, the Warren Countian said in the lobby of Rosewood on Thursday. But if I am, I hope there is someone like us that comes in here and gives us some kind of entertainment. Petty and his wife, Margie, sang a trio with pianist Carol Jordan on Thursday. When the journeys over, I am going home, they sang. It wasnt easy for Margie Petty to sing the song. Shes recovering from open-heart surgery and said she often cant get her breath. But shell keep singing as long as she can. John Petty is proud of his wife, he said. The Seniors are proud of each other and are friends as well as group members. Doris Newberry showed off photos of her quadruplet great-grandchildren, who were born prematurely in Louisville in October, to the other wives who had accompanied their singing husbands in a show of support. I dont know what wed do without our friends and their prayers, she said. I think thats what brought these babies through. Newberrys husband, Bill, was then singing bass. She would soon request a song for the Seniors to sing. He was there all the time, they sang. Thats beautiful, Doris Newberry said before getting up, unasked, to comb the hair of a resident who was struggling to remove her ponytail holder. To the Seniors, their job entails more than singing. For the non-singing spouses who accompany the group, there is plenty to do. Several of our people get out and go get (nursing home residents) from their rooms and take them back, Carrier said. They also take fruit baskets to the residents at Christmastime. We show the love that God has given us, Cooper said. Thats what Christian fellowship is all about. Friday night the group sang at Bowling Green Retirement Village, where they perform three or four times each year. The group began their weekly routine at Rosewood soon after the Seniors formed because Senior Helen Spencer, 73, of Bowling Green was a volunteer there. Spencer, who now has volunteered at Rosewood for almost 23 years, is glad the group has kept the Thursday night date. She said those who are confined need more interaction with people who want to reach out to them. We had one little lady who was a music teacher and when wed sing He Was There All The Time, shed get so happy shed go down the hall shouting, she said. The woman has since passed away. I still miss her, Spencer said.