Club hits the right note
A group of retirees in Harvey who go by the name ‘HUGS’ have been embracing blue shirts and small guitars over the past six months, and it is all thanks to founding member Peter Drout.
Walking into the Senior Citizens Club on a Thursday afternoon you can hear the cheery sound of 20 ukuleles all being strummed to the tune Molly Malone.
“It was around October last year that I decided to start a Ukulele club in Harvey,” Mr Drout said.
“I tried to get a guitar group going but nobody seemed interested, so I took to Facebook and noticed that almost every town had a ukulele club and thought, what a great idea.”
What started as a group of eight people meeting regularly at the coffee shop more than doubled as word quickly spread. “Our first meeting was at a cafe on Uduc and I think there were eight of us, then about two months later we had grown in size and decided to look for a venue.”
“We decided to practice at the Harvey Senior Citizens Club because one of our members, Brian Kealley, is the president and by renting out the venue we can make our contribution to the centre.
“From 1pm to 2pm we play the easier songs for beginners before going into the harder stuff.”
Mr Drout said the group allowed members socialise and learn new things.
“Learning a new instrument at an older age can be challenging, but it’s very rewarding,” he said.
“Two hours of singing makes you feel good.”
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails