Forty Singers Show Interest

In Hospice Singing Group

More than 40 singers from Northfield to Sharon gathered at the Bethany Church in Randolph Saturday to learn how to sing to the dying.

Organized by Pam Fournier, Gifford Medical Center palliative care nurse manager, the event brought southern Vermont hospice singing group Hallowell to Randolph to lead the free workshop on singing to the terminally ill.

"Wasn’t it amazing? I anticipated probably 10 people to sign up and I had about 40 sign up, and other people showed up," said Fournier.

The goal of Saturday’s workshop was to form a Randolph-based singing group to perform at the bedsides of the terminally ill at homes and at the hospital.

Gifford Medical Center has an Advanced Illness Care Team and Garden Room suite dedicated to end-of-life care. Fournier now plays pre-recorded music for Gifford’s terminally ill patients. When she heard of Hallowell, she was anxious to learn how to bring live music to patients and residents of this area.

"I went to a workshop in Burlington and I was so struck by the beauty of the singing. I don’t sing, and I was singing my heart out. It gave me chills all day," Fournier said, "We have such a rich community of singers here, so I thought why can’t we be doing this for our dying patients?"

The four-hour workshop ended with volunteer organizers stepping forward, including nurse Anne Pritchard of Randolph Center and Brookfield’s Jean Mallary.

Pritchard envisions supporting families, singing for people in different stages of the dying process, tailoring song selections to the individual’s spiritual beliefs and even singing in foreign languages.

The group will meet again on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Menig Center for an organizational meeting. It is expected to rehearse weekly.

Call Pritchard at 728-9471 to join the group and eventually to arrange to have the singers visit your loved one.