BY LAURIE REESE Community contributor

f you sing like Pavarotti in the shower orLady Gaga in your car — or if singing infront of an audience is number 19 onyour bucket list — there is somethingyou should know. An audience is wait-

ing for you and it doesn’t include any criticslike Simon Cowell. This audience is com-prised of the elderly, the sick and the dying.

“They are some of the most importantpeople on earth,” says Optimal HospiceVolunteer guitarist and singer, Ron Wey-mouth. “They’re in an environment wherethey can start feeling very inconsequential,but they’re so the opposite. They’ve doneeverything I’ve done and then some.”

They may also be the most appreciativeaudience possible.

You don’t need the voice of Carrie Under-wood or David Cook to take part. The per-formers are everyday people who havejoined with the Optimal Hospice Volunteerprogram to provide the gift of song for resi-dents in skilled nursing and assisted livingfacilities.

“It was scary at first,” says Wanda White-side, Optimal Hospice Volunteer andfounder of their karaoke singers program.“My voice would quiver, my bottom lipwould quiver — I would sweat.” But the

nerves didn’t last long. Today, you’ll findWanda singing and joking with the resi-dents as she serenades them. She enter-tains them because it makes her happy tomake someone else’s day.

Whiteside is a veteran of the OptimalHospice Volunteer program who has doneeverything from patient family support andcompanionship visits to 11th Hour supportso that Optimal patients do not have to diealone. Mentoring and scheduling for theKaraoke group is just the latest in Wanda’samazing contributions to the Optimal Hos-pice Volunteer Program.

“Sometimes I dedicate a song to one ofthem, like, Somewhere Over the Rainbow,”shares Wanda. “There would be standingovations. Some people get up and startdancing — I hand them a microphone sothey can sing along.”

“We’re there to uplift people,” says Wey-mouth, who was once considered a termi-nally ill patient himself. In 2002, he was toldhe had approximately six months left tolive. His story was even featured in a docu-mentary about people who had a shorttime to live. Now, after a long battle back towellness, he shares his time and compas-sion enhancing the lives of others throughhis music. He plays the guitar and sings —I’m going to Kansas City — like the profes-

sional musician he was in his mid-20s and30s. The crowd loves him.

“When I see their eyes light up,” he says,“I really makes my day … makes my life.”

The Volunteer Department at OptimalHospice Care is recruiting more membersfor the Optimal Hospice Volunteer KaraokeSingers Group so they are able offer thesefun events to more facilities in the KernCounty Area. No experience required.

“We can use people who are fun-loving,not afraid to laugh at themselves, and havean open heart for the elderly or hospicepatients,” says Whiteside. Even children arewelcome. “The patients really respond tothem.”

If you are ready to serenade a thankfulaudience instead of just your shower oryour car, make this call. Contact the Volun-teer department at Optimal Hospice Care at716-4000 or email kbudnick@optimal-cares.com to ask how you can become apart of this wonderful group of merry mak-ers.

Try your hand (or your voice) at karaokeor bring your favorite musical instrumentto play along.

“I really, really enjoy karaoke,” saysWhiteside. “I love it. Absolutely love it.”

You might love it, too!

ell, if you like your National Bas-ketball Association and yourNational Hockey League playofffinals served up on a silver plat-ter then welcome to the 2011

version of both. Tense, exciting and full ofdrama, the commissioners, owners, televi-sion networks and fans of both leaguescouldn’t have scripted the matchups any bet-ter. As you may know by now, if you followthis column — all three of you — it is formu-lated some seven days prior to being dis-persed to the faithful and consequently, theoutcome of each championship shall havealready been determined when the three ofyou digest this. Let’s just keep this little tidbitto ourselves, okay? Kind of our own littleclubhouse secret.

Hate to go all Webster’s on you but there isquite a dichotomous situation lending itselfto both series. Anomalous as well. You see,the greatest storyline regarding the chase forboth titles pertains to who does and does notwant the participants to capture the ultimateglory. Let’s begin with the NBA. The DallasMavericks have a three-games-to-two leadover the Miami Heat with the game-sixthrowdown happening tonight in Miami. Theexplanation for the first two sentences in thisparagraph comes via the fact that eventhough one may not care for the Mavericksyou may dislike the Heat even more becauseof all the hoopla stirred up prior to the seasonby the Miami organization as they introducedtheir “big three” of LeBron James, DwyaneWade and Chris Bosh on a platform rivalingthat of a Hollywood movie debut starringBradley Pitt, Thomas Cruise and GeorgeousClooney. That affair turned off most of Ameri-ca and instantly branded the “Heatles” as vil-

lains. The only ones diggin’ the vibe were theMiami fans. So it became the Miami Heatagainst the world — and Miami hasn’t disap-pointed! The monkey, er, dolphin is squarelyon their back as they must win back-to-backat home in order to claim the hardware. It

really is a very compellingstory and it will be inter-esting to see if Dirk Now-itzki and hisveteran-laden Mavs canclose it out in SouthBeach. It shall also beinteresting to see ifLeBron shows up in thefourth quarter for theHeat as he has a prepon-derance for fading latelike the Beatles on “Hey,Jude.”

Now to the NHL. Not tobe outdone for lack of loveby their country, the Van-

couver Canucks find themselves on their ownisland (literally!) of trust because as absurd asit may appear, most of Canada is actuallyrooting for the Boston Bruins to deny theCanucks from hoisting the Stanley Cup. AndCanada invented the game, for heaven’s sake!Sounds weird, eh? It is. But check it out, eh.It’s been literally years since a National Hock-ey League team from our northern neighborbrought home the cup. Mainland Canadaconsiders Vancouver too westernized. Notcold enough! Not enough snow. Not enoughflannel. Not enough “eh’s” in their vocabulary.It irks them to no end that one of their “origi-nals” such as the Montreal Canadiens or theToronto Maple Leafs or the Edmonton Oilersor some other homeland franchise is not

vying for the title, other than Vancouver. Todate the Canucks lead the Bruins by a gameas they head to Beantown for their game six.Very intriguing. Boston is the more physicalteam and Vancouver is perhaps the more tal-ented. Both netminders are nails, as TimThomas is a block of granite for the Bruinsand Roberto Luongo is masterful with anOlympic gold medal on his resume.

All predictions aside, let’s project winners.I’ve stated that precisely so as not to be heldaccountable for either outcome! Let’s startwith the puck. It has been a home series asboth have taken care of business on their ownice. Look for goalie Thomas to stonewall thefish (um, that’s what a Canuck is) in game sixbut look for the quicker Vancouver team tobreak their country’s heart and take gameseven by a goal in a thrilling, classic gameseven. Eh?

The Dallas Mavericks are bouncing intoMiami on a roll. Jason “The Jet” Terry isbombing away from downtown, Hanford,Calif. product Tyson Chandler is gobbling uprebounds and, well, Dirk is the best basket-ball player on the court. If Dallas wins thetitle Nowitzki can be mentioned in the sameconversation as Larry Bird, albeit a tad bit lat-er on in that conversation. NBA fans outsideof Miami will collectively groan and moan ifJames, Wade, Bosh and company hold servefor the final two games and get crowned.Look for confetti to fall from the rafters atAmerican Airlines Arena on Tuesday the 14thas The Heat once again trump the Mavericks,just as they did in ‘06. James shall impose hiswill as the triumvirate “Come Together” asone for the title.

Okay readers! I’ll meet the three of you atJastro Park for a little two-on-two.

2 The Bakersfield Voice Sunday, June 19, 2011

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BY CHARITY BROCKCommunity contributor

lease join us on the afternoons ofJune 22, 23 and 24 (Wednesday -Friday) from 1:30 to 3 p.m., asCrossway Baptist Church pres-ents: “Vacation Bible School —

In the Park” at the new Greystone Park,located in the Southwest at the corner ofMountain Vista and Harris Roads — andCastle Park located off of Wilson Roadnext to Charles H. Castle ElementarySchool.All children four years old through thesixth grade are welcome to attend andparticipate in this free event.“Vacation Bible School — In the Park”will be three afternoons filled with com-

petitive games, Bible memory, a Biblechallenge, and snacks and prizes. Par-ents are welcome to drop of their chil-dren for this fun-filled, supervised event— or stay and watch the program. For questions or to arrange a pick-up,please call 900-2578 or e-mail us at:info@crosswaybaptist.org.

Is your church sponsoring a vacationbible school this summer? If so, we’dlike to hear about it. Post your churchevents at: www.bakersfieldvoice. com.You may even see your event publishedin a printed edition of The BakersfieldVoice, so posting on our Web site cangive you double the publicity! It's allFREE, so get your church's activities outto our Voice community TODAY!

P

BY CRAIG MONTGOMERYCommunity contributor

elocity Soccer Club willsoon be having open try-outs for their U17 BoysTeam for the 2011-2012season.

If interested please visit ourWeb site at: bakersfieldveloci-ty@yahoo.com.

V

Ron Weymouthand WandaWhiteside lendtheir voices asvolunteer karaokesingers who per-form at many Op-timal Hospicegatherings.

COURTESY PHOTO

HappyFather’sDay, AaronSmith!From Big Shot Mama

Soccertryouts

I

Optimal Hospice volunteers sharetheir gifts of song through karaoke

Vacation bible school— in the park

RON JENKINS / FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki driveson Miami Heat’s Udonis Haslem at theAmerican Airlines Center in Dallas,Texas, in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, onTuesday, June 7.

IAN LINDSAY / POSTMEDIA NEWS VANCOUVER

Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo, right,makes a save during the first periodof Game 5 in the 2011 NHL Stanley CupFinal in Vancouver, Canada, Friday,June 10.

MICHAELELLIOTTSports columnist

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4 The Bakersfield Voice Sunday, June 19, 2011