Greenfield teen brings music, smiles to local nursing homes
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » When she’s not performing with her sisters, Katelyn Ginley visits local nursing homes, strumming her guitar while singing an assortment of songs.
Ginley, a junior at Saratoga Springs High School, has been playing the guitar for a decade now. She used to visit her great grandmother in Syracuse, singing to cheer up the nursing home there. Her great grandmother passed away in 2014, which prompted her to create “Sisters for Smiles.” She continued playing at nursing homes. This spring, after playing at Wesley Health Care Center for years, Ginley began playing at Home of the Good Shepherd, a memory care assisted-living senior facility located at 390 Church St. where Sandra Redding directs activities.
“One thing that every senior has in common is a love for children,” said Redding, who held a similar position at Wesley until last year. “We appreciate the energy and talent someone like Kate shares with us by stopping in and changing up our day.”
Ginley played for about 20 residents last Thursday, showing an array of songs from her dad’s favorite, “Time of Your Life,” to “Hey Jude” by The Beatles. Throughout the hour-long performance, residents danced, enjoyed cheese and crackers and sang along to songs like “Oh My Darling, Clementine”
and Elvis Presley hits that presumably brought back memories.
“I listen to a lot of the same music that they like, and so they like the songs that I play. I get to come here and sing them and enjoy them with these people,” Ginley said. “It makes me really happy to make them happy. I just like to brighten people’s days.”
Ginley and her three younger sisters, Jane, Ava and Ryann, go by the Ginley Girls. They’ve played at Cafee Lena last year, opening for the Spurs USA, a traditional country western band. They appeared with the Spurs at the Fort Salem Theater and the Victorian Streetwalk since. Just last month, the Ginley Girls performed at the Dake Foundation for Children’s annual event at the Hall of Springs.
“I love playing with them,” said Ginley. “I think our voices blend nice, and it’s nice to be in a band with people that are you so close with.”
The chaotic schedule for the sisters makes it hard to play together during the school year, but Katelyn maintains a solo routine, even though she’s involved with field hockey and in the midst of finals.
Her time playing the acoustic guitar while singing to nursing home residents brings joy to her life. She loves being able to use her gift to generate smiles.
“Being able to share the music that I love with people who love it too,” said Ginley when asked about her favorite thing of playing.
Ginley ended her performance with “You Are My Sunshine,” leaving the audience with a happy song that left smiles on several faces, which is why Ginley began playing for nursing homes in the first place.