Folk Legend Pete Seeger honors Elant at Fishkill, N.Y., with sing-along

Aug. 7, 2009 - PRLog -- Fishkill, NY – Legendary folk singer and activist Pete Seeger shared his passion for music with a small crowd of roughly 100 Thursday, August 6, during an informal morning sing-along at Elant at Fishkill, the not-for-profit rehabilitation and skilled nursing facility.

Seeger, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday with the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Joan Baez at Madison Square Garden, spent more than an hour in the back garden of the facility entertaining residents, staff, and guests from both Elant at Fishkill and Elant at Wappingers Falls with personal and amusing anecdotes and series of songs that gave brief glimpses into various segments of modern American history.

“You can see that it’s all about the love of the music for (Seeger),” said Rocco Fazio, who watched the concert with his wife, Alana, an Elant at Fishkill resident. “He is a living timeline.”

Civil rights, unionization, conservation, even the tragedies of Sept. 11 – Seeger’s varied music brought many back to a different time and place with hits like “If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)” (composed with Lee Hays of The Weavers), and “Turn, Turn, Turn,” which have been recorded by many over the years. He closed his show with the Woody Guthrie song “This Land is Your Land,” the same song he sang with grandson Tao Rodríguez-Seeger and Springsteen in the finale of Barack Obama's Inaugural concert in Washington, D.C. in January. Throughout Thursday’s performance, Seeger encouraged the crowd to sing along, often pausing mid-phrase to remind spectators of the lyrics as they clapped to the tune coming from his worn banjo or legendary 12-string guitar.

“To hear him, it was like being a kid again,” said Lynn Kanzer, Health Information coordinator for Elant at Fishkill. “I can’t tell you what a privilege it is to be here for this.”

Seeger, a Beacon resident who was invited to help dedicate Elant at Fishkill’s new backyard Victory Garden, was generous with his time, signing autographs on pictures, T-shirts, and notebooks before heading out with his granddaughter Penny.

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ABOUT ELANT, INC.: Elant, Inc., a community-based, not-for-profit organization, is a leading provider of services for older adults and chronically ill people of all ages. Elant is a comprehensive network of organizations that provides a full range of health and housing services to the Hudson Valley and beyond. On any given day, Elant serves more than 3,500 people through its network of communities, home care agencies, and services. Elant’s mission is to provide personalized, high-quality care and lifestyle options to persons of diverse generations, cultures, and needs.