Love of Music, Friendships, Keep Band Going Strong
By Denny Deady

(Published Sunday, September 7, 2008
in the Wise County Messenger)

For most of her 77 years, Martha Freeman has made "a joyful noise."  Those are her words. She can't read a note of music, but since she was old enough to crawl up on a piano bench, she has made beautiful music, rinky tink music, honky tonk music, gospel music... you name it. 

.... For many years, Donna Jones at Patti's Hair Parlor in Decatur has styled Martha's hair. Even when Martha was hospitalized for almost two months following an accident, Donna came to the hospital to do her hair. Jones, the former Donna Meador, grew up in Decatur and she and Martha know many of the same people. They share a love of music and their conversations over the years have resulted in a friendship.

Through that friendship, Jones learned where Martha and Ken lived and realized she had spent many hours in that house as a youngster, visiting her mother's cousins.

Jones has played the piano since she was 4 years old. Unlike Martha, she reads music but admits she would rather be able to play by ear. For 20 years, her piano stayed at her mother's home, but now she has it back and recently had it tuned.

On a Friday when Martha was at the shop, she noticed a business card for a piano tuner at Donna's station. She lamented over the condition of the piano at the Decatur Senior Citizens Center, with its five "dead" keys in the middle of the keyboard. She and the three remaining members of the center's Sunshine Rythm Band meet there every Friday to play for an hour. She mentioned that she had been playing above and below the broken keys but was getting discouraged with the results.

Jones understood completely. With music, the sound is everything.
"I knew how Martha was feeling," said Jones.

Because Jones has a fondness for senior citizens and because she has a heart of gold, she contacted the piano tuner, Gary Schaffer of Haltom City, and hired him to tune the piano at the center. Schaffer had to remove the "guts" of the upright piano to fix all the broken parts but after seven hours, he had it sounding as good as new.

Martha and her friends in the "band," Bettye Jane Dodds and Fern Mann, were overjoyed at the sound when they showed up at the senior center after Schaffer worked his magic. Their fourth member, J.D. Heath, has health problems and they can't wait for him to return.

Both Martha and Jones hope the restored piano will bring renewed interest in the Sunshine Rhythm Band. Jones also hopes it will encourage others in the community to support the activities of the seniors and the upgrading of the center....