Before COVID they performed sing-alongs at the Ramona Library and at assisted living facilities such as the Gateway Center in Poway. One of the founding Ukuladies members, Rita Eastman, said she’s enjoyed the camaraderie of being part of the group, and particularly likes the holiday performances. I watch how much fun people have and that’s my payment.” “Then men, women, kids, anybody with a ukulele will be invited to come and jam for free. “I’m just waiting for the library to open on Sunday,” she said.
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They’ll get the seniors to join in on their songs and get them excited about singing with them.”Ĭicalo said it’s especially nice that the The Ukuladies provide free entertainment at a time when the Senior Center doesn’t have a lot of extra money to spend.īrustad said she wants to give people free ukulele lessons at the Ramona Library once it opens during the weekends, which she says, could be as early as February. I feel like the seniors respond to them well. “Everybody really enjoys them,” Cicalo said. One time The Ukuladies performed love songs, another time country Western, and on Dec. The music varies depending on the occasion, Cicalo said. They usually stop by during the senior lunch hour, said Lora Cicalo, executive director of the Senior Center. The group resumed performing at the Ramona Senior Center a couple of months ago. “A lot of people in Collier Park would come around and sing with us,” Brustad said. The Ukuladies took a break from performing during the worst of the COVID pandemic but kept rehearsing at Collier Park and on Brustad’s patio while maintaining 6 feet of social distancing.
They all bought ukuleles.”īrustad said the women have since outgrown her living room and are now rehearsing at First Congregational Church of Ramona on Eighth Street. “They kept inviting their friends into my living room. “Then another lady came from the Garden Club to take lessons,” Brustad said. The next week the woman brought another woman from the Garden Club for lessons. “The woman said, ‘I hear you play the ukulele and I’d love to learn,’” Brustad said. Then she asked how she could repay the favor. She only recognized one woman, from the Ramona Garden Club, so she asked her for a ride home. She had accidentally locked herself out of her car and was looking around the parking lot for help. It’s an instrument to sing along with so we sing and play.”Īlthough Brustad didn’t know it at the time, The Ukuladies were born five years ago. “Everything we do is singing and playing,” Brustad said. The only genre they don’t play is jazz, said The Ukuladies Director Karla Brustad. One of their favorite requests is to perform Hawaiian luau music. They’ve also shared their large repertoire of oldies and Elvis tunes, John Denver sets and country and western music at the Ramona Senior Center, First Congregational Church of Ramona, the Republican Women of California-Intermountain Club and the Ramona Pioneer Historical Society.
In the past week, the women, ranging in age from 50 to 80, have performed at the Ramona Tree Lighting and the San Diego Country Estates Tree Lighting ceremonies. The group of a dozen women - all from Ramona - sing along while strumming ukuleles at special events and club activities. Not every town can say it has a singing group like Ramona’s The Ukuladies.
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