One by one the couples rose from their chairs, moved by familiar music to dance, to sway, to smile and to remember.

A woman who rarely speaks or lifts her head smiles at the music, listening to a world no longer hers.

Performances, public and private, by the Golden Oldies and the Golden Blendare meant to bring joy.

Gene Okerlund, Dewey Possehl and Deb Wald perform music to make people happy. Together they are the Golden Oldies. Okerlund and Wald are the Golden Blend.

Humor is part of their act, too. Once when someone said not to say amen, they chuckled. “Amen means God is coming to get me,” the woman told them. Her comment followed their presentation of “Oh, When the Saints Come Marching In.”

They also perform a jazzy version of “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” to transforming sorrow into celebration.

Their music is from the 1930s to the 1960s, with select compositions from contemporary pop music.

The trio performs almost exclusively in assisted living and senior homes, or for Hospice of the Red River Valley patients. They plan to expand their offerings with a true Senior Prom. Stay tuned for more information on when it will be available.

In the meantime, the public is welcome at any performance. Nursing homes and assisted living places like having us come, Okerlund says. Family and friends of residents, anyone who wants to hear the music, is welcome to attend their concerts. They just completed eight September performances and have another eight scheduled in October. They do four tours each year.

Okerlund retired in 2007 with a formal title of Fargo School’s Cultural Resources Director. Through all his years since graduating from Concordia College in 1960, Okerlund was and is a music man.

Possehl retired from the Moorhead Public Schools. He always had his trumpet with him and played or plays with almost every major jazz ensemble in the F-M area. His love of music and wanting youth to have quality music experiences led him on musical adventures throughout the community.

The two were doing just fine, enjoying performing and building a repertoire.

Along came a boost with Wald. “Dewey and I were focused on jazz in our presentations and suddenly we had one of the finest country western singers bringing her interpretations of Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, The Judds, Linda Ronstadt and others. We now have a wide array of music in our library with over 500 background tracks to draw from for our presentations,” Okerlund said.

Wald, who is retired from the Fargo Public School system, sang with a variety of vocal ensembles including the Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers while a North Dakota State University student. For several years, she and her husband Tom, performed together in a country rock band called First Impressions. After Tom’s death, she continued singing as a soloist for the Dakota Brass, weddings, funerals and church services.

Golden Oldies never charges but does request a donation be made to Hospice of the Red River Valley. Both Okerlund and Possehl are part of the Hospice volunteer program. Their mission is to bring music to patients Hospice serves on an individual basis.

Their musical shows feature everything from jazz to country, gospel to theatrical.

Okerlund sings and plays trombone, trumpet, flugelhorn, harmonica, windjammer and guitar.

They are open to booking more shows, knowing they can perform a variety of vocal literature and instruments.

For information or to contact them, go to fargogoldenoldies.com, call 701.239.0475 or email gaokerlund@gmail.com. And, in case you wondered what a windjammer is, you can find information about that, too.

October performances are:

Oct. 7, One Oak Place, 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 10, Touchmark, 2:30 p.m.

Oct. 11, Atonement Seniors, noon

Oct. 12, Riverview Place, 1 p.m.

Oct. 18, The Fairmont, 2 p.m.

Oct. 24, Villa Maria, 2 p.m.

Oct. 26, Linden Tree (Eventide, Moorhead), 2 p.m.