By Julia Boyle
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

After ten years of a rigorous practice schedule, Margaret Ann Grogg (“Mag” to friends) realized piano had taken over her life. And like many musically inclined teenagers, she gave it up.

Now in retirement, Grogg lives at Seabrook, where as the leader of a sing-along group, the “Sociable Singers,” she has had the opportunity to bring music back into her life.

“Music is very important to me, but I didn’t want to spend my life doing it,” she says. “This is kind of like payback time.”

The group, which meets twice a week to sing and performs occasionally for the community, provides an outlet for anyone with or without a musical background.

“We sing familiar songs and welcome anyone who likes to sing,” Grogg says.

Open arms
Her open arms have garnered a sizeable group since November 2002. Starting with just 12 members, Grogg says they have grown to nearly 50 in Seabrook’s Village Center and 20 in the Town Square Clubhouse. And when they perform, a full auditorium joins them in chorus.

‘Thoroughly brass’
“People appreciate and enjoy music here very well,” says Wally Price, another member of the Seabrook music community.

Price sings too, but brass instruments are his true love. He plays trumpet, French horn, and trombone, or, as he says, “Thoroughly brass.” Unlike Grogg, music grew on him and the more he played, the more he wanted to learn.

From community band to high school orchestra to church choir, Price did it all. He even played with a band at General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 63rd birthday party in Hershey, Pa.

Now at Seabrook, not much has changed. He directs the Protestant church choir, which is part of Seabrook’s interfaith community, plays French horn during hymns, and occasionally joins a visiting band.

“Besides my family, music is my life,” he says. “I started early and soaked it up.”

If you missed the first two parts of this inspirational series, you can find them posted on this page in May and June.