The Singing Seniors Plus One will be bringing their keen sense humor and joy as well as their voices to Lakewood Public Library’s “Sunday with the Friends” series on Sunday, June 22 at 2 p.m. in the Main Auditorium. The group, led by Ione Smith, will be performing a variety of oldies but goodies, hymns, patriotic songs and show tunes.

The seniors in the group are Barbara Klein, Carol Mackenzie, Delores Polk, Tom Polk, John Wilson and Noreen Wolf. The “plus one” refers to Ione’s daughter, Adriane. Ione was the director of the Lakewood Golden Tones for a number of years. She was starting to get burned out and so she resigned. A month following her resignation, she was approached by several members of the group who encouraged her to form another musical group. After a bit of deliberation she decided to give it another shot and since then she’s never regretted forming what she calls “a small but happy group. We have a lot of fun and bring laughter and fun to our audiences.”

The group performs 3 times a month on average and will go wherever they are invited to sing. They’ve performed for many residents at assisted living facilities and nursing homes throughout the area and they even provided holiday music at a CVS store.

Ione has always enjoyed music and singing and she has sung with her church choir for ten years. Her daughter, Adriane, the abovementioned “plus one” of the group, suffered a severe injury and is currently unable to work. While serving in the Navy she was out running when she caught her foot in a pothole and was thrown, causing irreparable damage to her leg, and specifically her kneecap, which actually had to be removed. A doctor at the Cleveland Clinic was able to build her a new kneecap and Adriane recently underwent the eleventh operation on her knee to remove some scar tissue. She enjoys singing with the group as well and she is looking forward to being able to fully recover in time for their Sunday, June 22nd performance at 2 p.m. in the auditorium at Lakewood Public Library. The Singing Seniors Plus One encourages the audience to jump right in and sing along because they love it when you join them.