NEW SALEM — A concert about seniors, children and their relationships, called “Young Fogies & Old Whippersnappers,” will feature stories, songs, riddles and poems. The program, put on by folksinger and storyteller Tim Van Egmond, will be at the Swift River School, 201 Wendell Road in New Salem, on Friday at 10 a.m.
According to Van Egmond, a multifaceted performer since 1978, the show will “celebrate the wit, wisdom and spirit of seniors and their special connection with youngsters.”
He said he will play a variety of instruments, including guitar, hammered dulcimer and limberjack — a wooden puppet that taps out a rhythm on a paddleboard.
Van Egmond said the concert is intended for all ages, and will include songs like “I’m My Own Grandpa” and “The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin.”
“(It’s) a tale from India about an elderly woman who braves the dangers of the jungle to visit her granddaughter’s family, and they help her with a way to outsmart the fierce creatures waiting to eat her on her return journey,” Van Egmond said of “The Old Woman and the Red Pumpkin.”
The event is sponsored by the Councils on Aging in Wendell and New Salem, and the Swift River School, and is supported, in part, by grants from the New Salem and Wendell cultural councils.