Staff photo by Fritz Busch The Minnesota Over 60 Band performs at a Lunch & Learn event Thursday at the New Ulm Senior Center. The 20-member, non-profit band includes members up to 97 years old and performs at about 35 parades and concerts a year.

NEW ULM — Dozens of individuals tapped their toes and clicked their fingers as the Minnesota Over 60 Band performed at a Lunch & Learn event at the CAST (Community and Seniors Together) Senior Center.

The 20-member, nonprofit band included several New Ulm residents including trumpet players Kathy Jo Lux and Karen Ladner, Naoko Meyer and Mary Borstad on alto sax, Lisa Koester on flute, David Koester on French Horn, and Tammy Gramstad on clarinet.

More than an hour of music included “The Star Spangled Banner,” “Disney Parade Sequence” “Manhattan Beat,” “Abandoned Treasure Hunt,” Beach Boys Greatest Hits, “Apple Peaches, Pumpkin Pie Polka”, “Singin In The Rain,” “The Candyman,” “Sweet Caroline,” “Swing-A-Roo Polka,” “The River Kwai March,” “I’ve got Peace Like a River,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” “America The Beautiful” and “This Is My Country.”

Listeners include Eileen Jacobson of New Ulm. She talked about the performance.

“It was absolutely spendid. They had a really nice variety of music. It was interesting to watch a group of people that are seniors enjoy music and be able to perform it,” she said. “Not all of us have the choice to do things they love. It was obvious they love what they’re doing. It was a real treat for all of us.”

Band members included Mankato drummer Carl Bloedel, 97; and clarinet player Don Sieberg of Mankato.

The band that entered the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame in 2003, performs at dozens of parades and concerts a year including many nursing home performances.

For more information on the CAST Senior Center, visit www.communityandseniorstogether.org.