days gone by

Each student has her own reason for learning to play the instrument.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- The students, all wearing necklaces that feature a tiny, playable harmonica, gather around the table. The instructor sits at the head of the table, his instruments laid out before him.
They start with simple scales, and then move on to more complicated tunes, such as "I Love You Truly," "Little Brown Jug" and "My Wild Irish Rose."
The teacher -- John Andrews of Youngstown -- praises each of them when they do well. If the performance is not up to his standard, he jokingly chides the others for applauding.
Each Friday morning, the small group gathers to learn the harmonica. But unlike other music classes where it's small children learning the basics, this group consists of senior citizens.
Led by the 87-year-old Andrews, the women -- Bea Kingery, 80, of Vienna; Michie Hawkins, 77, of McDonald, and Maryann Demidovich, 72, of Youngstown, sit in the meeting room of the Niles SCOPE Center on East State Street and try to hone their skills on the mouth organ.
"It's not an easy instrument to teach," admits Andrews, who taught himself to play at the age of 10 when he bought a book and a harmonica. "It's not like the piano where you can point and say, 'Hit here.'"
Why they come to class
Each of the women had her own reason for coming to the weekly classes. Hawkins, who was born in Japan, learned how to play a little harmonica and piano as a child. In Japan, she says, all children are given musical instruments to play with. Now, she wants to play again like she did as a young girl.
"I just love anything with music," explains Kingery. "I always had such a good time playing the organ and dancing."
Demidovich brings the harmonica her husband bought decades ago when he was stationed in the Air Force in Alaska.
"There was nothing for them to do up there but fish and play cards," she said. "So he bought a harmonica to try and learn to play it."
She says when he came back from the service, the instrument ended up in a box in their home, forgotten about for years.
Even when she came across it years later, she admits she told her husband to "take it out of the house. I didn't want to hear that racket."
Now, she says, she enjoys learning how to play the harmonica, especially since arthritis makes it difficult for her to play the piano and organ anymore.
Teacher's experiences
Even Andrews, who's been a member of the Steel Valley Harmonica Club for the past 15 years, took a break in his playing of more than 30 years.
After teaching himself to play as a child, he performed in school assemblies.
"I remember once, back in the Depression, I even traded my bike for a quarter so I could buy a harmonica," he said.
Andrews even continued practicing his playing when he joined the Army, performing in shows for other soldiers.
"I remember back then, though, the harmonicas were made in Germany, and we were at war with the Germans," he said. "You were afraid to buy them."
Though Andrews loves performing and teaching others how to play, he insists an instructor isn't always necessary.
"You don't need a teacher," he says emphatically. "Just go to the library, and get yourself a book and study and teacher yourself.
"My mother always said there's no such word as can't," he continued. "If you really want to do something or learn something, you can."
slshaulis@vindy.com