Susan Taylor, a 63-year-old singer, took home the $1,000 grand prize on Monday night, July 29, at the end of the Morning Pointe Foundation’s Fifth Annual Seniors Got Talent Chattanooga showcase.
“I am extremely overjoyed and blessed,” said Taylor. “I am so thankful that I had this opportunity, and it was very emotional for me because some of my grandkids were able to come see me perform. This show is so important for those of us over 60 to show that maybe we’ve still got it.”
Taylor has loved music from a young age. She and her 7 siblings all learned to sing and harmonize. She took dance classes as a child and became the first Black Little Miss Lawrence County. In high school, she was a member of the marching band and asked the director if she could teach the band a dance routine. The number went so well that the band went on to perform the routine for the President of the United States! She has sung the National Anthem at multiple events, including at the State Capitol, has been the director of her church’s children’s choir and has performed in several plays.
Seniors Got Talent, produced by the Morning Pointe Foundation in partnership with Morning Pointe Senior Living, took place at the Silverdale Center Creekside Theater. Judges also determined second- and third-place winners.
Second place went to Richard (age 76) and Laurie Collett (age 71), ballroom dancers who performed an original routine to their adapted version of “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” They won the $500 prize.
The Colletts are ballroom dance champions, performers, choreographers, and owners of Rhapsody Ballroom in Tampa, Florida. They have performed all over the world. In the US, they have performed at the Ryman Auditorium (the original “Grand Ole Opry”) in Nashville and on Season 7 of “America’s Got Talent.” Richard is retired from the US Navy and is now a real estate manager. Laurie is a neurologist MD, retired from private practice and academic neurology at Cornell University and University of South Florida.
Third place went to Agene Parsons, an 87-year-old hammered dulcimer player, who performed “Steel Guitar Rag.” She won the $250 prize.
After a career as a home care nurse, Parsons took up the mountain dulcimer and psaltry at age 62, then added the hammered dulcimer to her repertoire at age 63. She was in a group in Chattanooga called The Hilltoppers that played at venues including the Signal Mountain Opry, the Snowhill Bluegrass Jamboree, and the Birchwood Opry. After The Hilltoppers broke up, Parsons formed a band called Just Us Gals, which continued to play around the area at the same venues.
Bryan Skinner, age 60, won the coveted People’s Choice Award, voted on by audience members at $1 per vote, with proceeds going to the Morning Pointe Foundation. His comedy lip synch to “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” arranged by the King’s Singers from London brought much laughter to the audience. He is the worship pastor at Brainerd Baptist Church.
More About the Show
“We were so glad to be back at the beautiful Silverdale Center Creekside Theater for another wonderful Morning Pointe Foundation Seniors Got Talent show!” said Greg A. Vital, co-founder and president of Morning Pointe Senior Living. “These seniors truly blew me away. There were fun moments and sweet moments, and it really showed the value of what our seniors still have to bring to the arts.”
The Chattanooga show brought in $33,000 for the Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Morning Pointe Senior Living. The 501(c)3 nonprofit public service organization was created in 2014 to provide caregiver support programs, sponsor educational awareness events, and fund clinical scholarships to advance the care of seniors throughout the Southeast. Seniors Got Talent shows specifically raise funds for clinical and other scholarships for deserving students at partner schools.
“The variety of acts was very entertaining and inspiring!” said Morning Pointe Foundation Executive Director Miranda Perez. “I was blown away by the talent and by the support of the audience and our sponsors this year. Not only did the contestants have a chance to shine, but the funds raised will go to give students a chance to shine too.”
Founded in 1997 by Greg A. Vital and J. Franklin Farrow, Morning Pointe Senior Living owns and operates 38 assisted living and Alzheimer’s memory care communities in five southeastern states. These include seven in the Chattanooga area – in Chattanooga, East Hamilton, Collegedale, Hixson, and Happy Valley in Walker County, Georgia. The latest in the region – The Lantern at Morning Pointe Alzheimer’s Center of Excellence, East Hamilton, is under development and anticipated to open in early 2025.
Sponsors for this year included Russ Blakely & Associates, LLC; First Horizon Bank; Patients Choice Laboratories; Gordon Foods; ETPS – A Guardian Pharmacy; The University of Tennessee School of Nursing; Aphix Lawn Service; Erlanger; Live Oak Caregivers, LLC; The Weston Group; 5090 South The Furniture Store; Good News Catoosa/Walker; Hickory Valley Retirement; Chatt Creative; Yardi; Wound Providers of America; CityScope Magazine; Amazing Senior Solutions; Mobile Images; Hearth Hospice; Tallanted Interiors; Horizon Advisors; The Refuge Church; Avail Senior Living; Heritage Funeral Home; Medicare Misty; SpringHill Suites; Boundless Movers; AccentCare/Guardian; Supreme Restaurant Equipment; and Team Steve Darmody – Keller-Williams.
Gino D, radio personality with Hits 96 in Chattanooga, served as emcee for the show for the first time. Judges were Danielle Farrell, author, dancer and director of Raw Art Dance & Entertainment Dance Academy; Josh Robinson, executive producer of The Daily Refresh on NewsChannel 9 in Chattanooga; Susan Caminez, executive director of the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera; and Randall Farrell, musician and 2022 winner of the Morning Pointe Foundation’s Seniors Got Talent show in Chattanooga.
Morning Pointe also sponsors Seniors Got Talent competitions in Knoxville and Franklin, Tennessee, as well as Lexington, Kentucky.