Just after 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, the room was already full by the time musician Joe Ghiglia showed up to perform for the residents at the Casey’s Pond Senior Living community.

Many of the residents spent the summer facing an uncertain future with Casey’s Pond owing more than $68 million and the facility put into receivership, foreshadowing a potential sale of the senior living community. However, all that changed Friday when the Yampa Valley Community Foundation announced it had negotiated a verbal agreement with the bondholders, which, once finalized, will allow Northwest Colorado Health to purchase Casey’s Pond and maintain it as a senior living community.

“We’ve got a future,” Ghiglia said with a smile. “It just means so much because it’s not just for these people here but looking forward for the rest of us. The possibilities in 10 years feel much better now.”

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Ghiglia and his partner, Randy Kelley, have performed as The Naturals for years, playing covers for the residents at Casey’s Pond who look forward to listening their music. The men’s musical performances have been a welcome distraction the past couple of months as the residents were dealing with fact that the senior community went into receivership in late June.

Kelley was on the river Tuesday, but Ghiglia said the duet will be back together next week playing tunes and bringing smiles to the residents.

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“I get to see these people,” Ghiglia said as his voice cracked a bit with happiness. “It means a lot. I can’t really put my finger on it, but this has just become part of my life. I didn’t want to lose that, and it looked like we might.”

Instead, he is already looking forward to The Naturals continuing to perform at Casey’s Pond in the future.

“It’s my weekly therapy,” Ghiglia said. “My two favorite places to play are here at Casey’s Pond and at The Press. The Press is like my living room, and this is like going to see the family.”

Ghiglia and Kelley have been volunteering their time at Casey’s Pond once a week since before 2016. During these visits, they bring their guitars, and Kelley likes to unpack his fiddle as they offer an extensive list of tunes including “Summertime” by Porgy and Bess, “Yesterday” by The Beatles, “Georgia on My Mind” by Ray Charles and “More Than One Way Home” by Keb Mo. They also take requests and play some new stuff from time to time.

The performances are small and intimate. There is no sound check, no lights and no fancy green room with free beer at these gigs. However, Ghiglia said he has rarely played in front of an audience that appreciates him as much as the residents at Casey’s Pond do. The room fills up 15 minutes before he arrives, and there are lots of words of thanks and more than a few hugs to go around afterward.

“Obviously, we do it because it feels good,” Kelley said of playing at Casey’s Pond. “It feels good, and as Joe said, it helps recharge our batteries.”

The Naturals are not alone. Sondra Boyd, the community life director at Casey’s Pond, said there has been no shortage of community members who have volunteered their time since Casey’s Pond opened in 2013.

“I would say we have around 35 volunteers coming in (right now), but I normally count a whole group as one,” Boyd said. “When I have large groups come in — like for caroling every year — there are like 20 or 30 people, but I count them as one.”

She said some performers come in every week, and she lets each volunteer decide how often they can come. Gerry Audesirk, who plays guitar and sings, performs twice a week while Mark Goodhart, who plays piano, visits once a month.

The Broad Band — which includes Gail Holthausen, Kate Parke, Elizabeth Danielson, Sheila Sarny, Carol Ives and Suzie Leeson — plays periodically, as does Apple Pie Order. Kelley said performers from WinterWonderGrass have also stopped by to play in the past, as has Jim Nowak, who brings members of the Rotary Club at times.

“I’m just a guy who likes to sing and is sort of mediocre on guitar, and I started playing back at the Doak Walker in August of 2013,” Audesirk said. “Then they built Casey’s Pond, and they asked me to give a move over to there and play. Casey’s Pond didn’t just have Doak Walker, but they also had independent living, assisted living and memory care. Some of those people heard me and wanted me to play for them, so it gradually built up.”

He said that playing at Casey’s Pond is not only good for the residents but has also benefited him.

He doesn’t consider his musical talents to be on the same level as Kelley, who fiddled with some notable bands including Buffalo Commons, and Ghiglia, who played with Mary MacGregor, who toured with Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary.

 Still, Audesirk welcomes his role at Casey’s Pond — and so do many of the residents he entertains.

“Having somebody — even somebody like me who’s not a regular skilled musician — come out and pay attention to them and play for them and prepare stuff for them is a real treat,” Audesirk said. “I have fun, they have fun and everybody has a good time.”

Individuals ranging from Rabbi Kolby Morris-Dahary, Gretchen Anderson and Rich Danter also make regulars appearances at Casey’s Pond.

Morris-Dahary offers support and counseling. She had been coming every month, but shifted to an every week schedule as residents were grappling with the announcement that the senior living community was placed in a receivership.

“We have multiple church groups, local preschools and the Emerald Mountain School comes and gives concerts,” Boyd said. “Teachers bring in their students for piano recitals. We have pet volunteers who travel around the building visiting residents. There are almost too many (volunteers) to count, and we have a ton of connections in the community.” 

During Tuesday’s show, it was clear Ghiglia and Kelley were having as much fun as the seniors they interacted with — many of whom could be heard singing along and laughing, clapping their hands and smiling as they listened to the songs and enjoyed a little bit of humor.

Kelley said the duo is accompanied by his dog, Izzy, and Ghiglia’s dog, Gibson, from time to time. He said The Naturals’ performances at Casey’s Pond are all about making it fun for the residents and offering them something they can enjoy.

He admits there are times the performances can be a little salty, but from the laughs he got Tuesday, the audience didn’t seem to mind — and he is sure they are all of age and can appreciate a good joke and maybe even a bad one.

He and Ghiglia were not sure how residents would respond when they added John Prine’s “Crazy Bones” a few years back. The song addresses growing older and references life in a nursing home with a little bit of twisted humor in lyrics like, “When all them nurses say, ‘Grandpa why you walk that way?’ Just blame it on that ol’ crazy bone.”

“When we first did the song, I was like, ‘This could be a little bit edgy,’ but (the residents) really like it,” Kelley said. “Then they started requesting that we sing it. I think that they relate to it and they are not afraid to laugh at themselves.”

Ghiglia said he was filled with happiness when he heard Casey’s Pond will be saved after a turbulent summer for the residents that began with the announcement the facility was placed into a receivership. Following the announcements, residents in skilled nursing were given 90 days’ notice on July 29 that that portion of the facility would close, and those in assisted living were notified Aug. 15 that they would have 90 days to relocate.

At the time, like many people in the community, Ghiglia struggled with the idea that Steamboat Springs might lose Casey’s Pond, and he was concerned about how it could hurt the residents, their families and their friends — and him.

“We come here to bring some joy to these people, you know,” Ghiglia said. “They really look forward to it, but we also take so much from it including the smiles, the thank-yous and the hugs. … We’re all friends and that’s important and pretty special.”