A happy refrain

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At 92, Fred Harwood still has a song in his heart and a karaoke mike in his hand.

"FIGHT aging" has become our collective battle cry. And yet the reality is the war against time is one we all lose.

So why do the young get all the glory?

It's the young at heart who are kicking butt. To put it in less combative terms, if you want to find the Fountain of Youth, follow the folks who are following their bliss.

And if you happen to catch up with a Winnipeg gent named Fred Harwood, his only request is that you sing along.

It's Thursday night and a costumed crowd sipping cocktails and chatting around tables on the second floor of McPhillips Street Station Casino has turned its attention to the dapper elf wearing a purple scarf and standing centrestage in front of the Danny Kramer Event band.

"When I grow too old to dream, your love will live in my heart," he croons. "So kiss me my sweet..."

Suddenly, he stops. A young woman dressed as a casino table, who apparently knows the drill, walks up and plants one on his cheek. And he resumes his song:

"...that kiss will live in my heart."

After a standing ovation, the beaming elf returns to his table, which is festooned with balloons and covered with cards and gift bags. Casino Girl is there, along with both her parents and other members of Harwood's regular Thursday night entourage.

Normally he sticks with lemon water -- it helps soothe the vocal cords -- but tonight finds Harwood nursing his second virgin piña colada.

What the heck, you only turn 92 once.

As you might have guessed from his aforementioned performance, Harwood loves the old songs from the war years. (The First World War was raging when he was born in Guelph, Ont.)

He's got a real soft spot for the English singer Vera Lynn -- dubbed the "Forces Sweetheart" during the Second World War -- and even sang with her when he was stationed overseas and she was entertaining the troops.

Dame Vera, also 92, recently became the oldest living artist to top the U.K. album chart with her greatest hits collection We'll Meet Again: The Very Best of Vera Lynn.

It has been three years since Harwood climbed the casino staircase and became Winnipeg's oldest live-karaoke star.

"I had a pickerel dinner down at the buffet, and when I finished I heard music so I came up here," he says. "A lady invited me to join her table, so I put my walker in the corner and went over."

By the time they bring out the birthday cakes, the flirty nonagenarian has already led a rousing sing-along of She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain and serenaded "all the lovely ladies" with The Rose of Tralee. (Apparently he dedicates it to a different lass every time.) He was also spotted kicking up his heels on the dance floor with a female trio. (His purple scarf was a gift from the Red Hat Society during their own karaoke outing.)

If the source of Harwood's Fountain of Youth isn't obvious yet, well, let's just say when a chorus of 100 or so well-wishers gathered around to sing Happy Birthday, his was the loudest voice of all -- and he still had enough wind left to blow out the candles.

"I sing every day," says the spry retiree, whose walker was sitting next to a table across the room and being used as a coat rack. "I've been doing it ever since I was a little boy.

"These special people here, my friends," he says, waving around the room, "they give me the incentive to keep singing."

His most beloved muse now inspires him in spirit.

"My wife was the best music teacher in Winnipeg. She played organ and led the choir at the United Church on Arlington, which is how I met her," Harwood says of Margaret, his bride of 50 years. She passed away in 2002 at age 91 after a struggle with Alzheimer's.

The couple, who had no children, married after he returned from the Korean War and moved into the North End house where Margaret was born. Harwood still lives there, getting by with a little help from home care -- and his karaoke family.

"I never knew my grandparents and he's adopted that role -- although he calls me his sister," says Lisa Windsor, 20 (the Casino Girl). "He phones everyone on their birthday, and says it's CJOB calling, then he'll sing you Happy Birthday."

Barb Schmidt, who often drives Harwood around town to run errands, says Harwood has been known to frequent other karaoke venues, and will sing at any legion or nursing home that will have him, especially around Remembrance Day.

Bandleader Danny Kramer says he's told Fred, who arrives at karaoke early and stays late to help the organizers, to take a cab on many occasions but the spunky senior insists on taking the bus so he can duet with his favourite driver.

Harwood, meanwhile, says he's looking forward to his 100th birthday and the special letter centenarians receive from the Queen.

His musical repertoire might be a bit dated, but the singer has obviously tuned into a timeless wisdom.

"Singing, it brings happiness," Harwood says. "And if you sing every day, you get better and better all the time."

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 3, 2009 D1