One of the volunteers at the recent Illinois Day celebration was of particular interest to me.

Teena Borman, and her mother, Niobi, were the two women selling the food and drink tickets.

Unless you knew her before, she looked rather normal. That’s a good thing. She has Parkinson’s Disease, and recently had the same Deep Brain Stimulation surgery that I had 2-1/2 years ago.

She was feeling good at the Illinois day and it showed. At that time she had undergone two programming sessions. A third was scheduled for yesterday. Teena is on the board of the Fountain Hills and Lower Verde Valley Historical Society.

Before having the series of three DBS surgeries, she had the side-to-side head turning that is a movement disorder called dyskinesia. I had the same condition prior to the DBS surgeries. When I saw her that Saturday, I couldn’t believe the difference. No wonder she couldn’t stop smiling.

There was another individual that I found very interesting at the Illinois festivities.

His name is Jerry Zeilhofer. He was the guy in the band playing the harmonica. Wearing dark glasses and a black hat, he looked as if he was one of the Blues Brothers.

In fact, he has played with the Blues Brothers act at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Another time he played with Don Henley of the Eagles in Vail, Colo. Over the years, he has played with over 100 bands.

Locally, he sat in with Esteban at one of the art fairs held in Fountain Hills.

He played with the Phoenix String Quartet at a party at CopperWynd and regularly plays with the Praise Band at the 11:15 a.m. alternative service at the Fountain Hills Presbyterian Church.

Now, here is the interesting part, he can’t read a note of music and he has never accepted even a penny anywhere he has played.

“I guess you could say I have this gift from the Lord,” Jerry said. ”I started playing when I was 13. I’d practice in the hallways of my high school or in houses that were under construction. I would get a good echo in there after they had the drywall installed.”

He calls harmonica playing a dying art. “Few people play today,” he said.

On that Saturday at Illinois Day, he was playing his Lee Oskar harmonica as few can play it. He does have a real talent for it.

There’s even a story about the harmonica that played another role in his life. His wife of 31 years, Linda, is the daughter of a harmonica player. He became an instant part of the family from the time he first met Linda’s dad, Larry Wakefield. The two would play together until Larry died at the age of 89, five years ago. “We hit it off, and he was a big influence on me,” Jerry said.

He makes his living as a computer and software consultant to companies. He has also published numerous publications around the country and is the former publisher of the Arizona Penny Saver.

As for not accepting any pay for playing, he said, “It’s something I just enjoy doing. I’ve turned down a thousand dollars for playing. It’s fun for me.

And it’s fun for the rest of us to listen to him

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In closing this week, I want to extend my and the staff’s best wishes and prayers to Editor Mike Scharnow, whose mom passed away last weekend in Wisconsin.

She loved her visits to Fountain HIlls and was last here in 2009 when her son was inducted into the Lower Verde Valley Hall of Fame.