The Sound from the Shore: The Yardvarks Return for their 22nd Year

A few years back, the members of Team Leyla asked the Yardvarks to play a special song in memory of the high school girl they were swimming for. The band watched the water from the Ithaca Yacht Club, spotted the team coming in, and started "Brown-Eyed Girl" just as they reached the shore.

"That beautiful high school kid," is how John Simon, the band's acoustic guitarist and vocalist, remembers her. It's the kind of moment the Yardvarks have been part of for more than two decades of Women Swimmin' for Hospicare.

If you've stood on the shore at the finish, you've heard them. The band has played every Women Swimmin' but the first, when a jazz combo assembled by horn player Ken Zeserson covered the day. From year two on, the Yardvarks stepped in and never left.

Their job, as John describes it, goes beyond entertaining the crowd. The band serves as an audio beacon for swimmers making their way across the lake, and they choose their setlist to match the many moods of the day: reflective, uplifting, gentle, affirming. "We occasionally get requests for dance music," John adds, "and we never say no."

The Yardvarks grew out of the band Radio London around 2004, with a mission of playing quirky covers alongside original material. The core lineup is still intact: Ken Zeserson on horn and vocals, Roy Flacco on guitar, John Simon on acoustic guitar and vocals, Jon Hilton on bass, and Danny Lashkoff on drums and vocals.

Ask John why the band keeps coming back, and the answer is personal. Their original bassist, Eric Ott, was a Hospicare patient, and his wife Mary was a nurse at the residence. John's father-in-law died at home as a Hospicare patient. His daughter's high school friend was cared for by Hospicare at the end of her life. "Friends, neighbors, loved ones," he says. "We do it for them."

This year, John found another way to help. He's been with WVBR, Cornell's student-run radio station, since 2002, where he hosts a weekend show and manages advertising accounts. The station is airing public service announcements for Women Swimmin' this season, an idea John brought forward himself. The Hospicare connections run through the station, too. One deejay is married to longtime swimmer Nancy Spero, and another, John Beach, spent his final days in the Hospicare residence.

"It's an honor to help support the many women who have organized and trained and raised money for this event year in and year out," John says. "We know that it's a personal sacrifice and act of love on their part, and that's the spirit in which we do this. We love this event and are in for the long haul."

On August 8, listen for them. They'll be the sound guiding everyone safely to the shore.