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<p>KINGSTON &#8212; If anyone would ever be so silly as to suggest a person in his 90s could be too old for piano lessons, John &#8220;Jack&#8221; Hilsher would set that whippersnapper straight.</p><p>&#8220;Baloney!&#8221; he said, pausing in the middle of a lesson with teacher Andrea Bogusko. &#8220;You&#8217;re never too old.&#8221;</p><p>At 98, Hilsher is Bogusko&#8217;s oldest student, and he might be her most mischievous, too.</p><p>&#8220;You&#8217;ll notice how he sneaks a different song in there,&#8221; Bogusko said, pointing out how Hilsher started playing a tune she assigned, then subtly switched to one of his favorites, the old jazz standard &#8220;Jeepers Creepers.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I wanted to see if you were paying attention,&#8221; Hilsher said.</p><p>The piano student likes to segue into the vaudeville number &#8220;I&#8217;m Always Chasing Rainbows,&#8221; too. Both are songs he has memorized and plays by ear.</p><p>Music stays with a person a long time, said Hilsher, who can easily reprise &#8220;March of the Wooden Soldiers,&#8221; a song he used to play as his classmates marched into the auditorium for assemblies at his middle school in Williamsport.</p><p>&#8220;The principal would wave at me when to start, and when to stop,&#8221; Hilsher recalled. &#8220;I was scared to death.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;He told me he played that about 50 years ago, but it&#8217;s more than 80 years,&#8221; Bogusko said, explaining she recently wrote out the &#8220;March of the Wooden Soldiers&#8221; notes for him and he committed it to memory.</p><p>&#8220;He instantly memorizes,&#8221; said the teacher, who started visiting Hilsher at ManorCare Health Services in Kingston about a year ago for a weekly, hour-long lesson.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s very satisfying,&#8221; Hilsher said. &#8220;I enjoy it.&#8221;</p><p>With her younger students, Bogusko said, their parents often ask her if they&#8217;re practicing enough.</p><p>&#8220;In this case, it&#8217;s his son who asks,&#8221; Bogusko said with a chuckle.</p><p>Hilsher&#8217;s son, Jim, of Kingston, said the piano lessons seem to help his father&#8217;s memory and concentration and add enjoyment to his day.</p><p>&#8220;He played piano many, many years ago and wanted to pick it up again,&#8221; Jim Hilsher said. &#8220;He looks forward to it every week.&#8221;</p><p>For years Jack Hilsher built model ships as a hobby, his son said, and one of his intricate creations is on display at Cooper&#8217;s Seafood Restaurant. More recently the elder Hilsher, who turned 98 in September, has worked on smaller wooden models.</p><p>He likes to watch jazz programs on a Chromebook computer, too, when he&#8217;s not playing his keyboard.</p><p>&#8220;My father has always had to keep busy,&#8221; Jim Hilsher said, noting his father used to write a column for the Times Leader and the Dallas Post about 30 years ago. &#8220;That was another way he kept busy.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">John &#8216;Jack&#8217; Hilsher, shown here with piano teacher Andrea Bogusko, can play many songs from memory. When he needs to see notes, sometimes he looks through a magnifier to see them better. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122216pianolesson2-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>John &#8216;Jack&#8217; Hilsher, shown here with piano teacher Andrea Bogusko, can play many songs from memory. When he needs to see notes, sometimes he looks through a magnifier to see them better. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger Photos | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122216pianolesson4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A magnifier glass comes in handy for enlarging the smaller print and notes on some sheet music. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122216pianolesson4-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>A magnifier glass comes in handy for enlarging the smaller print and notes on some sheet music. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger Photos | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122216pianolesson3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sometimes John &#8216;Jack&#8217; Hilsher likes to pick out the notes with just one hand. His teacher, Andrea Bogusko, reminds him to use two. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122216pianolesson3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Sometimes John &#8216;Jack&#8217; Hilsher likes to pick out the notes with just one hand. His teacher, Andrea Bogusko, reminds him to use two. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger Photos | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122216pianolesson1-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">John Hilsher practices the piano with Andrea Bogusko. 12/8/2016 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/web1_TTL122216pianolesson1-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>John Hilsher practices the piano with Andrea Bogusko. 12/8/2016 Aimee Dilger|Times Leader</caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger Photos | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>John &#8216;Jack&#8217; Hilsher, 98, is Andrea Bogusko&#8217;s most senior student</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

‘You’re never too old’ for piano lessons, Kingston senior says