PUBLISHED: December 19, 2023 at 5:42 p.m. | UPDATED: December 20, 2023 at 5:44 p.m.

Without uttering a word, a team of performers have mastered spreading holiday cheer to residents who have come to depend on their visit at Christmas.

For nearly 15 years, Mercy Mimes, the pantomime team from Mercy High School in Farmington Hills, has ushered in the Christmas spirit for seniors living at Beaumont Commons in Dearborn.

“Our residents are so excited to see them perform at our annual holiday party,” said Shavon Baker, activities supervisor. “They’ve become like a family tradition for us.”

Lucia Wylie-Eggert, director of the Mercy Mimes, said the performance has also become a tradition for her.

Currently in her third year of directing, Wylie-Eggert shared that she was a mime during her sophomore to senior years at Mercy High School from 2005 to 2008, performing at the senior living community when it was known as Oakwood Common.

According to Wylie-Eggert, the Mercy Mimes program was started in 1991 by Kathy Sill as part of the school’s Student Acting II curriculum. Sill continued to direct the team until she retired in 2021.

“The white face paint and black costumes with red accents that our mimes wear is almost the same as the one I wore,” Wylie-Eggert, who described how the mimes learn to communicate without speaking, said. “There are lots of charades, and they learn how to use their whole bodies, faces, hand gestures and even the space around them to create a dynamic performance.”

The team performs a repertoire of 16 skits, several of which are specific to the holidays. Wylie-Eggert noted one of the skits residents really enjoyed consisted of three mimes pretending to be a Christmas tree while other mimes played as family members to decorate the tree.

“Everyone laughed when the mime who played the dad tried to put an ornament on top of the tree, and the tree kept getting taller and taller,” said Wylie-Eggert, who noticed that this year more and more of the residents joined the mimes in their pretend play. “They played cards, played with balloons, pretended to take cocktails off a tray, danced with Mimes, and more.”

The mimes performed for residents throughout the community, including those in assisted living and memory care areas on campus.

She went on to say that before they visited, the team talked about the joy they can bring to those who have experienced memory loss, and can still dance, sing and enjoy pretend snowball fights.

“Every year, the Mercy Mimes bring such joy and good cheer to everyone on campus — residents, staff and guests,” Baker said. “You can readily see the smiles and hear their laughter.”

She said this brings another New Year’s wish from the residents — may the tradition continue.