At first, the Peak City Singers were just a group of seniors who liked to croon the oldies from their childhoods, performing at nursing homes and keeping things simple: no harmony, no music reading and certainly no dance moves.

Then Jill Smith came along.

Smith was hired by the town of Apex to direct the group last fall. Since the choir was founded in 2001, volunteers had been running the show, but when the previous director became unable to continue due to physical limitations, there were no volunteers to be found.

The town decided it was worth raising a few funds from the choir participants to help pay a director, and the Parks And Recreation Department posted a position.

Smith, a former opera singer and professional voice instructor, was quick to apply.

Since her tutelage began, the Peak City Singers won not only the Raleigh-Wake Senior Games SilverArts Follies last April but the N.C. Senior Games State Finals SilverArts Follies competition in the Vocal-Large Group category in September as well.

"We were very lucky, I don't think they pay her very much at all," said Molly Weston, the previous director. Weston still sings in the group and has marveled at how far it has come.

"Thinking of it now, we were bad," Eileen Flores, 66, said, laughing.

Flores has sung with the Singers since moving to Apex from New York nine years ago. She was the brain behind the group's costumes and makeup.

The Singers won with the tunes "I Love A Piano" and "Play A Simple Melody" by Irving Berlin, which they started rehearsing in January in preparation for April's county games. It was only right they should dress from that era - flapper-style beaded dresses and feathered headbands for the women and top hats for the men.

The Singers had won the county games before but never had any competition in the large vocal category. They told Smith the goal was to place at the state level, but winning was beyond their dreams.

The group of about 25 singers ranges in age from 64 to 89, and Smith was able to work within everyone's ability, both vocally and physically. She incorporated movement into their act, something many members appreciated more than the music theory, site reading and harmonizing skills she also deemed necessary.

A few members dropped from the group early, either uninterested or not convinced it was worth the time and effort. Some did not appreciate Smith's no-nonsense approach during their one-hour weekly rehearsals.

Smith admits she pushed them, teaching vocal warm-ups and breathing exercises and introducing new songs, but she knew they had it in them.

Or maybe it was because she's only 39. "To them I might as well be 19," she said.

For those who stayed, the hard work has been well worth it. After their first performance under her direction at a nursing home, audience members came up and told the performers how much they had improved.

"It really built up their confidence," Smith said. "What I've worked to get them to do has paid off."

"At our age it's always good to learn something, no matter what," said Marlies Jeter, 87, who founded the group in 2001.

The group will start rehearsing its new act next month, already setting its sights on taking the state title again. In 2012, the winner will be asked to represent the state at the national senior games.

"I can't wait for next year, to figure out what we're going to do," Flores said. "We're hot to trot!"