Marilyn Borden, Shirley Hausner, and Elsie Merenda, will make their debut performance next month in a musical tribute to the 1930s and 1940s. At a rehearsal earlier this week, they practiced twirling their hot-pink feather boas.

"We're sexy, we're full of life and energy, we can do striptease, and we can sing the blues."

The group is the brainchild of Borden, who performed with her late twin sister, Rosalyn, with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. The Borden Twins appeared as Teensy and Weensy with Tennessee Ernie Ford on the "I Love Lucy" TV show and performed with Bob Newhart, Jimmy Durante, Andy Williams, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. You can watch a black-and-white clip of the women singing and dancing with Lewis on www.youtube.com.

For most of the years since her sister died, Borden hasn't performed much. But a couple of years ago, she presented a concert at her home for a crowd of 40, which was a big success and gave her the confidence to go on. She decided to head to a bigger venue and bring some friends.

"I love performing," she said. "It's been in my blood forever. I can't give it up."

Elsie Merenda has had her own band called The Velvet Jazz for many years in the Modesto area. When she was younger, she performed at many of the clubs in the San Francisco area including "The Purple Onion".

Hausner, who retired in 2000 from a career in purchasing for a biomedical company, only recently started singing publicly. She has performed in Stanislaus Arts Council director Grace Lieberman's valentine concert at Congregation Beth Shalom in Modesto the past three years.

She believes there needs to be more attention on seniors' talents. While young people have the Youth Entertainment Stage Company, seniors have nowhere to perform other than the Stanislaus Arts Council's occasional Senior Spotlight talent shows, she said.

The gals are fortunate to have three of the best musicians in Modesto. John Wyatt on piano, John Ady on Bass, and Bordens younger sister Barbara Borden on drums.

The show has been very successful, and the gals are currently touring the area. They're doing this, not for the money but for the pure joy of getting out there and doing what they love to do.