| Region 3 Sweet Adelines Newsletter Summer, 2009 |
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| Our Mission |
Lake Michigan Region 3 of Sweet Adelines International is dedicated to the advancement of four-part harmony, barbershop-style, for women of all ages, through education and performance.
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| Regional Management Team |
Communications Coordinator
Director's Coordinator
Education Coordinator
Events Coordinator
Finance Coordinator
Marketing Coordinator
Membership Coordinator
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| Quick Links |
Region 3 Website
Sweet Adelines International
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| Dear Sherry, |
Here we are, a new fiscal year, new team management, new Voices Editor -- me! I'm Mary Ann Neuman, tenor in Melodeers and Ethel Quartet. With around 30 years (on and off) of Sweet Adelines under my belt in Regions 5, 12 and now 3, I've run the gamut of committees, boards, and team positions, and I'm very excited to be your newsletter editor. If you have any suggestions or article submissions, just let me know, and I'll be happy to help get your voices heard.
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| Check Out Our Website! |
Be sure to visit Region 3's website - it's undergone a few changes in the past month to better serve your needs. The biggest change is the Announcements page. This page has been reorganized with sections for Chorus, Quartet, Regional, YWIH and other announcements.
If your group has a fundraiser you think others might be interested in, or you are having a special party or celebration, be sure to send it in to the web manager along with any flyers. As soon as they are available, pictures from our recent contest will also be posted to the website for all to enjoy.
Keep checking the website regularly for news and announcements - we now have information for you about AIM weekend in October with Dale and Peggy! Stay tuned!
www.region3sweetadelines.org |
| Slider (SLDR) Program Announced |
| Section Leaders can now be recognized for their growing achievements in Region 3. We know our Section Leaders work hard and are knowledgeable about the barbershop way. This is your chance to document that knowledge and be recognized by the region in front of your chorus and your section. This is also an excellent way to confirm that you really know what you know you know. In other words, you very likely already know this stuff.
Using the categories of the Director Certification Program, Section Leaders will be honored at Region 3 events and with an award each time they pass three of the 11 tests. Categories include topics like Directing Skills, Analytical Listening, Organization Knowledge, Teaching Skills, Management Skills and the Judging Categories for Competition. There are usually only 10 questions per test and the requirement for passing the tests is just 60%. How cool is that. If you have been a section leader for a while, this is an easy next step for you. Yes, this is something you can do and is also something Region 3 would like to give you recognition for.
Contact Stacey Haskins, Region 3 Coordinator for the Section Leader Distinction and Rewards program and for the Director Certification Program.
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| RMT Positions Open |
WOW! NOW'S THE TIME!
Don't miss this once a year opportunity! Apply to become a part of the wild, wacky, inventive, forward-thinking, adventurous, REALLY FUN Regional Management Team! We're accepting applications for Membership Coordinator and Education Coordinator. Don't miss this chance to be a part of the ongoing changes that keep our Region exciting. Help keep the fire lit! APPLY TODAY! Applications are on the Region #3 website. Completed applications should be sent to Lynda Keever. |
| AIM 2009, by Ann Jarchow, EdCoord |
Hey dudes and dudettes! As summer is welcomed, the RMT is busy preparing for our fall workshop with Dale Syverson and Peggy Gram. These two ladies will make you laugh so hard, you'll cry, make you cry so hard, you'll laugh and offer you education beyond measure and all at the same time!! Having experienced several classes at IES with both of them, I can guarantee you a great weekend! And in order to be completely prepared, please read this most EXCELLENT article to learn to speak like Bill and Ted.
Our weekend together will include education for members of small, medium and large choruses, quartets or Sweet Adelines who just are hungry to learn. Dale and Peggy will touch on areas which our judges suggested we needed to spend time upon and much, much more! You will also have an opportunity to have a voice lesson with one of the Winner Circle members! Not to mention our Region #3 Saturday night bash and an opportunity to Sing With The Champs!!!
All of this education, entertainment, and camaraderie is just $20 (early bird registration)! You won't want to miss this one, so get it on your calendar NOW!
October 1-2 at the Radisson Star Plaza in Merrilville.
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| Martha Warner to Celebrate her 100th Birthday! |
The Melodeers Chorus is pleased to announce that Martha Warner, a member of our chorus for nearly 50 years, will celebrate her 100th birthday on July 21. Many members of Region 3 know her by her brilliant smile, impish sense of humor, and beautiful white hair. Until just a few years ago,Martha was an active member of the chorus, standing and singing all evening on the risers during rehearsals.
 No matter how late the hour, at each Regional and International Convention, Martha could be found chatting with old friends, new friends, and haven't-met-yet friends. Martha remains an avid fan and supporter of the Melodeers and often joins the Melodearies, a group of "retired" Melodeers, for lunch. Reminiscence and laughter prevail whenever she attends. Martha served as Melodeers Chapter President in 1964, and proudly holds gold medals from three of our five International Championships. "They are the most valuable jewelry I own," says Martha. "It's been a wonderful journey, and after 49 years, I am so proud to be a loyal member of the Melodeers. Little did they know, years ago, when the chorus honored me with a lifetime free membership, that my lifetime would span over 100 years!"
Birthday cards would be treasured. Please send to Martha Warner at 2195 Foxglove, Apt. 912, Northbrook, IL 60062.
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| Choral-Aires |
The Choral-Aires Chorus had a busy spring, and looks forward to some great upcoming events in the remainder of the year.
Fashion Show
In March, the Choral-Aires hosted nearly 700 people at their Annual Fashion Show; this year's theme was "Be Our Guest!" With cocktails, raffle prizes valued up to $2,000-including a one week stay for two at Sea Garden Resort in Acapulco or a week's lodging at a vintage cottage in southwest Michigan-entertainment by the Chorus, and the 2008 Sweet Adelines International Quartet Champions, Four Bettys, the standing-room only crowd had a ball.
Regional Competition
As the 2009 Region 3 Champions, the Choral-Aires had the privilege of hosting the Regional Competition this May. Along with the hostess duties, two of our quartets, Brilliance and So Noted, performed. Brilliance earned fourth place, and So Noted earned ninth place. Congratulations to the 2009 Region 3 Champion Quartet, Jukebox, and to the 2009 Region 3 Chorus Champs, Grand Rapids Chorus!
Heritage Fest
Continuing a long-held tradition, the Choral-Aires Chorus provides entertainment at the Downers Grove (IL) Heritage Fest. The festival, voted the "Best Festival of the Midwest" hosts more than 100,000 attendees each year. The Chorus performs at 1:30 p.m. on the Fishel Park Stage. All Region 3 Sweet Adelines members are invited to our free outdoor concert!
Preparation for Nashville
The Choral-Aires is honored and excited to represent the region at International competition. In preparation of the 2009 Sweet Adelines International competition in Nashville, the Choral-Aires Chorus invite you to attend our Preview Show at 3 p.m., Saturday, September 26. More information is coming, so keep an eye on our website for details.
Also preparing for Nashville, the Choral-Aires has scheduled several coaching sessions with Jim Arns and Sharon Babb, in June and July respectively. We will also fine-tune our International package on a retreat with Jim Arns and Renee Porzel September 18 and 19.
New Members and an Open Invitation
Choral-Aires is growing! Fifteen new members have joined us in the last several months, and we are thrilled to have them.
Our 2008 Quartet Workshop was such a success that we are going to repeat it again this year. All Region 3 Sweet Adelines are invited to join us at 7 p.m., Tuesday, July 28. More information is forthcoming.
New members have come to us through our successful Guest Series. This fall's Guest Series, which culminates with our Christmas performances in December, begins Monday, November 16. For more information for this, and other items of interest, visit our website regularly.
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| Grand Rapids |
Those attending this year's Region 3 Contest got to hear the deafening sounds of joy made by the Grand Rapids Chorus! Placing first, again, in our Region is a dream come true. We've been working very hard to achieve this goal and are so proud to be representing Region 3 next year in Seattle. This will be the first time for many of our members to visit the "Evergreen State".
No sooner had we won, when the show of support started for our next journey. The well-wishers lined up for hugs and offerings of help. We have a full schedule from now until October 2010. Please know that with hard work and a little help from our friends (Jim, Renee', Joan, Dale, Peggy & others) the Grand Rapids chorus will do EVERYTHING in our power to make all of you proud.
We're looking forward to being the Region's host for Contest next Spring. That's a duty we see as an honor. We have a Booth Committee formed and they're already hard at work on several, unique projects.
We wish everyone a wonderful summer filled with fun & sun. |
| Great Lake Sound |
Competition was a catalyst for Great Lake Sound. It is always a learning experience. Our first rehearsal after May 2nd was very productive, even though we didn't sing a note. We dissected our score sheets, examining each comment the judges made. A vision of what we wanted to become started to come into focus. We are definitely a work in progress. We are still Great Lake Sound Chorus, but with a different image. Marketing materials reflect the changes being made. We are now GLS Show Chorus.
Everyone (and I do mean everyone, because we are a small chorus) is working toward GLS Show Chorus "Sing for the Summer." We have a kickoff June 30th. Prospective members, after practicing with us for four weeks, have the opportunity to join us on stage at the Porter County Fair.
We're looking forward to seeing all our sisters in song at AIM this fall...and we plan to share how our journey is going.
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| Prairie Echoes |
Flashback to February 1, 2008 when we hired our new director, Donna Bates! It has been a thrilling ride and it continued with joy, excitement, and adventure as we welcomed new members and waited eagerly for some of our former members to '"come back to the fold".
Flash-forward to July 2008 when we competed at the Harmony Classic, in San Antonio, Texas, making this trip the third time we competed there. Oh my, it is fantastic there! We did the 'normal routine' for a chorus as we did plenty of rehearsals and were the demonstration chorus for a class in Unit Sound. It was quite well received and we learned a thing or two in the meantime! Darlene Rogers was the faculty and we still use our 'pods.'
We became the bronze medalists that weekend and we are proud of that as we just hired Donna as our director 5 months before! It was fun to scramble & buy matching laundry baskets, the 'drum' and 'sticks', and various other items for the Laundry Queen song. We also had to get the detergent and softener bottles with our own labels (Prairie Suds & Echo Soft, no corporate logos allowed on contest stage!). Transporting may have been an issue, but we were in luck when one member and her husband wanted to drive, so whammo! Problem solved! One of our members went to a local laundromat in San Antonio and asked if we could borrow a laundry cart for our 'laundry package' so our props would be usable and perfect for the job! How fun is that! Each problem was solved with a little creative ingenuity. We found ourselves back home so fast... maybe too fast! Oh, we did the choreo rehearsals in the pool, Mango Margaritaruns, the River Walk, the boat ride, oh yes, we found time to do that!
Prairie Echoes Harmony Classic - San Antonio, July 2008
After our trip to Harmony Classic in San Antonio last summer, we had three women under age 25 visit and subsequently join. Dorian, Leslie and Meredith all came to us from different contacts but for the same reasons, love of music and singing. They gave all of us new energy because they have SOoo much of it! They have bonded to each other and all of us and became best friends all through membership in Prairie Echoes and Sweet Adelines. That's what it's all about!
New Members Dorian (Dori), Meredith (Maree) & Leslie
When preparing for Harmony Classic we did not do as many performances, but we did do two memorable ones. One was for the DeKalb Public Library Foundation. They did a fundraiser called Music in the Stacks. So unique! We got a new member by doing that performance! It really pays to do those. Another one was for the Sycamore Sesquicentennial. Of course it would be a long time before we can do that one again! The sound system lacked but the people near close to us enjoyed it a lot. We also have a 'daytime quartet' who sang Christmas songs for the Senior Center in DeKalb at their Christmas Party two years in a row now.
In Fall 2008 we were preparing for our Holiday Show, learning a wide variety of new music and decided to invite guest singers to perform selected numbers with us on stage. We advertised and posted fliers for the "Holiday Chorus." We were very excited when we had five guest singers on our Holiday Show in December. All four parts were represented. One was a repeat offender! That is, one lady came back for a second time to sing on our show, no pressure to join permanently. One of the guests, however, did join the chorus. Lee Ann is our newest Bass singer. She is a great addition to our bass section and the chorus overall. She loves that we sing different songs, not just contest songs all the time.
Christine, Christy, Jaime, Lee Ann & Sarah
Guest Singers in the Holiday Chorus, December 2008
Not that we don't love competition. We do! We had three new members on stage with us at regional, Leslie, Meredith and Lee Ann. We all worked hard and enjoyed it immensely. Evidently the judges did too because we are the Region 3 Division A Champion, third place overall! On her birthday, May 18, Donna got the call from Sweet Adelines International inviting us to compete in Harmony Classic in Seattle in 2010. Of course, she said yes!
One Friday afternoon in May 2009 we sang for the Elderday Center in Batavia. We were able to get a few more singers for that one. What a lark that was! The audience was so very responsive and it was evident they were enjoying our singing. The Director of the Center mentioned to one of our members that 'some of these people cannot speak anymore, when they hear music it brings there personalities back!' Cathy and I, who are writing this article, know from personal experience, that music heals! In June, we sang for a member's father's 80th birthday! It was not only fun, we got to eat - goody! Later in the month, we sang at an Assisted Living Residence on a Tuesday night, which is our normal rehearsal night. That works out well to sing for someone and do it on a night when we are most there, is perfect! We will do the same in July, at a Nursing Home. September brings us another outside performance for the Waterman Firemen. One of our members is a volunteer fireman there.
After a coaching with Renee Porzel for her Face Book Page
We're planning two shows in the coming year. One in November will be a Cabaret Night with raffle baskets, door prizes, chapter quartets, maybe a silent auction, and lots of music, fun, and singing! The one in March will a stage show. We're also planning guest nights in August, November, and January.
Congratulations to Grand Rapids Chorus and good luck in Seattle. We'll see you there! We thank our director, Donna Bates. Our coaches, Maureen Brzinski, Jim Arns, Renee Porzel and Cindy Slowik, thank you so much. Also thanks to all our friends and fellow competitors in Region 3. The Prairie Echoes Chorus is pleased and proud to represent Region 3 at Harmony Classic in Seattle, 2010.
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| How Sweet Adelines Brought Me Back to Life after 9/11 |
This past spring, I was coaching Metro Rhythm in Newark N.J. and I had opportunity to speak with a woman who had quite a story. She had been in one of the towers on 9/11. I was so impacted by her story, I asked her to write it down and send it to me. She did so, and then I asked her to send me her thoughts following her competition.
Below is the response to my request to have her tell her story. This is such an incredible example of how Sweet Adelines is so much more than a singing group. As International Faculty, I am constantly looking for examples I can use in my teaching;, however, this is way too good to keep to my self.
-- Judy Herrick
How Sweet Adelines Brought Me Back to Life after 9/11
I did something amazing last weekend. I went to Philadelphia and competed in the Region 15 Sweet Adelines competition. I had a great time! You might say, So what? 800 other women were at that weekend. Why was it so amazing for you? Heres the answer. A year ago if someone asked me to go anywhere for any reason and stay on the 7th floor of a hotel, I would not have been able to do it. I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, I went to work early, as I usually do, at the Merrill Lynch tower which is the building next door to 1 WTC. When I boarded the ferry to cross the Hudson River to NY, the sky was clear and I thought to myself, That skyline is really beautiful! I didn't realize at that moment that it would be the last time I would ever see it. When I walked into my building a delivery man was on the phone telling his boss that they wouldnt let him take his truck out of Vesey Street. When he hung up I asked him why and he told me something had hit the Trade Center. I walked to my desk and noticed that all my phones were ringing. I picked up the first one and said, "Research." The hysterical voice of my oldest daughter, Margo, was on the line. She said frantically, "A 747 just hit the Trade Center and bodies are falling out of the sky." I told her, "Hang up, Im coming home."
From my experience when 2 WTC was bombed, I knew better than to take an elevator. I walked down 44 flights of stairs to a back door and headed for the ferry slip. Just before stepping on the floating dock, I looked back and up at 1 WTC. What I saw horrified me, flames and smoke billowing far out from the top of the building and bodies were falling from the sky, crashing through the ceiling windows of the Winter Garden. I hurried on to the ferry just as it was taking off for New Jersey. When the ferry was in the middle of the Hudson River at approximately 9 a.m., a plane crashed into 2 WTC and a huge ball of fire exploded in our direction. We could feel the heat from the giant fireball that appeared from the side of the building. It burned my eyes like looking at the sun and later I had to go to an eye doctor for medicine to relieve the pain.
When I got to Hoboken, I jumped on the train to West Orange. While I was on the train, I listened to my portable radio until it went off the air. The announcer said something about another explosion and after that the radio went dead. We all looked back at the Trade Center which you could see from the train and a huge cloud of smoke or dust was reaching to the sky. We didnt know at the time that the buildings were starting to collapse. When I got to West Orange, I called my daughter who sounded very upset. She said, "I can't believe those buildings are gone." I couldn't or wouldn't comprehend what she was saying. Later, I watched the event on TV and saw the buildings coming down. I tried to take in what was happening. I couldn't believe that a short time ago I was standing under those buildings. Later I found out that three people from my company were killed, three people from my town, and one from my family, a young boy of 23 who has never been recovered. Many of my co-workers were injured.
I couldn't sleep. I live 8 miles from Newark Airport and when the planes started flying again the sound of every one that went over my house brought my heart to my throat and cramps to my stomach until I was sure it had passed my house safely. I couldn't go back to work so I took a sabbatical for 6 months. When I realized how disturbed I was over the event, I decided I needed counseling. It was all I could do to make myself get in my car every week and go there because I was developing a case of agoraphobia. I only felt safe in my own home, in my own room. I felt that my life was over and I might as well die. I had been left with a lot of fears and would never be the person I was before 9/11.
I stayed close to home for a long time. One day I opened the local weekly newspaper and saw an ad written by Metro Rhythm Chorus inviting anyone to come to their next rehearsal and check them out. The address was very close to my home so I decided to go. I made up my mind that I would not get involved but I just wanted to hear them sing. I remember how hard it was for me to get in my car, drive over there and walk in to a room where I didn't know anyone. As soon as I walked in, women came over to me and welcomed me. They gave me paperwork about Sweet Adelines which I took but had no intention of reading. Everyone was smiling and chatting and it made me feel sad. I wanted to feel that good about something but had no hope that I ever would. The group sang and I was very impressed. I said to myself, "I wish I could do that!" I left shortly after and everyone encouraged me to return the next week. Of course I wasn't going to do that, but sure enough, the next Wednesday I found myself getting in my car and going to the rehearsal. I was tested and they decided I should be a bass. I was given some music and a CD to help me learn the music. I played it in my car and surprised myself by learning my part in a week. The next week I went back just to return the music and CD. I sang the music with the group and actually found myself enjoying myself a little. For some reason as each Wednesday came around, I found it easier and easier to go to the rehearsal. I tested and passed a few songs. One week, much to my surprise, they told me I had been accepted as a member. I wasn't sure if I felt happy or trapped. I was talked into going to TRAX weekend. That was the first place I stayed outside my home since the 9/11 event. Christmas was coming and we were learning music to do several shows. I didn't think I could do it, but somehow, there I was on a stage singing at a Christmas show, a hospital, a nursing home, and at Lafayette Village. I saw how happy we made the people feel when we sang. Suddenly I had a useful reason to be living again. When I went to the retreat I found it was a little easier to leave my home.
The competition loomed over me like a monster. I knew the music. That didn't worry me, but to go to a big hotel in a big city and have people depending on me to do my part, scared me to death. All the women in my chorus were very supportive, especially my director, Judy Douglas, who seemed to understand what I was going through. She put up with a lot of my phobias and guided me through the weekend. I loved being on the stage, and the friendship and love that I felt from everyone that weekend has changed me for good. For a long time I thought of myself as a 9/11 Victim, but now I think of myself as a Sweet Adeline Singer. Believe me, this is a much better thing to be and I thank everyone in my group and all the Sweet Adelines that I have met in the past year for helping me turn my life around. I now feel confident that I have something to look forward to in my future.
Im looking forward with love, harmony and friendship,
Joann Kornas
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