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Sweet Adeline Lake Ontario Region 16 Newsletter
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REGISTER NOW!
Hats Off To Harmony Fall Music School!
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REGION 16 FALL MUSIC SCHOOL
Have you talked to your chorus friends about attending? Guest faculty, Tori Postma's classes will not only be educational, but FUN! And there are many more exciting offerings: YWIH workstop, new Friday night Round Table topics, a class by our own Spritzer, quartet coaching, our HAT CONTEST, and MORE!!! Don't miss it!
DATE: November 11th - 13th, 2016
PLACE: Adam's Mark Hotel & Event Center, Buffalo, NY
FACULTY: Tori Postma
ALL registration forms are available on
 the Regional Website, go directly there by clicking on the hat to the right.
Registrations received after October 9th will be subject to a $25 late fee
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YWIH AT FALL MUSIC SCHOOL
FREE all day on Saturday November 12.
More details to follow!
Do you know someone 25 or under who would like to attend and participate? Email Pam Calveric
pamcalveric@gmail.com and she will send music and learning tracks for the songs for the day. This is a great idea for daughters, nieces, granddaughters and neighbors!
Click
HERE
to see the flyer!
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This is a special invitation to all Region16 quartets to take advantage of the coaching opportunity at the Fall Music School in Buffalo.
To register for this first-come-first served one-hour coaching session, please complete the bottom portion of this Fall Music School
Quartet Coaching Registration Form
and mail it, with your payment ($30US or $40CAD) to ME no later than October 15th, 2016. (The quartet coaching fee this year is not included in your chorus' Fall Music School registration or paid on-site in Buffalo.)
There is also a performance opportunity for your quartet to open a class at the Fall Music School. Please indicate this on the
Quartet Coaching Registration Form
or otherwise let me know if you would like to share your joy by singing a song for your Region 16 friends.
If you have any questions about any aspect at all, please email me (
paulaallen@cogeco.ca) or phone me in Kingston (613-457-3267) My chorus night is Tuesday.
Paula Allen
Quartet Coordinator
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A Message from our International President , Paula Davis
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On September 9, 2016 all Sweet Adeline's were sent a message from International President Paula Davis announcing a special presentation she will be making during the Regional Roll-Call at the 2016 International Convention in Las Vegas on Tuesday October 18th.
She will be speaking about diversity and inclusion as we acknowledge our past and honor the 50th anniversary of the removal of the "color bar" that was part of our by-laws from 1958 to 1966, denying membership to women of color.
As a symbol of Sweet Adeline's commitment to the inclusion of all women who love to sing into our membership, she will be presenting a posthumous lifetime membership to Lana Clowes, a Canadian woman of color who was denied membership in 1962. Her daughter, Valerie, a member our own Region 16 Ontario Heartland Chorus will be present to receive this membership. We are excited for Valerie that she is a part of this very important historical presentation!
To ensure that all of our Region 16 members received that message, we are including a link to Paula's message below.
If you have any questions, please let us know.
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Click on the link below to see past issues of the Sixteenth Notes
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Buffalo Gateway Welcomes
Barrie Huronia Soundwaves Welcomes
- Linda Grant
- Sonya Hayes
- Marnie Hermiston
- Susan Little
- Michelle McNair
- Meagan Shaw
- Donna Thompson
- Shanelle Audery
- Ashley Kennedy
- Q (Sue) Lethbridge
- Christine Lyon
- Amanda Tumukuratire
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Let us know who your new members are and they can see their name
here too!
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Lois Janet Walker
Jan 1 1931--Aug 1 2016
Lois joined Sweet Adelines in May of 1957. She was at first reluctant to join, as she objected to the phrase in our then constitution describing Sweet Adelines as an organization for "white Christian women ".
She eventually did join, properly reasoning that it would be easier to affect change from within the organization than from without. She, among others was instrumental in having that particular clause eliminated.
Lois was originally a member of Oshawa Chorus, which morphed into Don Valley Chorus (now defunct). She spent the remainder of her Sweet Adeline life as a proud member of North Metro Chorus and was thrilled to win 3 gold medals with North Metro.
She became a 50 year member in 2007 and was honoured at International in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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All Region 16 choruses were sent a check in July by the Regional Finance Coordinator in the amount of $250.
The Regional Management Team is very pleased to offer this grant to help with chorus coaching expenses for the 2016-2017 Sweet Adeline year.
Happy coaching!
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Barrie Huronia Soundwaves
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Hello Region 16!
Time Flies!
It's been a year of growth for Barrie Huronia Soundwaves. Last time we saw you our Director, Selina Ree, was about to give birth to a beautiful baby girl. Hard to believe our baby Iris turned one this past June! That hasn't slowed Selina down at all, though, as we're gearing up for something BIG in October - but more about that later. Our chorus is growing and we are pleased to welcome more wonderful singers into our organization. Welcome to the sisterhood Linda, Sonya, Marnie, Susan, Michelle, Meagan, Donna, Shanelle, Ashley, Q, Christine and Amanda!
Time Out!
You may have noticed we were not at Regional Contest this year. It felt strange not to be in Syracuse in the spring, no doubt about that! We certainly missed the fellowship and camaraderie that, as we all know, has to be experienced to truly understand. Instead, the BHSW Artistic Team gathered together to watch the webcast. Not the same as being there, but fun all the same!! We were most impressed by the on-air flair of the webcast hosts as well as the performances of all the Region 16 choruses. The bar is set high. We can't wait to perform alongside such talented women next year!
 Summer Time!
As I mentioned earlier, we're brewing something big for the fall but that isn't the only thing that's kept us busy this summer. We literally took our 'Show on the Road' as we hit the streets of Barrie and performed at a number of venues. No audience was too big or too small. We toured, we sang, we had a blast!!!
ShowTime!
Following our Open Division performance in the spring of 2015, we were motivated and inspired. We had uncovered many hidden talents and unlocked incredible creativity within our membership. So we are putting that talent to good use this fall with a special show. Our production, "Bits & Bytes of Broadway", combines the best music of Broadway with the sweet harmonies of barbershop. It's guaranteed to be an awesome night! So mark October 22
nd in your calendar and make the trip to Barrie. With special guests, acting, dancing and, of course, lots of singing, it's going to be a fun and fantastic evening!
Enjoy the upcoming holiday season!
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The Circle of Harmony is very pleased and proud to report that we won DIAMOND in our category of Local Entertainers in the Oakville Readers Choice Awards!
We appreciate the good people of Oakville voting for us to this wonderful achievement but our main reward as always is performing and warming their hearts with song!
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The "summer" season began with the Circle of Harmony shivering in as many layers as we could muster for our fund raising barbecues on several weekends in May! The barbecues are our main fund raiser and this year we held them at one of the Terra Nurseries. We set up canopies and tables, cooked hot dogs and sausages (with cooked onions!) and sold drinks to the Terra customers. We all have a great time at this fund raiser and sometimes if the team has the right combination of voices, the customers are even treated to a song! Of course if we end up with 3 basses and a tenor, singing is not an option! This year's weather was challenging, with high winds, low temperatures and a bit of rain, but we still did well and had a lot of fun doing it!
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Our esteemed director, Barb Hodge had a great idea to extend welcome to our past alumni members. A large number had attended our Friends and Family night last April, and she thought it might be exciting to reach out to past members and celebrate with them on a special evening. And what a very special evening it was! We invited as many as we could contact to come and sing and reminisce with us on June 8th. Besides the wonderful turn out, there was a lot of laughter as well as a few tears as former members took to our risers and sang some of their favourite songs with us! The sound was amazing as our numbers swelled and we all celebrated at the end of the evening with coffee, tea and delicious baked goods. We hope to keep our alumni in our circle in the future!
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In June, the Circle of Harmony was very proud to sing at the Relay for Life in Coronation Park in Oakville. The setting for this overnight walk was idyllic, steps to Lake Ontario, and as the sun set, and the participants began the walk, we sang a number of songs that drew smiles from those who were walking by, and attracted a standing only crowd of enthusiastic audience who really encouraged us with their energetic applause! After our dedicated riser team had set up the risers on the grass, we felt honoured that before the walk began, the survivors were encouraged to come forward and they sat on our risers which proved to be a most welcome use for them as they rested before the walk began! The Circle of Harmony enjoys singing anywhere, but to sing in the open air, with Lake Ontario in the background on such a magical night was truly memorable for each and
everyone of us who sang.
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The Circle of Harmony takes a few weeks holiday in July, and on the last Wednesday of July, we held our annual pool party in the beautiful home of one of our members. Her lovely pool was filled with lots of gals keeping cool from the hot weather that descended in our area in June and hasn't let go! The food for the party is always pot luck, with no planning and it is absolutely miraculous how it always works out perfectly that there are appetizers, entrees and desserts in abundance! Of course, looking at the tables filled to bursting, you might have thought we had invited the entire Region 16!
Returning to rehearsals in the first week of August, the Circle of Harmony is cooling off learning some new Christmas songs for our show! It really does work!
On Saturday August 20th, we participated in the Niagara Barbershop Corn Roast which was a fun night of barbershop singing with other choruses in the Niagara  Region. There was fresh corn in abundance, hot dogs and hamburgers and even some veggie burgers (yeah!) and a great evening of singing with 2 other female choruses, 2 male choruses, 5 female quartets, 6 male quartets...and one trio! With over 200 in attendance, this special evening has been a tradition of the St. Catharines Singing Saints for over four decades. The Corn Roast is now hosted by Acappella Niagara. We are glad that the baton has been passed to keep this wonderful event alive. The Circle of Harmony certainly looks forward to it every year!
The new year will begin in September with our membership night on Wednesday, September 14th. We are once again hosting a Christmas Choir programme where potential new members are given free membership for the fall, and learn a few songs to sing with us on our Christmas Shows on Saturday, November 26th at Clearview Church in Oakville. It is a wonderful way to learn what it is like to be in a chorus and sing on stage, before having to formally commit to joining. This programme has been exceptionally successful, and we have increased our membership significantly over the past few years!
The Circle of Harmony will be performing in the Towne Square in Oakville on Saturday, October 1st at 1 pm in "Culture Days" which is part of our commitment to our rehearsal space, the Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre in Oakville. We hope the weather holds as this will be an open air performance!
A busy October continues with our annual performance in Choirfest, an evening of singing with choruses and choirs in the area. Choirfest is held in conjunction with the Canadian Orpheus Male Choir and this year's event will be held in the Polish Hall in Burlington, on Tuesday, October 18th at 7:30. The Circle of Harmony always rocks the house, and we have a wonderful time listening to the vast array of genres of music that is presented.
Wishing our Sisters in Harmony a very happy Fall!
Susan Mander
Circle of Harmony
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News from GKC!
In our chorus, like any other, there are a lot of special people. We are extremely blessed to have in our ranks not one, but two amazing and lovely senior 'octogenarians' who come out faithfully to every rehearsal and performance and 'do their bit' in their own way for GKC. They are Joyce Mayhew -lead, and Barb Mallory -bass, and they were asked to write a little bio about themselves; here is what they wrote. Enjoy!
From Joyce:
I first came in contact with GKC in the early 1990's when they were singing at The Festival of Trees at Portsmouth Harbour, Kingston and liked it very much, but I thought that they would not be interested in me as I could not read music (and still can't!). It was a few years later when, at one of my Scottish Country dancing classes one of the dancers said to me that the group she sang with had won a competition and was going to New Orleans to compete internationally. She also said "why don't you come along and see us next week" so I did gladly, and as they say "The rest is history". I was 68 and raring to go. It was 1996. Somehow or other I did not go to New Orleans but am so happy to have been to several international competitions since. My niece who lived in Perth, Australia, was visiting me in Atlanta and was enthusiastic about a bunch of ladies she had met on the flight, who turned out to be members of a Sweet Adeline Chorus from Perth. I encouraged her to join, which she did, and for many years now has enjoyed being a Sweet Adeline. I have been able to meet her at a few International contests over the years, which was wonderful. When she moved to Christchurch, New Zealand she joined the Christchurch Chorus, so these get-togethers continued.
I still enjoy climbing those risers every week (though it gets slightly more difficult these days). Learning all those songs is great for my memory, and where would one find so many fun-loving companions to keep me young! I really could not imagine life without Sweet Adelines. Long may it continue. I AM SWEET ADELIN
And from Barb:
I was born into a musical family. We were always singing and tried harmonizing. Musical instruments such as piano, organ, viola, violin, cello, flute, piccolo, French horn, saxophone ,and mouth organs of course, were in the house at different periods of my life, and into my married life with four girls. I took piano lessons for a few years, but I hated practice. My sister was much better and she continued and ended up teaching piano as a career. Her daughter is 'Chair of voice & opera at The Boston Conservatory'.
I still have the "
Master Key
" chromatic pitch instrument my mother used in the early 1920s. Is the same as we use now.
I graduated from McGill in Physiotherapy -1951, and have worked in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan.
Once the family had "grown up" I decided to join a S
weet
Adeline chorus that one of my friends invited me to visit. I loved the harmony.
That was in 1980 in Kitchener/Waterloo. I sang Bari and loved it. I was the pitch 'blower' for years and looked after the music library. I was president of the chorus in 1995 and that year a lot of us went to New Orleans for the 50th anniversary International competition-what an experience!! I was awarded the "S
weet
Adeline of the Year"for 1995-1996 - a humbling honour.
I remarried in 1988 and moved to Burlington, however I kept my job in K/W so commuted daily and thus was able to stay with the K/W chorus. When we decided to move to Kingston in 2010, that was a different story. I missed singing so I looked for a S
weet
Adeline chorus and found GKC.
These last 6 years have been the best. I am a bass and am amazed at how fast I was able to change over. I love it. I have learned sooo much, have been to one International Competition (Houston) with another coming up (Las Vegas). Have befriended another '
oldie
' - Joyce. We manage to keep up pretty well with our singing sisters, attending most of the 'performances' and activities. We usually room together when at conventions etc. We know we aren't quite as agile as most of the girls but still get in a few exercise and dance movements to keep moving. We enjoy singing and feel it helps to keep us 'young'.
GKC is a great Chorus and we all have so much fun.
Submitted by Marilyn O'Connor
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We will be accepting resumes until
October 7th, 2016
Click
here for a printable version of this ad.
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visit
for tickets
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contact
for tickets
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SAI International Convention
October 18-22, 2016
Las Vegas, NV
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Fall Music School
November 11-13, 2016
Adams Mark Hotel,
Buffalo, New York
International Guest Faculty
Tori Postma
Master Director - Mountain Jubilee Chorus
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Sweet Adelines Region 16
Sue Heighway - Communications Coordinator
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