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As events unfold during this pandemic, Sweet Adelines International continues to keep us informed of the decisions they are making and the challenges they face.
Here are links to recent communications from Patty Cobb Baker, President of Sweet Adelines International.
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April 2020
Past Issues
Next deadline
April 29
members'
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UserID member16
Password singalong
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Wow… Time sure flies when you’re having fun! My seven years on the Regional Management Team have definitely flown by! When I sit and think about how many new friends I have made and about the women I have had the privilege of working with, many of whom I look to as mentors and who have provided guidance through my journey, I realize just what a difference joining the Regional Management Team has made in my life.
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In this ever-changing society we live in, and especially given our current global conditions, it’s awesome to feel the warmth, love and support within the Sweet Adelines community. We can’t help but feel disappointed that we are not gathering this weekend to share our love of singing and cheer each other on in St. Catharines. Kudos to everyone involved in the successful planning of what we are confident was going to be an amazing weekend. As JD said in one of her messages, “It was a great dry run!” and the Convention Team is ready for next year!
It’s time for me to hang up my RMT hat for now and I’m pleased to present to you below your Regional Management Team for 2020-2021, starting May 1. Many of the members remain to complete the second year of their term and we thank them for their continued dedication!
Sue Melvin is moving from her current role as Education Coordinator into the Team Coordinator position. Well known in our region and a member of
Limestone City Voices, her lifelong love of barbershop, business knowledge, desire to learn new things and ability to think outside of the box makes Sue a great candidate for Team Coordinator. Sue has done an excellent job over the past few years to provide us with some amazing educational events and will be a great support to our new Education Coordinator.
Congratulations to
Susann McKinley who is beginning her two-year Internationally-appointed term as our Education Coordinator. Susann is a member of
North Metro Chorus and was also the lead of
Spritzer. Susann’s lovely warm personality, talent, love of our craft and desire to share her knowledge and the knowledge of others with our members makes her an excellent choice for this position.
Special thanks to
Leila Brown who, after completing her term as Communications Coordinator, will be leaving the team to focus on the increase in demands of her professional role in responding to the coronavirus pandemic. Leila has done an excellent job over the past 16 months keeping us all informed!
Replacing Leila as our Communications Coordinator is
Jacqui Barron. Jacqui is a member of
North Metro Chorus and a “first-timer” to the RMT. We thank Jacqui for jumping right into a coordinator position and we’re confident she’s going to be an awesome addition to the team.
Please join me in applauding all of the women on the team. It’s not always an easy job, but boy, it’s a rewarding one!
In harmony,
Sue
Team Coordinator
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NEW APPOINTMENTS TO REGIONAL MANAGEMENT TEAM
2020-2022 Term
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Team
Coordinator (TC)
Sue Melvin
Limestone City Voices
Regional Appointment
Term 2020-2022
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Education Coordinator (EDC)
Susann McKinley
North Metro Chorus
International Appointment
Term 2020-2022
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Communications Coordinator (COC)
Jacqui Barron
North Metro Chorus
Regional Appointment
Term 2020-2022
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Membership Coordinator (MEC)
Christine Yorke
Circle of Harmony
Elected by Acclamation
Term 2020-2022
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CONTINUING MEMBERS OF REGIONAL MANAGEMENT TEAM
Terms finishing in 2021
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Directors' Coordinator (DC)
Joan Borden
Orangeville Show Chorus
Term 2019-2021
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Events
Coordinator (EVC)
Cathy Stovold
North Metro Chorus
Term 2019-2021
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Finance
Coordinator (FC)
Colleen O’Dwyer
North Metro Chorus
Term 2019-2021
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Marketing
Coordinator (MC)
Martha DeClerq
York Harmony Chorus
Term 2019-2021
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Administrative
Assistant
Sue Dubois
York Harmony Chorus
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Some of you may know that I am an emergency manager, which means that I plan for disasters! When they happen (which is not that often), we switch into response mode. I work for York Region, so you can imagine that things took a dramatic turn when cases of COVID-19 were first detected in the Region.
Two things became clear pretty quickly: 1. This pandemic won't be over soon. And, because of that, 2. The demands of my job won't allow me to continue as Communications Coordinator on the RMT. As Sue mentioned above, I will be leaving the role on April 30 at the end of my term.
I joined the RMT at the tail end of the Regional governance pilot as Communications Coordinator and then continued on in that role for a one-year term. It's been a privilege to serve on this amazing team. I acquired new skills, got to work with a committed and talented group of women, and learned so much about this region.
I'm not quite done yet, though. I'll be putting out my final issue of the
Sixteenth Notes at the beginning of May, and before that, will be launching the
brand new Region 16 website! Watch for an email about that in the next couple weeks!
I must thank the members of the RMT for their understanding and support, Jacqui Baron for jumping into the deep end, and Sue Heighway for taking Jacqui under her wing and teaching her the role. Region 16, you're in great hands!
Stay safe, everyone.
Leila
Communications Coordinator
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2020 VISION
and
BEYOND
Chorus Growth Planning Event
...
The Vision for Success
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Your Regional Management Team has arranged for this valuable educational event to transition to a
virtual
learning environment! Instead of a day-long, in-person event, the subject matter will be shared in two (2) half-day, webinar-style sessions and
will be FREE
to members of Region 16.
- Part 1 – Saturday, June 20 (the original event date) from 9 am–12:30 pm
- Part 2 – Saturday, June 27 from 9 am–12:30 pm
Registration information and schedule will be coming soon.
Click here
for the bio of our talented guest faculty, Jennifer Cooke!
We all know that membership growth and retention is the responsibility of everyone and, as such, this class content is beneficial to
all
chorus members.
This event is
not
just for Membership Chairs and it’s also especially important that Directors and Team Leaders participate.
Mark your calendars and stay tuned!
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2020-2021 Sweet Adelines International committee members
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Quartet registration and renewal
During this time of uncertainty, the International Board of Directors has approved an initiative to help our quartets. The quartet renewal time has been extended from May 1, 2020 to August 31, 2020. Additionally, through June 30, 2020, the renewal fee has been reduced to $50 USD.
Quartet Renewal invoices will be emailed to quartet contacts in mid-April. In the month of April, all quartet processing is shut down in order to prepare for renewal time.
Email
Keish Gansen, membership specialist-quartet registrar
or call 1-800-992-7464 ext. 133 with any questions or concerns.
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How much has changed since the last time I wrote an article for the
Sixteenth Notes at the beginning of February. As we deal with these challenging times, I hope that you are able to find some strength in this sisterhood and the music we make together, even when we are apart.
Sweet Adelines and other musicians around the world are finding ways to connect with each other. I hope you already have found a way to connect with your musical family. If you have not or want some new ideas, here are some of my favorite places either to connect with the music as an individual singer or to explore ways to stay connected as a quartet or chorus across the distance.
Membership Coordinator
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A loud and collective groan was heard and felt with the announcement of the cancellation of all Regional competitions. Just as all Region 16 was gearing up for our performances and particularly excited about reuniting again at our new convention site, it was truly disappointing, although certainly understandable, and the right thing to do under these circumstances. To our Regional Management Team and our Convention Team members, all of whom spent so much time and effort preparing for this event, we sincerely extend our gratitude for your time and hard work in planning, managing, and now dealing with the fall-out through hours of re-negotiations with the hotels and theatre personnel, and all suppliers involved in our convention. Thank you for everything you did on our behalf, which we imagine called for Herculean efforts by each and every one of you.
There remains a huge void in our lives when we cannot be with our friends and families, and singing in our beloved choruses where, for a few hours each week, time stands still as we unite as one, allowing our music to penetrate our very being. Our chorus lives offer us opportunities to work towards a common goal, to be the best we can be, and to recognize that together we are more than the sum of our parts. So, like all of you, North Metro members are feeling the void, missing the music and camaraderie that binds us together. Like all of you, we are faced with the questions about how do to deal with this void, how to keep our music going, and how to remain united in these uncertain times? Well, we are WOMEN and we are SWEET ADELINES
,
and we will find ways going forward to make the best of our current situation.
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We have wonderful, exciting news, as well!
CONGRATULATIONS to
Therese Antonini
of
North Metro Chorus
, who has just been named President-elect of Sweet Adelines International. We are so very proud of you and your accomplishments, Therese!
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North Metro extends its love to all of Region 16. We are not alone; you are not alone; “we are in this together”, as many of our political and medical leaders have already said. We hope you are finding ways to remain together, albeit not physically. We hope you are finding ways to keep the music going. And most of all we hope you are all safe and well. We can hardly wait until we are together again to give thanks for our organization, our leaders and our music, with its powerful unifying forces that lift us up in joy!
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Who could have believed or even imagined how our daily lives and indeed our whole world was about to change, so quickly and dramatically!! It would have been unthinkable, and yet here we are now in what is our 'new normal'.
With all the initial shock, disappointment, uncertainty, and even fear comes the awareness that we are all in this together, and as human beings are stepping up to the plate in novel and creative ways to maintain touch with each other, even though we can't be physically together. I'm sure other choruses are likewise engaged in finding ways to do things differently!
Prior to this, on February 28,
Greater Kingston Chorus
was looking forward to a coaching retreat weekend with Joan Boutillier, when she had to cancel at the last minute due to a huge winter storm that then caused the closure of Interstate 81. Rather than cancel and send us all home, it was decided that our own Paula Allen would step in and be our 'guest coach' to assist Sue and Andria with our contest package. Between the three of them, the end result became an invaluable time of fun-filled hours to not only socialize but really hone in on our performance skills and make great lasting improvements! The situation called for making lemonade out of lemons, and that's just what we did!
At this point, no one knows when we will be allowed to actually congregate again, but we are carrying on by various methods. Thankfully we have the internet and social media during this challenging time to keep in touch in so many ways. We are using weekly 'Home Rehearsal Challenges' issued by Sue and Andria to continue practicing, in addition to choreo videos and keeping in touch with each other by phone, Facetime, Skype and other means.
Sadly, along with the many canceled or postponed Sweet Adeline events, GKC's 60th Anniversary celebration, which was to have occurred on May 2, will have to be postponed until further notice. We will then have our 'Celebration!' and it will be all the sweeter when this challenging time is behind us. We look forward to a time when we can see our families, friends and chorus mates once again, in the flesh!
Stay safe, healthy...be kind...we got this...WE ARE SWEET ADELINES!
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“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”
These words ring true as the whole Sweet Adeline world comes to grips with the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Orangeville Show Chorus has digested the worst and is moving forward with what we do best. Singing!
The worst of course was the news that our regional contest was cancelled, but we came to realize that this decision was a smart one with far-reaching implications. This then meant the cancellation of our ‘Friends & Family’ night for our send-off to contest, the postponement of rehearsals until well into the future, the cancellation of our May Show “Sounds of the Silver Screen,” and our Young Singers workshop, Accappellooza!
But it did not mean we had to stop singing! Very shortly after the ‘stay at home’ orders were issued, the chorus received learning tracks for a brand new song,
Pure Imagination. And although it had been chosen for our show, the words are so meaningful for the current times we are experiencing.
“There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination, Living there, you’ll be free if you truly wish to be.”
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And so the chorus began to imagine the possibilities. Last week we had our very first rehearsal by Zoom! Great to see and hear our friends. Singing together left a bit to be desired due to some time lags and echoes, but our hearts were in it. Our wonderful director Joan gave us a tutorial on the things to look for on the sheet music, we did vocal warm ups, we visited and we laughed.
Some comical/practical things about a Zoom rehearsal: You don’t have to drive anywhere in bad weather. You save on gas. You can be in your jammies if you like - you certainly don’t need a bra! You can sit in a comfy chair. You can have a ‘beverage’ close by. You can even wear perfume! All that is missing are the hugs, but the smiles are a close second!
We applaud our chorus members who work in the medical profession and other essential services and we issue that applause and appreciation to all of you out there who are doing the same things. Be Safe. Be Healthy. And as a friend of mine said, ”Don’t get Shack Wacky”! Find things to fill your days: Read, do puzzles, SING, talk with a friend, cook, SING, work in your garden, take a walk, SING!!! Endless possibilities. But above all, let’s keep in touch, continue to share our joy of music, and get through this together.
Love, Hugs and Harmony, Anne Richardson for Orangeville Show Chorus
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It’s been a few months since our last submission – and how the world has changed since then! We’ve gone from countless holiday sing-outs in December to #stayinghome in March! We hope everyone is doing well and are finding good ways to keep connected in the absence of rehearsals and other in-person social activities.
At Canadian Showtime Chorus, Director Joe and our team of
“Fearless Leaders” have been working hard to employ new approaches and technologies to keep singers engaged from a distance.
We celebrated the occasion of CSC’s 36
th anniversary in January and acknowledged and pinned our milestone members!
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We love our new members! Welcome Lara and Cora, who joined as part of our January new member program. They also have the joy of being family – aunt and niece! A warm welcome to Karen Taylor, who is also a dual member with Bytown Beat Chorus.
PHOTO: Lara (2
nd
from left) and Cora (3
rd
from right) with members of
Canadian Showtime
member committee and their chorus connections.
The chorus was deeply saddened to lose one of our special members this February. Maria Lakman was a sweet and joyful woman who joined the chorus in 2005. We will miss Maria’s beautiful smile and gentle spirit greatly in our chorus family.
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In December 2019, we donated our performance fee from our appearance in the Tom Jackson holiday show, in support of the
Tewegan Housing for Aboriginal Youth. Recently, we were pleased to formally present Tewegan with the donation.
PHOTO: Presentation to Tewegan Housing for Aboriginal Youth, March 2020
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In February, we were delighted to welcome Region 16’s Team Coordinator, Sue Heighway, to our rehearsal hall. It was great to hear about all of the initiatives that the team undertakes on our behalf – interesting and informative. Thanks Sue!
In December 2020,
Canadian Showtime
will join forces with Abbamania for a great evening of music and nostalgia, presented by
Harmony Concerts! The show is on December 10
th – but ticket sales are on now, and we expect the show will be sold out well in advance of show date! Hope to see some of our region 16 sisters there!
We were excited to have Erin Howden join us in February for an electric and learning filled weekend of coaching. Our own in-house choreo team, led by Pauline Coathup, received a “thumbs up” from Erin on their first choreo design plan attempt!
PHOTO: Coach Erin Howden and Director Joe Connelly
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Our annual retreat was well timed for the first weekend of March. As always, the fabulous Erin Howden was our coach for the weekend. She worked her magic with us and the time zipped by! In fact, too fast to remember to take a photo of the entire chorus, but we got a quick pic of our wonderful riser set-up team.
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The fun game for our Saturday night festivities was Circle Bingo, headlined by our board vice-president Leslie Hoyle. Using custom-made bingo cards that included 25 random faces from our chorus of 60, Leslie announced a little-known fun fact about each member for us to guess at. What a time we all had learning about each other! From zip-lining in New Zealand to eating crocodile to meeting the Queen of England, we all had a wonderful time listening to everyone’s stories!
And what better way to end retreat than with the limbo?! We all had fun as the bar went lower and lower, but our very own communications chair Anna Shen turned out to be the most flexible of all!
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With two missed rehearsals already and more on the horizon,
Circle of Harmony had an online social on the weekend. Hosted by our treasurer and techie-extraordinaire Christine Yorke, more than 30 of our members had a virtual catch-up thanks to Zoom. It boosted the spirits of all to see and hear each other!
The
Circle of Harmony is devastated with all the repercussions that we are all feeling with the current virus pandemic. We are so sorry that we won’t be meeting in St. Catharines at contest nor at IES.
We hope and pray that everyone stays healthy and well and we will all be making music together very soon.
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Social distancing is fine,
Except if you’re Sweet Adeline,
We can’t gather now to sing,
It’s hard alone to make chords ring!
Some of you plan a web event,
And hope instructions will be sent.
I miss you all, I send Big Hugs,
Virtual ones can’t give you bugs!
But wash your hands, and stay home please,
And use your elbow if you sneeze!
Spring is sprung but it may be long
Until we can gather with a song!
This is no April Fools my friends,
We must be careful ‘till this ends.
So stay safe and healthy until then,
For now I close with love – Amen!
- Anne Richardson, Orangeville Show Chorus
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