November - December 2013 FourCaster

NOVEMBER 2013
REGION FOUR
FOURCAS T ER
REGIONAL
MANAGEMENT
TEAM
Team Coordinator
Sharon Terrell
[email protected]
Membership Coordinator
Bonnie Morgan
[email protected]
Marketing Coordinator
Sue Pelley
[email protected]
Events Coordinator
Kathie Holloway
[email protected]
Education Coordinator
Bev Miller
[email protected]
Directors’ Coordinator
Kim Wonders
[email protected]
Communications Coordinator
Bethany Grate
[email protected]
Did you know...
 All the gifts in the Twelve
Days of Christmas would
equal 364 gifts
 The “true love” mentioned in
the song “Twelve Days of
Christmas” does not refer to
a romantic couple, but the
Catholic Church’s code for
God. The person who receives the gifts represents
someone who has accepted
that code. For example, the
“partridge in a pear tree”
represents Christ. The “two
turtledoves” represent the
Old and New Testaments
 Alabama was the first state
in the United States to officially recognize Christmas in
1836
Congratulations to Scioto Valley!
Fourth Place in the WORLD!
REGION 4 HAWAII COMPETITORS
NOVEMBER 2013
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REGION 4 WEBSITE NEWS,
PEGGY ADAMS
New Region 4 Website Look
Have you checked out the new look of the Region 4 website at http://www.sai-region4.org? We
decided to update the look of the site and add a few convenient features. Some of the changes
you will see:
A new site header featuring our awesome new Region 4 logo,
Quick access to the login, contact and search features from the links at the top left of the
page,
Reduced size of the header at the top of the page to allow more content to show on the
screen,
A footer area at the bottom of the page with quick links to frequently used features, upcoming chorus shows, and various Barbershop-related links
New Regional Convention Website
For next year’s convention, there will be a separate website where you will find everything you
will need to know for Regional Contest. There is a link to the site in the Quick Links area of the
Region 4 website or you can access it directly here: http://www.region4convention.org/. The
site is still under construction but there is already a lot of great information there. Be sure to
bookmark the site so you can get there quickly for everything you need for next spring’s competition!
Members Only Access and eNewsletter Sign-up
We’ve had lots of members requesting to access the Members Only portion of the website.
That’s great because more and more information is being posted in the Members Only area. If
you haven’t created an account yet, be sure to do so soon. Just go to the Region 4 website
(http://www.sai-region4.org) and click on the login link at the top left. On the next screen you
will see a link that says Register, below the sign in area. Complete the form and click Register.
Once I receive your request for an account, I will verify your membership in Region 4 then activate your account. Be sure you write down the username and password that you enter or you
will not be able to log in.
If you have any problems logging in or if you don’t receive our Region 4 eNewsletter emails,
please contact me at [email protected]. I can help you get logged in or add you to the
email newsletter mailing list.
If you have any questions, suggestions or problems with the website, feel free to contact me at
[email protected].
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CAPITAL CITY CHORUS, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
Harmonize the Season
Happy Holidays to all! We are looking forward to (and busily learning new music for) our Holiday Harmony show on December 8th. We are trying out an exciting new venue for this concert –
the Schrott Center for the Arts on the campus of Butler University, newly built and a beautiful
space.
This year Capital City is hosting its
first ever ‘Christmas Choir.’ We
have invited women from the Indianapolis area to share the stage
with us this holiday season. Our
guests will have the opportunity to
sing four songs with us on stage at
Holiday Harmony, as well as learn
a little about Sweet Adelines, barbershop, and Capital City Chorus.
Hopefully they will have as much
fun as we do, and maybe some
will even stay!
Fall Fling was such fun! Dale Syverson educated us in laughter as well as singing. Thanks to all
on the organizing team for an enjoyable and successful meeting. It was so good we didn’t want
to stop. Many of us were still singing in the lobby in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Thank you to everyone who bought raffle tickets for our
“Get Us To Baltimore
– Gift Card Lei”.
Carol Jordan from
Gem City Chorus had
the winning ticket
and has picked up
her prize.
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METRO NASHVILLE CHORUS, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
What do the Beatles, Toy Story, glowing fingernails and stretchy bead
bracelets have in common? YWISH, of course! What is YWISH? Young
Women In Song and Harmony and it is an annual
festival that has been sponsored by Metro Nashville Chorus for the past three years!
The festival was held this year at Hillsboro Presbyterian Church on
October 26. Leading the day of education were MNC’s own Kim Wonders and Natalie Allen. Attending were 34 young women from the
greater Nashville area and as far away as Crossville, Tennessee and
Birmingham, Alabama. They came prepared as they knew their part
to Let It Be (Beatles), You’ve Got a Friend in Me (Toy Story) and
Lean on Me.
When they arrived, they received hospitality bags which were full of
crazy items (glowing fingernails) and information that was helpful for
them throughout the day. They vocalized, sang through the songs a
few times and then divided into sections led by MNC’s Music Team. Chorus directors and sponsors who brought and chaperoned their students had the opportunity to meet with Kim
during this time to ask questions and understand a bit more about the barbershop craft.
After lunch the girls were treated to a social
time where they made stretchy bead bracelets
as “bling” for their evening performance! And
what an evening it was! Our YWISH Festival
Chorus performed that night on MNC's A
Capella Cafe. An inviting and yet informal atmosphere with round tables, cookies and
drinks for our guests. MNC began the performance with several rep songs before the YWISH chorus joined them on the risers singing You’ve
Got a Friend in Me. Many MNC quartets were also featured in the performance.
Several girls from the Crossville, Tennessee area have joined us all three years. These and
many others promised that they would return next year for this fun and educational event.
If you know young women (ages 14-24) who would enjoy a day meeting new friends, singing,
and learning or fine-tuning
their barbershop skills, our
next YWISH festival will be
held on October 4, 2014.
Registration will begin in
the summer, but a “like” on
our YWISH Facebook page
will keep you informed
throughout the year.
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WHITE RIVER SOUND CHORUS, INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
White River Sound had an amazing October!
We have a brand new quartet, ‘Bout Time, with Diane Claffey (lead), Dawn Barach (bass),
Karen Grubb (tenor), and Gaby Allen (baritone). We are so proud!
Three new members are
now singing with us on the
risers – Erica Beck, Suzanne Barger, and Erika
Grossman. So glad to have
them join us! Several more
women will be auditioning
in the next few weeks. We
look forward to welcoming
them onto the risers as
well.
Once again, we had a wonderful fall retreat. Char
Gurney joined us on Friday
Another typical rehearsal for WRS!
evening for a great coaching session! We look forward to working on everything we learned from Char. Thank you, Char! On Saturday we all enjoyed participating in or judging a great Halloween Costume contest. Many creative costumes
and a few surprise skits marked the occasion. And of course, we enjoyed singing, eating, and
playing throughout the weekend!
We hope many of you will be able to attend our
show, Rhythm of Life, on January 25, 2014 at
7:00 pm at Northview Middle School in Indianapolis. Our guest quartet will be none other
than Old School. Mark your calendars now!
Not quite a quartet.
Anybody want to sing with
them?
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SCIOTO VALLEY CHORUS, DUBLIN, OHIO
Follow the Trail of Sequins to Hawaii
Scioto Valley Chorus has just returned from Hawaii packing a Top Ten chorus medal for the
second International in a row! We are proud wearers of that special “big girl” fourth place
medal that proves all our hard work was worth it for the past two years. Such a pleasure to be
a contender with 33 other Sweet Adelines choruses! The Top Ten field this year was extremely
awesome and required focus, precision, and true grit, not to mention hours of group practice as
well as individual work on both music and choreo.
Our journey began at Regional in 2012 as we won that contest and set our sights on Hawaii.
Next we purchased new music and spent hours of time learning that music and cemented it all
together with some exciting choreo to present a package that would wow our audiences! Two
Cabarets passed as money makers, as well as a long list of other activities to help us purchase
new costumes, meals for chorus members while in Hawaii and hours of coaching time from our
amazing mentors.
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Our journey to paradise did not disappoint! The lovely island chain of Hawaii provided the spectacular backdrop for
more than 2700 Sweet Adelines to ring their chords and
show their exciting stage presentations, resulting in a well
deserved gold medal for our sensational Ronninge Show
Chorus sisters.
The presentation they delivered in both the semi-finals
and finals was second to none! Congratulations to them
and the entire Top Ten Choruses! It was such an honor to
compete with Ronninge, Scottsdale, Tampa and Lions
Gate Chorus for Top Five honors. Scioto Valley Chorus is
proud to be wearing a Fourth Place medal earned with a
whopping 2904 points! This score makes our two directors now titled Master Director 700 and
we are proud as punch of them both!
Please remember that we could never travel so far, work this
hard and gain so much without the love and constant support
of our family and friends. It was wonderful to have many of
them with us in Hawaii. Thank you to all of our supporters. If
you are/were or always will be an SVC Groupie, we love you
for all the ways that you allow us to pursue our beloved
hobby. We are looking ahead to Regional contest in April
where we will be competing for the rights to represent Harmony Heartland in Las Vegas!
See you in Covington!!
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DIAMOND JUBILEE CHORUS, MIDDLETOWN, OHIO
Congratulations to Scioto Valley on their Fourth Place International win. Wow! And congratulations to all our Region 4 International contestants. We are so proud of you and pleased to have
you represent our region.
We are so excited to prepare and present our first annual show, “Holiday Jubilee.” It will be on
Sunday, December 8 at 2:30 PM at the New Life Center of the Christ United Methodist Church,
(700 S. Marshall Road) in Middletown, Ohio. We appreciate all your support and look forward to
seeing many of you there.
What a busy time of year—holidays, parties, gift buying, sharing with friends and neighbors,
and getting ready for winter! We know all about having our heating systems checked, cars winterized, flower beds cared for, etc., but let’s not forget to get ourselves ready for winter too. In
addition to thinking about flu shots, pneumonia shots, shingles shots and keeping a supply of
chicken soup and tissues on hand, we need to get ready for winter by continuing to sing with
our friends.
According to an article on the Barbershop Harmony web site, singing (especially with a group)
has numerous health benefits. Not only does it boost our immune system, it strengthens our
lungs, clears our sinuses, relieves pain, tones facial and abdominal muscles, improves mental
alertness and memory, relieves stress, boosts our mood and improves sleep. So when rehearsal night is dark and cold, remember all these benefits, bundle up and enjoy an evening of
taking care of your health singing with our Sweet Adeline friends.
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K-TOWN SOUND SHOW CHORUS, KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE
It’s been a busy fall for K-Town Sound. The end of
September brought our trip to Columbus for Fall
Fling. It was a memorable weekend with informative classes, outstanding sessions with the fantastic Dale Syverson and a great opportunity to get to
know our new Region. We were privileged to be
able to perform for the Region on Saturday evening and had a blast singing “Happy Together” with
our sister 3rd place chorus, White River Sound.
October found us on stage for our show “Music Through The Years.” Under the direction of our talented director, Kellie Phifer, we entertained
our audience with favorites such as “Top of the World,” “Fame,”
“Shenandoah” and “Wonderful World.” Two of our own quartets, “All
Fired Up!” and “No Worries” also performed, along with some very large
quartet ensembles. The highlight of the show was a stellar performance
by our guest quartet, “Dream,” the 20th wonder of the world! The evening was capped off by audience participation in a rousing rendition of
“Rocky Top.”
We are currently polishing our Christmas music in preparation for nine
upcoming performances. With Regional competition in mind, K-Town Sound will be spending
some intense rehearsal time, including coaching from Regional Champion Metro Nashville’s
fabulous director Kim Wonders.
K-Town Sound wishes our Region 4 sisters-in-harmony a warm and wonderful holiday season!
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COLUMBUS CHORUS, COLUMBUS , OHIO
In the midst of preparing for a very active holiday season of performances, the Columbus Chorus will be taking a rehearsal off for Kookie Kwartet Night. Ladies who usually do not sing in a
quartet have been working on songs to entertain the rest of the chorus; many hilarious parodies of our current songs will presented. Several of our new members have jumped in to get
involved in this tongue-in-cheek event. Our director, Kathy Larkins, has promised a few "extra"
surprises as well.
On the same evening, we will be celebrating our 55th anniversary! Posters filled with pictures of
past performances as well as our scrapbooks will be passed around as stories are shared of the
chorus' musical journey. So many wonderful memories of songs and sisters-in-song will be
shared.
Starting back in January, the chorus will have a night of L.O.V.E. - Learn Our Valentines
Event—in order to prepare for our singing Valentines. The chorus hopes to generate a record
number of singing Valentines this year.
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GEM CITY CHORUS, DAYTON, OHIO
We’re still celebrating!!
On Sunday, September 29, Gem
City competed as a top-15 finalist
at Dayton’s premier theatre and
concert venue in an area-wide
contest called “So You Think You
Can Play the Schuster.” After all
15 finalists, including instrumentalists, singers, dancers, a band
and a choir, performed, Gem City
was announced as a top-3 finalist.
After a final song for the judging
panel we were thrilled to be chosen as the First Runner-Up (second place) and awarded a prize of $500. It was so exciting to
sing on a huge stage looking up at lighted opera balconies and be wildly applauded by an audience of the general public!
We are presenting our Holiday Concert, “Pine Cones & Holly Berries,”
on Sunday, December 15 at 2 pm at Fairmont High School in Kettering. Our fellow finalists from the Schuster contest, first-place winner
guitarist David Baugham and the third-place winner dancer Dillon
“Stoney D” Stoneburner, will be featured in our concert, along with our
quartets Infusion and Limelight and the Fairmont Women’s Choir. Reserved seats are $15 and general seating is $10. Tickets may be ordered through our website: gemcitychorus.org.
During October, Gem City hosted a successful five-week series of singing lessons and a graduation ceremony for thirteen women. Some are
prospective members and will sing with us in our Holiday Concert.
Several even came to our fall coaching retreat to work on competition
music with the wonderful Sharon Babb who always educates and inspires.
In addition to our concert, our December is filled with singing engagements,
our Christmas party, and our December 1st Holiday Bazaar from noon to 5
pm at our rehearsal hall, where crafts,
quilts, jewelry and many brand-name
vendors will be on hand.
Nearly everyone saw the International
contest, either in person or on the
webcast, and we were thrilled at the
very fine performances of iTones,
Dream, TuneTown Show Chorus, and
the incredible Scioto Valley Chorus!
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RIVER MAGIC CHORUS, HUNTINGTON, WEST VIRGINIA
River Magic Chorus is proud to display our new logo at the top of this article. We have always
been a chorus that has been deeply affected by the rivers, mountains and music that is
around us. You put all that together and you have nothing short of magic.
Our fall show, “Tailgate and Tunes” was fabulous. We had a party where everyone came out
to support and cheer on their favorite team.
There was food, prizes, music and fun to be
had by all who attended and at this event, everyone was a winner.
We have had an exciting fall season. We have
been singing in the community several times
since our Annual
Show.
Our calendar has been full with nursing homes, community
centers and honoring some veterans in our community.
We are also proud to announce a new quartet, The River
Rosies. They made their first performance at our fall show.
We are so proud of them.
We look forward to the next few months as we get ready for
another coaching session with Char. We are also gearing up
for the holidays as we prepare to sing at parades, festivities, and parties. As the weather
starts to get cold, it is nice to be able to sing with such a warm
and caring group of women.
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OHIO HEARTLAND CHORUS, DELAWARE,OHIO
A few of us attended Region 4's Fall Fling. Several members had PVIs; several learned our
new Region STAR songs and joined the other voices lifting them in the atrium. We brought
home some new "tricks" of the trade; did some networking about membership ideas; and enjoyed the evening show! Region 4...keep up the great education!
September found us showing our patriotism, as we were the entertainment at our Delaware
County Fair's "Operation Forever Grateful," to honor our Veterans.
Relying on our religious and spiritual numbers, on Saturday, October 19th, we delivered a 30 minute program on the "Gospel
Live" for
Cable Channel 22 at our local
Marion TV station.
Sadly, this week we sang at the funeral for
our long-time friend and bass, Polly Detweiler. If you don't believe in the power of
music and friendship, ask one of us about
how the words of "Thank You, Dear Lord, for
Music" helped us say our good-byes to Polly
and support the family in this time of sorrow
and loss. She will be missed. She is seen
here, beaming as we sang Happy Birthday to
her this past April.
Finally, like many of you, we are entering into the holiday season brushing up on our Christmas music as we entertain around our local communities.
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VOICE OF AMERICA, WEST CHESTER, OHIO
The Voice of America Chorus had a fantastic time at our Who-Dey Cabaret in August. Thanks
to all who attended – it was a sell-out. To those who came, thank you for being such an enthusiastic audience! The chorus had a blast, and we were so proud of Maria Zink, who channeled Aretha Franklin as she rocked the song R-E-S-P-E-C-T. As it turns out, our guest quartet, LoveNotes, won their crowns at International competition in Hawaii, making it even
more special that they could be on our show. We’re already planning next summer’s cabaret
to include a larger venue, so stay tuned!
In other news, the chorus has recently had great coaching from both Joe Connelly and
Carole Kirkpatrick in preparation for next April’s Region 4 contest. As always, Joe shared his
amazing energy with us, throwing in clever lyric changes and fun inflections in all the right
places to add pizazz. Carole helped us to add more expression to our music (that is her category, after all) and find our “ring spot” by reminding us to tuck in the corners of our mouths
when we sing – now if we can just do that without making “fish faces!” On December 9th, we
will have Renee Porzel coaching us, which is a first for VOA. All are welcome to come and
observe our International President in action as we see what pearls of wisdom she has to impart.
It’s hard for us to believe, but this month marks Stacey’s one-year anniversary as our director. Chorus member Betsey Sarlay baked a beautiful cake, which we enjoyed at rehearsal
the week before Stacey jetted off to Hawaii to help emcee the International Competition webcast. It was fun to see our own director on our computer screens and to receive her special
“shout outs” to the chorus.
We gained two new members in October: Joan White, who is new to Sweet Adelines, and
Karen Walker, now a dual member with VOA and the Diamond Jubilee chorus. We’re so
happy to have you!
PRIDE OF KENTUCKY CHORUS, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
Pride of Kentucky kicked off the fall season with a performance at
Fall Fling, where it was great fun to meet and greet all of our new
regional sisters.
We want to give a big thanks to the region for the opportunity to
have an awesome coaching session with Dale Syverson. We are
really excited and “ready to roll” for Baltimore!
We are proud to say our first “A Cappella Festival of Kentuckiana,” which was held in October,
was a huge success! Working in tandem with Louisville’s men’s chorus, the Thoroughbreds, the
teenagers were provided learning tracks and music ahead of time so that they could participate
in a full day of music education, coaching,
choreography and stage presence. The students were coached by our Master 700 director, Debbie Hite, and The Thoroughbred’s director, Drew Wheaton, who
sings with the Men’s International 4th Place
quartet, “Forefront.” Choreographer Betty
Lou Coleman added her touch of magic to
the performance.
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PRIDE OF KENTUCKY CHORUS, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY
“Spot On” Quartet and a “pickup” quartet from the Ambassadors of Harmony Chorus were
available to provide additional sectional training and act as role models for the students. The
day concluded with a show on Clifton Center Stage with performances by Pride of Kentucky,
The Thoroughbreds, chorus quartets, and the student choruses with a fabulous finale of the
boys and girls singing “Lida Rose.” It is wonderful to introduce barbershop harmony to so
many
kids
who
made new friends
and
are
already
looking forward to
next year’s festival!
We are also recruiting new members
with
our
holiday
“Sing and Celebrate”
Guest Program. Prospective
members
are learning Christmas songs and are invited to perform with the chorus at “The Sing ‘n’ Joy”
Friendship concerts in downtown Louisville. The Chorus will be competing the weekend of
Thanksgiving in “The Sing ‘n’ Joy Choral Competition” which is sponsored by Interkultur North
America who presented The World Choir Games. Betty Lou Coleman will be presenting a class
on “Energy” as one of the workshops for the seminar.
A big shout out to Region Four’s Fourth Place medal winners! Members gathered for a Luau,
complete with a pig roast, at Cheryl Bergstrom’s home to cheer for Scioto Valley and watch the
International Competition. Way to go girls!
We are proud to say our own Kris Wheaton with “Spot On” Quartet brought home the gold at
the recent Harmony Inc. International Competition. Congratulations to the new 2013 Harmony
Queens.
Just to round out the holiday busy time, members have been selling fresh Christmas wreaths
and centerpieces to friends and family as a fundraiser for Baltimore next fall. This fundraiser is
always popular as the greenery is beautiful and the
smell really gets everyone in a holiday mood!
We are looking forward to representing this fabulous
region, along with our fellow Champions, Metro Nashville Chorus, in Baltimore in 2014…It’s gonna be a fantastic year! It’s close…hope you can all make it! Good
wishes and blessings to all for a wonderful new year!
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TUNETOWN SHOW CHORUS, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
Hey, Harmony Heartland! TuneTown is delighted to be a part of Region 4 and we look forward to spending time with our regional sisters. We have been very busy this year preparing for Hawaii and we
could not have asked for a more memorable experience. Before
moving on, we must extend a great big THANK YOU to all of our
friends and sponsors for their support and for attending or tuning
into watch our International performance in Hawaii. We had a great
time on stage and were humbled by the opportunity to represent Region 4. We also want to extend our deepest appreciation to Master
Director Sherry Lewis for her dedication and leadership. Performing
in Hawaii would not have been possible without her. Thank you,
Sher!
Congratulations to Dream and our very own Robin Williams for a
great quartet performance. Congratulations to Scioto Valley as well
for exceptional performances throughout the contest and for a commanding top ten placement. Well done!
In addition to Hawaii,
TuneTown has been busy
building
relationships
within our community to
support music education
in
Nashville
schools.
Through our partnership
with the Choral Arts Link,
Inc. and the Met Singers,
we are laying the building
blocks for introducing barbershop
harmony
to
young singers in our area.
We were honored to have
the Met Singers join us on
stage in October for our
show, Sweet Aloha! These magnificent and dedicated young singers stole the show. We want
to thank their fearless leader, Margaret Campbell-Holman, for making it happen.
As for the future of TuneTown, we are thrilled to announce that Dusty
Schleier will serve as our director effective January 1, 2014. Dusty directs
the Music City Chorus in Nashville, and has led them to a top-ten Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) international competition placement. In addition, Dusty is a BHS certified judge and sings baritone with TNS, a topten BHS internationally ranked barbershop quartet. When not directing or
singing, Dusty works as the Director of Meetings and Conventions for
BHS. About the appointment, Schleier commented, "I am looking forward
to an incredible journey with this very talented chorus. I can't wait to get
started!" TuneTown knows Dusty will bring his vast international experience to the chorus, and we eagerly await 2014!
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