Official Publication of Atlantic-Gulf Region 9 Sweet Adelines International www.sairegion9 April 2015

Whats In A Name? By Irene Zimmer, Region 9 Marketing Coordinator

A t this year's Winter Workshop, Regional Communications Coordinator Rhonda Payton revealed that we (Region 9) are

considering changing our name! The announcement was met with great enthusiasm by the attendees of the workshop so now it's time to roll it out to the entire "Region 9-o-sphere"!

The idea of a name change was brought to the RMT after the completion of the Sweet Adelines Harmonic Progression during which the geographic reach of our Region was extended to northwest Florida, southern Georgia and up to the southern tip of South Carolina.

The timing for this is perfect as we welcome our new choruses and take advantage of an opportunity to engage our amazing Region 9 membership. So let's get the creative juices flowing, let's splat the spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks, let's get your engines running . . . you get the idea (but I'm not cleaning up the spaghetti, no matter what!)

Here's the challenge: submit a suggestion for a new name to replace "Atlantic-Gulf Region 9" . We will be collecting ideas throughout the summer. By the fall of this year, we will narrow it down to the top 3 choices and publish the semi-finalists on the website, Facebook and

any other means possible to give you the opportunity to vote on it! The new name will be announced at the 2016 Winter Workshop.

FAQ's: Does the name have to be geographic? No. Does it have to have "music, harmony, barbershop, a cappella, Sweet Adelines, etc."? Only in spirit! Should it embody the mission of the Region and be a reflection of the incredible talent and creativity we possess? YES! Here is the Region 9 Mission Statement:

Region 9 advances Sweet Adelines International's mission by providing

relevant education to develop outstanding music and leadership skills and by

providing a forum to evaluate performance through competition.

The member who submits the winning name will be awarded a fantastic prize - to be determined, but it will be fantastic! Are you game?

Submit your ideas by emailing marketing@sairegion9.com OR by filling out the form on

the Region 9 website

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The Gainesville Harmony Show Chorus

T his past year (2014) has been a very busy one. The chorus celebrated our 40

th Anniversary. To commemorate

this event we had an open house on August 25

th and invited current and former

members and other friends, including the Barbergators. We enjoyed delicious food, tag

singing and an exhibit of photographs and medals from 40 years of competitions and shows. Everyone received a 40-year pin. In addition, as part of this celebration, we put together a newsletter, which included interviews of founding and long-term members. We unearthed a photo of the first competition in which Gainesville participated in Birmingham, Alabama in 1978. For those interested, this newsletter can be seen at www.gainesvillechorus.com.

Membership News!!

We have had a very successful year! Under the direction of Beth Ripple, we conducted a six-week A Cappella Singing Course in September/October. The response was overwhelming! Our new members are absolutely fabulous. Full of talent, enthusiasm, and good will. If that isn't exciting enough, the guests keep coming!

Annual Show Holiday Harmonies 3: The

Naught Before Christmas

It was too early to perform Christmas music when The Gainesville Barbergators and The Gainesville Harmony Show Chorus took the stage at Oak Hall Performing Arts Center for their third joint show. After all, it wasn’t even the end of November and who sings Christmas music before Thanksgiving, even as guest

performers at a make believe mall? After singing and dismissing movie songs, standard Barbershop, Disney, Pop and Doo Wop, the two choruses managed to agree to sing Lida Rose/Dream of Now from the Music Man together. After the choruses continue to fuss to the tune of Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better, “The Mall Manager” played by guest actor Chad Reed, makes the final musical decision. “Christmas music,” he declares,

“you have to sing Christmas music. It’s the beginning of our Season.” And so the show ends with the men and the women singing some of the loveliest songs of the season in beautiful

eight-part harmony. Of course we did our usual performances around town: singing at the Christmas Tree Lighting at The Thomas Center, singing for the Naturalization Ceremonies, and for assisted living centers around Gainesville.

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Rules, Rules, Rules By Laurie Hunt, Regional Bylaws & Rules Chair

R ules, rules, rules…everywhere we

look, everywhere we go, there is

someone or something (signs,

signs—everywhere are signs)

telling us what to do and how to be. It can be

frustrating, but we

all know that without

rules, life could be

chaos.

As Bylaws &

Rules chair, I’d like

to ask each chapter

to have your bylaws committee review your

current standing rules and make sure they

reflect the way your chapter is currently

operating. You may be surprised that you are

not actually following your own rules as

presented to your members when they join your

chapter.

If changes need to be made, present your

suggested changes to the board or

management team where they will be

discussed for presentation and vote by your

membership. Then the approved changes will

be sent to me for review. My job is simply to be

sure that nothing conflicts with SAI or regional

bylaws and rules.

For those of you who have already done this

and sent me your rules, thank you. For the

rest, I look forward to hearing from you.

Laurie Hunt

The Platinum Show Chorus

P latinum Show Chorus has had a very busy quarter with many holiday shows, Christmas party and vocal and visual coaching sandwiched in with our annual show.

We had a fun time on our "road trip" titled "Are We There Yet" on the pink Platinum Show bus. The Humdingers wowed the audience with their variety of musical talents. We also presented a $500 scholarship to a local high

school senior after she played a beautiful piano selection. All in all, it was a great afternoon. Now, it's back to the business of preparing for contest with more coaching and taping. We know you will all enjoy our contest package and we can't wait for Daytona. See you there.

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C hicago’s most famous barbershop duo, Jim Arns and Renee Porzel

headlined Sweet Adelines first ever SUN AND SING at the luxurious Grand Lucayan Resort on Grand Bahama Island January 14-18, 2015. The theme – From Paper to Performance: Learning Music and Choreography Quickly and Easily – included vocal instruction, choreography, music theory, performance skill training, rehearsal techniques and much more.

Sixty women from Canada, the United States, Australia and England showed up to experience the joy of barbershop harmony with superstar training from the iconic partnership of Jim and Renee. The world-renowned Master Director 700, Jim, and world-class choreographer, Renee, have won many championships as they guided THE MELODEERS to preeminent chorus fame.

Prior to their arrival at the resort, participants in the event had learned two songs “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and “I Love My Baby.” Each day the group

received three hours of superlative vocal and choreography training as they perfected these two songs. After warm-ups, some of which were designed to produce a forward sound, some to force a lift in the mask, Jim took the group through the two songs.

Where unified breaths were needed, he would shout “Breathe.” He constantly reminded the group to lift the torso and to lift the soft palate. “Consider placing one of those cocktail umbrellas at the back of the throat, then raising it,” he said. “That’s just what the soft palate must do to increase resonance and a full sound.”

On the second day, Renee introduced choreography in short segments for “I Love My Baby.” Repetition, repetition,

repetition until everyone internalized that short portion. Then it was on to the next chunk. The dance patterns were complicated but most reflected the lyrical line or the rhythmic beat, so the arranged movements were learned quickly.

Toward the end of rehearsal, Jim gathered everyone in sections around the piano and taught the group, “Happy Days Are Here Again.” Jim noted, “Most groups learn new music from pre-recorded tracks that our music teams post online.” He the introduced another way to learn music. Listening to each other, fine-tuning each part is another way “to skin a cat,” so to speak. The sixty

women learned “Happy Days” in half an hour. “If you can do that, you can add “Happy Days” to the repertoire for performance tomorrow night,” he insisted.

Oh, that room, the Pavilion, clad in circular glass windows overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, a spectacular venue for rehearsal, was transformed into a swinging party carnival mood on Friday evening from 7-11 pm. Round tables, decorated with

Beaches and Barbershop - The Sun And Sing By Mary Markovitz, Women of Note Chorus

(continued on page 6)

Jim Arns, Mary Markovitz and Renee Porzel

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Invaluable Assistance By Marsha Williams, Chair of the Regional Convention

Region 9 convention/ competition is fast approaching and I would like to tell you about some of the people behind the scenes that you might not know! You probably know the Convention Steering Committee consists of 10 members plus the co-chairs for the Assistance Chorus, and, although they do a fantastic job, they cannot do it all alone. The Assistance Chorus is able to cover most of the positions necessary to ensure that the needs of our members are covered during this important and exciting weekend, and we certainly applaud all of these ladies for their dedication and hard work!

But there are some duties that need some special people! Let me tell you about these people who are not part of these two groups but who give so much of their

time and energy to make sure your experience in Daytona is seamless and hassle-free!

First, our new Volunteer Liaison – Karen Moore. Karen joined the Convention Steering Committee this year to assist me with coordinating all the on-site tasks taking place during the weekend. She will work closely with our Assistance Chorus Co-Chairs each year to allow me and my assistant CRC, Barbara Rolison, to concentrate on other activities during the convention.

Chris Payne has been working backstage during both the quartet and chorus contests for the past few years. She helps Barbara Rolison by keeping the contestants flowing from stage to audience, taking over the headset from Barbara with the theatre crew when necessary, and assisting with

lining up the quartets and directors for their recognition. She is a master at this last task!!

Mike and Michele Mueller are the riser team! They drive to Orlando, pick up the risers at the storage unit, bring them to Daytona and get them installed in the theatre. It’s amazing to see how quickly they get this all done! We are so lucky to have these two to wrestle those risers on and off the stage every year!

Michele is also a backstage coordinator along with Rhonda Payton and Nancy Draper. These ladies are positioned either backstage with Dee Lahr or at the hotel where the contestants depart. They are instrumental in making sure the traffic pattern for the contestants stays in line and

(continued on page 7)

Barbara Rolison Chris Payne Mike & Michele Mueller Rhonda Payton Nancy Draper Dee Lahr Karen Moore

Karen Wicker Gail Burke Chris Meranda Nancy Chittester Dolores Conroy Mary Grady Sandy Everly

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(Sun continued from page 4)

beige linens, fine china, crystal goblets and candlelit sconces provided a very elegant place for the women to gather. Fine cuisine prepared by the Lucayan added to a convivial atmosphere. Following dinner, a DJ played music from the 60’s, 70’s, & 80’s as most women gathered on the dance floor and boogied to the upbeat music of those eras. Renee, choreographer extraordinaire, led partygoers through rhythmic, intricate steps as they all danced as if no one was watching. With all the vitality expended in the

Pavilion that evening, Robert Frost’s famous quote, “Dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire” came to mind.

The late night revelers struggled out of bed to rehearse one last time before the big show. Physical warm ups began at 8:30 am with Renee leading the group with light, graceful, fluid movements to the song, “I’m Becoming My Mother.” Jim took over with vocal warm ups and then a run through of the three songs. Choreography filled the rest of the morning.

The performance on the beach at sunset entertained the appreciative listeners. A bonfire and a very ample buffet concluded the evening and a very special weekend with two remarkable barbershop coaches who shared their expertise and enthusiasm with those in attendance. Call them Desi & Lucy, Burns & Allen, Fred & Ginger, but the superstar training from the iconic partnership of Jim & Renee far surpassed the expectations of the Sweet Adelines in attendance.

O-Town Sound: For the Love of Fundraising

L ove was in the air in Lake Mary on Valentine’s Day Eve. O-Town Sound held, what is now being dubbed, the first annual Valentine Din-

ner Dance. The event entitled “Hearts and Hands in Song” was a smashing success, but it was part two of the chorus’ fundraising ef-forts. Part one was a gorgeous custom-made heart-themed quilt.

Sue Maloney, the owner of Vin-tage Threads Quilt Shoppe in Dy-ersville, Iowa and the sister of Mari-lyn Valliquette, an O-Town Sound sister, sewed the quilt for the cho-rus. The chorus brought the quilt to Winter Regional in January and held a drawing for it. The lucky winner, Joan Gowan of Gainesville, was chosen at random from hun-dreds of tickets.

Two weeks later was part two – the dinner dance. There was a delicious three-course Ital-ian dinner, dance lessons, prize and basket

drawings, door prizes and a wide variety of complimentary wine. Everyone had a great time.

Both parts of this fundraiser were very successful with a generous portion of the proceeds going to an Orlando-based grass roots breast cancer outreach organization, Com-passionate Hands and Hearts. This worthwhile local organization pro-vides support for those in need of help while battling breast cancer by improving the quality of life for them and their families. They were cho-sen as the recipient of this support because they were instrumental in the past in assisting one of O-Town

Sound’s own and the chorus wanted to give back.

Since the dinner dance, the chorus has been doing what most Sweet Adelines choruses are doing – getting ready for contest. It’s going to be a great one!

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The OPL staff consists of Nancy Chittester, Dolores Conroy and Mary Grady. These three ladies assist Sandy Everly, the Official Panel Liaison, each year with all the preparation needed for the care and feeding (yes, they actually prepare the food!!) of our judging panel. I want to tell you that the Italian Beef is exquisite!!

Last, but not least, is Gail Burke. She is a Panel Secretary for the International organization and travels to other regions with the judging panels to enter and publish the scores for the competitions. But in Region 9, she gives her time to be the Official Page for the judging panel at our competitions!

I know I have haven’t been able tell you a lot about these extraordinary people, but we just couldn’t do it all without them! Please look for these ladies, and two gentleman, during the weekend in Daytona and give them a hug!! My heartfelt thanks goes out to all of them!!

(Invaluable continued from page 5)

communicates any concerns to Dee immediately when needed. Their cool, calm demeanor and attention to detail make sure our contestants have the best experience possible!

Karen Wicker has been helping Dee with making sure all the documents necessary for her Competition Coordinator role are kept safe and readily available. She also helps Dee backstage during the contests. She has been a saving grace to Dee!

Chris Meranda, a Toast of Tampa Show Chorus husband, is Chauffeur Extraordinaire! He gives his time and energy each year to transport the judging panel to and from the theatre each day and to their dinner location on Saturday night. I want to tell you that the judges LOVE Chris! He usually brings Krispy Kremes each morning as well as Starbucks when necessary! He is one of the reasons we get such wonderful reviews from the panel.

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(continued on page 11)

Coaching Women of Note By Mary Markovitz

“More Air” For Women of Note Chorus

“The answer to every musical question is…..More Air,” exclaimed Harriette Walters during Women of Note’s annual retreat at the Duncan Conference Center in Delray Beach, FL on January 24 and 25, 2015.

A musical retreat in preparation for Region 9’s competition at Daytona featured Harriette, a Master Director of Greater Nassau Chorus, and Mitch Greenberg, director of Women of Note as they worked with the chorus to instill good vocal technique and a unified sound. “Align your diphthongs as they glide from one vowel to the next,” she emphasized. “Use more air for the quiet tones.” New and veteran members applied blend, tuning, dynamics and phrasing as Harriette and Mitch coaxed these barbershop basics from each singer.

Set in a bucolic locale, the Duncan Center provided a serene backdrop for chorus members to team-build and re-energize. The grounds afford many quiet spaces for reflection and include a replica of the labyrinth in Notre Dame Cathedral in Chartes, France. Some chorus members walked the labyrinth, opting to travel inward and then outward as they let go of

Mitch Greenberg and Harriette Walters

day to day details and focused on opening up to new possibilities, new risks that Harriette and Mitch proposed.

A few days away from their busy schedules, and some ten hours on the risers, encouraged the members to grow as a unit, become more confident with the music and produce a more unified sound.

Demanding as the coaches were, it wasn’t all so exhausting. Activities were designed to promote chorus interaction and bonding. WONGO, the break activity, brought new and veteran members together, as they interacted to learn chorus history, Harriette and Mitch trivia, or SAI information. Random seating at lunch and dinner promoted lively chatter and bonding with new and old friends. The family atmosphere empowered the group to increase its communication, trust and productivity.

Evening activities designed by Co-hosts, Lynn Baltimore and Patty Hans, continued the theme of “More Air” with terrific games that involved almost half the group at any one time. Between “Chain, Chain, Chain,” “I’ll Walk The Line,” and “Do That To Me One More Time,” members were involved, had a good time, and learned even more about one another. A performance by Sunsation Quartet delighted chorus members during dessert. Mitch sang a John Lennon parody, “Got To Hide Your Love Away.” A duet performance with Mitch and newcomer, Meredith Dinsdale strumming her ukulele, as they crooned “Tonight You Belong To Me” rounded out the evening.

Following the game night and musical fanfare, all Women of Note members are prepared to “Rock the House” at Daytona on April 18 and translate their success to a winning performance.

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Magic of Manatee By Marthe Hildreth

T he sorceresses of Magic of Manatee are hard at play. At our annual show on

Valentine’s Day, we planned to take the audience straight through the calendar with music, but someone—stage hand and actor Lee Frayer—mixed the order all up as he stumbled across the stage to deliver the program notes to the announcer. Such fun! “A Topsy-Turvy Year,” turned out very lighthearted, as we sang “Kokomo,” “If I Didn’t Have You,” and “Don’t Let the

Rain Come Down”). Some songs were funny (“Knock, Knock”), and some were sweet (“Lollipop,” by our Usual Suspects Quartet). The always popular sentimental style, such as “Where is Your Heart” and “ Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” had the audience feeling us, and the wildly patriotic Cohan Medley made for a flag-waving finish with a flourish. We even went Christmas caroling, and one Stray Cat rapper added

spats, and a twirl of the hat,” kept all of us enthralled. Their Dapper Dan spirit perfectly complemented our format, and their great barbershop harmonies kept the whole show on a perfect “topsy-turvy” keel. One of our newest members (Hollie Wells) confided that this very quartet was the one that inspired her to love barbershop style. She was incredulous that women were also allowed to perform barbershop. What does that tell us about our overall publicity as Sweet Adelines?

The weekend after our show we entertained at Ellenton UMC and had a terrific time. The audience was very pleased and begged for an encore. We also performed at the Venice Men’s show on March 20, among other engagements. Is there anything more fun than performing? For most of us, probably not.

some, shall we say, diversity.

We owe enormous thanks to Show chair Doris Tinder, choreographer Nancy Frayer, costume committee chair Cheryl Gaynor, script committee Bunny Klein et al., afterglow party Jeanette Rothberg, publicity chair Jacquie Humphreys, tickets chair Una Gravitt, ads/

programs chairs Kim Kisacky and Sue Kulman (who also helps us with makeup), staging/lighting Lee Frayer, house and hospitality chair Ruth McKinnon, Secretary Mary DeJong, Treasurer Jeanette Rothberg, our diligent Music Committee, and well-loved Director Lois Van Beek.

Guest performer quartet Main Street, with “a shine on their shoes, a snap in their

Main Street

(continued on page 11)

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Toast of Tampa Building Excitement for Vegas By Beth Curts

Harmony Shores Chorus welcomes 3 new members – Lori Zipes (Bari), Sharon McInnis (Bari), and Linda Werring (Lead). These awesome ladies joined us for their first performance, a retirement party for one of our Addy Daddies. They are a welcome addition to our chorus and we’re so proud to have them as our newest members!

Harmony Shores Chorus

T oast of Tampa Show Chorus is proud to represent Region 9 in Las Vegas this year! We are working hard to prepare for International, and are ex-

cited about our journey west in October. Since the begin-ning of the year, Toast has welcomed nearly a dozen new members and several new chapter quartets. Guests at weekly Tuesday night rehearsals enthusiasti-cally participate in learning new music, finessing our footwork on new choreogra-phy, and lining up for new costumes this spring! We hope to do the Region we love proud on the Vegas stage.

The chorus enjoyed delivering Singing Valen-tines around Tampa Bay in February, and will

present its final spring concert on March 27 with a return to the Sun City United Methodist Church for an evening of terrific a cappella en-tertainment. Several Toast quartets will share

the program, a great oppor-tunity to perform before tak-ing the Regional stage in April. We are so excited to present eight competing quartets in Daytona!

The entire Toast of Tampa chorus looks forward to serving as your hostess chapter at Regional Compe-tition this year. Visit the bou-tique often. Dip your feet in the ocean, walk and talk

along the beautiful beach. Love all our sisters in harmony. Good luck to all fabulous competi-tors. Let’s have some FUN!

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The Key Is Feisty

On February 16, a spirited Cindy Hansen, with a mischievous grin plastered on her face, waltzed into to the Women of Note’s rehearsal room, hardly containing her enthusiasm and desire to get going. And going she got! Her purpose – to determine the chorus personality and then coach to those strengths - to make Women of Note the “best that they could be.”

A third generation “Barbershop Brat,” Cindy actively trains both women’s and men’s choruses and quartets all over the world. And with 30 years of coaching under her belt plus a background in social work, Cindy has a special gift for identifying the personality of a group, thus able to create a performance package unique to the group’s style. Women of Note’s competition package was the perfect combination for her to work her magic.

Up tune song scene – “World War II and traveling by train to Timbuktu to meet your best guy before he ships out. What’s your emotional commitment to getting there? Feisty, I think. Make sure that conductor gets you there,” Cindy pronounced.

Ballad scene – “Bring a photo of that person you want to sing to. Make a connection with that emotional memory. It will drive the stirring barbershop sounds to an overwhelming crescendo,” she stressed.

And so it went throughout the three-hour coaching session. With vitality, Cindy designed a workable visual plan to support Women of Note’s interpretation and dynamics of its up tune and ballad. Shoshana Davidowitz, choreographer for Women of Note remarked, “What we took away from Cindy’s “EnHANSENments” last night was not necessarily the intensity of the choreography, but the character and energy that it takes to really sell the

story.”

This plucky, high-spirited woman took Women of Note to new heights in a single bound. “Her delivery is funny, real and edgy. She’s not so much concerned with the choreo ‘plan’ as the energy and believability of it,” added Elaine Haugan, Associate Director.

A motivational force, Cindy Hansen enabled the chorus to take risks and move out of its comfort zone into new, unexplored areas of success. And to believe it is their choice!

Cindy Hansen

(Coaching continued from page 8)

Our direction is pointing-- along with all of Region Nine-- to the April competition in Daytona. Most will agree the spirit of harmony is what keeps us focused as Sweet Adelines. So as we prepare to enthrall our audience (all of us in the region!) we always try to remember why we dedicate so much time to our craft-- to continue to develop our best voices and talents, to share the delight of barbershop with the world, and most importantly-- to have FUN doing our best.

(Magic continued from page 9)

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Team Coordinator LISA DEPREZ

Gulf To Bay

Membership Coordinator

DEBBIE DENNIS Sound of Sunshine

Communications Coordinator RHONDA PAYTON

Chapter at Large

Events Coordinator SUE GIESLER

Chapter at Large

YOUR REGIONAL

MANAGEMENT TEAM

Education Coordinator BARBARA MAULDIN

Harmony Shores

Marketing Coordinator IRENE ZIMMER

Gulf To Bay

Finance Coordinator CATHY FREY

Toast of Tampa and Spirit of the Gulf

Directors’ Coordinator FRAN RUSS

Jacksonville Harmony Hilton Head Shore Notes

Gainesville Harmony

Gainesville, Florida Diane Sherley & Chanda Morris,

Co-Directors

Goldcoast

Miami, Florida

Iris Cokeroft, Director

Gulf To Bay

Clearwater, Florida

Denise Helbig, Director

Harmony Shores

Panama City, Florida

Barbara Heckerson, Director

Heart of Highland

Avon Park, Florida

Betty Meinholz, Director

Hilton Head Shore Notes

Hilton Head Island, S. Carolina

Faye McLanahan, Director

Jacksonville Harmony

Jacksonville, Florida

Ann Gooch, Director

Magic of Manatee

Bradenton, Florida

Lois Van Beek, Director

O-Town Sound

Orlando, Florida

Kay Webb, Director

Pensacola Sound

Pensacola, Florida Connie Hancock, Director

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Visit Region 9 on Facebook and get

connected! Click Here!

Published Quarterly January, April, July

and October JANUARY deadline Dec. 15 APRIL deadline March 8 JULY deadline June 15 OCT deadline Sep. 15

Email submissions to: paulab902@gmail.com

Platinum Show

West Melbourne, Florida

Elaine Haugan, Director

Song of the Coast

Ormond Beach, Florida Diane Johnson, Director

Sound of Sunshine

Orlando, Florida

Nancy Lewis, Director

South Florida Jubilee

Plantation, Florida

James Kastler, Director

Southern Company

Brandon, Florida

Linda Verzosa, Director

Spirit of the Gulf

Fort Myers, Florida

Mike Slamka, Director

Summer Springs

Ocala, Florida

Judi Stygar, Director

Suncoast Harmony

Hudson, Florida

Anne Prins, Director

Toast of Tampa

Temple Terrace, Florida

Tony DeRosa, Director

Venetian Harmony

Venice, Florida

Jim Shubert, Director

Women of Note

Wellington, Florida

Mitch Greenberg, Director

Region 9

Choruses

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Jacksonville Harmony

G reeting from the Jacksonville Har-mony’s First Coast!

We’re aiming toward making this time of year---Contest---the BEST

time of the Sweet Adeline year. Jacksonville Harmony Team Leader, Deb Eunpu offers up sage ideas that we’re incorporating into our chorus lives. These new tenets help to shift old and long held negative attitudes and beliefs. In Deb’s words:

“Every chorus getting ready for competition is working hard to deliver their best performance. Rehearsal of music and choreography is fore-most, but there is another aspect to competi-tion we can hone. Our mindset and ability to use any one of several mind skills can move our performance to a new level of confidence and quality.

For this year's competition preparation, I sub-mitted a proposal that would allow the chorus as a group to learn about and try out different mind skills known to improve performance. With the approval of Management Team and Music Staff, I planned a series of short presen-tations that combine didactic, participatory, and experiential components. I have drawn on my training in Couples' and Family Therapy plus college curriculum development and In-struction with my personal experience together with Jan Carley's book "Harmony from the In-side Out” (2009, Creative Coaching Group Publishing). Each week at the end of rehearsal we spend 15-20 minutes on the day's topic.

We are working toward writing and using af-firmations and visualizations as well as learning how to harness our positive energy and de-crease performance anxiety and interference so that we can deliver our best potential perfor-mance at Regional and International Competi-tions this year. Yoga and breathing skills will add to our ability to have unified focus without distractions.

It's been a fun process for me to experience with our wonderful chorus. Many members

have shared their experiences using affirma-tions and visualization to reach goals in the past, and others have appeared who have just the skills and resources we needed. The ener-gy in our rehearsal space is so positive during these sessions, and that can't help but carry over to our singing.”

Jacksonville Harmony encourages you to in-clude some of these systems and ideas in your choruses too. We think you will reap the bene-fits. Team Leader Deb Eunpu is living proof of a compelling positive mindset and we appreciate her sharing these valuable lessons with us.

Illustrating these same values are the coach-es who visit us. After two fantastic sessions with Bling! Queen Bass Kim Elger-Griffin, we had an energized and fun learning experience at Retreat with Darlene Rogers and Lea Bever-ly. These coaches complement each other in what they bring to the musical table. The coaches ensure that we’re perfectly prepared spiritually, technically, and physically for this journey.

Good friend and First Coast neighbor Karen Briedert arrived at the JHC rehearsal hall and imparted good-humored last minute fine-tuning gems for Contest. Many thanks to all our coaches--- we are who we are (and we like it!) because of YOU!

Experiencing the thrill of Contest for the first time are new members: Janet Boeckman Bass, Janice Flowers Lead, Kim Hardy Bass, Ellen Kiser Bass, Jeannie Martin Lead, Shewan Mason Lead, and Gretchen Goller Lead (Dual Member with Shore Notes). Welcome ladies, to the richest journey of your life and to a region that rocks!

Mark your calendars for Jax Harmony’s “Star Spangled Harmony” to be held the last week-end in June. It is our patriotic tribute to the July 4

th extravaganza. The Cabaret is a fun, relaxed

afternoon filled with lots of great barbershop music, a chance to visit with your friends, and

(continued on page 15)

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enjoy a delectable dinner catered by the chorus complete with mouth watering home made des-serts. We’ll keep you posted on the correct date.

We wish each and every Sweet Adeline who steps on to the Peabody stage the very best of luck this year. With your positive can do atti-tudes, and hundreds of your best friends pull-ing for you, your six-minute story will be a breeze.

Found on Facebook by members Ann and Faye: Never sing louder than beautiful.

Jacksonville Harmony Chorus

Singing Valentines 2015

Chordinated Quartet

On Valentine’s Day, Chordinated delivered over a dozen musical messages both in person and over the phone – a new experience for all except our seasoned baritone, Debbie.

Chordinated is a new quartet with members from Jackson-ville Harmony Chorus: Dan-ielle Weber (tenor), Emily Michael (lead), Debbie Ed-wards (baritone), and Jeanie Correa

(bass). We’ve been singing together since No-vember, and we’re preparing for competition in April.

Chordinated has been coached by three queens and is excited for our first competition. We’re accepting gigs around Jacksonville and thoroughly loving the quarteting experience. Follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/ChordinatedQuartet) or check out our blog (http://chordinated.wordpress.com/) to read about our journey.

Heart To Heart Quartet

Carla Chadwick (tenor), Sue Illingworth (lead), not pictured---Beverly Conderman

(baritone), and Kathy Haggerty (bass).

Barbara Boyer (in pink jacket) has been a charter mem-ber of Jacksonville

Harmony Chorus since its founding 52 years ago. As a baritone, Barbara jumped right in and sang along perfectly with the quartet's rendition of "It Had to be You." She was pleasantly sur-prised with her Singing Valentine.

Jacksonville Harmony Singing Valentines Quartet

Ann Gooch (tenor, Director of Jacksonville Harmony Chorus) , Brandy Neilson (lead), Faye

McLanahan (baritone), Diane Parker (bass). Singing to Sandy Bernreuter at the University of North Florida on Valentines Day.

(Jacksonville continued from page 14)

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Inspiration and Momentum at Spirit of the Gulf By Karen Schor

F inishing in the top 10 in Baltimore last year signaled the end of transition and the beginning of a new period for Spirit of the Gulf. Happy to establish

our place as a contending chorus in Sweet Adelines International with our new Director, Mike Slamka, we basked in the reflected glory of Bling! Quartet upon their achievement as 2015 First Place Gold Medalists. We are privileged to claim them as our own. But beyond that we heard the passionate voice of inspiration calling us to ready ourselves for the future that lay ahead. How do you gear up and build this momentum to carry a large chorus forward and upward to new heights?

First, we assessed who we are, what we’ve done and where we want to be. Many committee and chorus meetings revealed the result will include some “Changes.” No surprise there. So here is a little insight into all that has happened so far.

A decision to change the format of our Holiday Concert provided a warmer and more meaningful production. Personal Christmas memories of our own members coupled with small play-acted scenes or vignettes climaxed with a beautiful Nativity Scene, replete with elegant costumes created and handcrafted by members Bonnie Solomon (a baritone of course), Sally Fox and Mickey Mears. This innovation was well received and encouraged

us to continue to enhance this musical Christmas celebration. Other projects are underway, including a new promotional DVD about the Spirit of the Gulf (Sweet Adelines) experience. We held our annual spring show on March 21

st in Ft. Myers. And we continue to

polish and perfect our contest set in anticipation of the Region 9 Competition in April. We enjoyed the expert coaching of Betty Clipman and Carol Persinger.

Having gained more than a half dozen new members, we are eager to move forward. We have engaged in some new ways to publicize and connect our chorus with the public. In February we displayed our chorus at the Peace River Quilting Conference in

Punta Gorda, thanks to member Cathy McQueen. Several thousand people got to meet Spirit of the Gulf through pictorial and promotional material and You Tube views, as well as a live sampling of Barbershop harmony courtesy of quartet Tamiami Sound. And we connected personally with the attendees to promote our spring show, “Melody Magic,” and to spark interest in potential new members!

We are building momentum for the future incorporating the most important aspect of all – the total, all-in commitment of each member to an enhanced goal of being the best we can be, while, as someone very important to us has put it, “changing the lives of those with whom and for whom we sing.”

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Happenings in Avon Park - Heart of Highland

I n November 2014 we held our annual Fashion Show at Chateau Elan, a new venue for us. This hotel is located at the Sebring Raceway in Sebring, Florida.

Tina Altic, our new President, had a vision for this show and we filled the ballroom to capacity with over 200 people. Local stores loaned us their clothes for our members to model. We had some of our husbands dress in suits with colored vests and cumberbunds and they helped seat the attendees. Our tenor, Connie Bates, and her husband, Roland, modeled clothes from a western store and performed a little dance. Roland was a big hit on stage...ladies were actually trying to tuck money in his belt!

South Florida Jubilee

F or the past few months, the southern end of Region 9 has been ringing with some of the most awesome chords the barbershop world has to offer.

In November, we played host to Storm Front who kept us laughing with their unique delivery

of music through comedy and parody. These four men are true showmen who just keep the laughter coming; and yet they can bring you to tears with a serious ballad. And did you know that three of their fathers sang together in a quartet?

The chorus spent December and January in preparation for our February 8th show. One of our featured guests was our own “Attitude” (we

claim them since we have Chelsea and Denise in our chorus and are happy that Cheryl and Danielle have adopted us as groupies). We were also fortunate to have “The Buzz” on the show for a rare south Florida appearance. Our audience was thrilled by the talent and versatility of these elegant Queens of Harmony—and so were we.

Less than a week after the show, four quartets from the chorus delivered 50 singing valentines to surprised mothers, lovers and friends around Broward County. This project, as well as our show were sanctioned by Broward County as official Broward 100 events as part of the 100th anniversary of the county.

Now our efforts are fully focused on competition, as we’re sure yours are. South Florida Jubilee would like to extend our best wishes to all of our sisters in harmony for a wonderful competition experience!

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Hilton Head Shore Notes

T he Hilton Head Shore Notes presented “This Joint is Jumpin’!” to a sold-out house on March 7 under the direction of our fantastic Faye

McLanahan. The setting was Roxie’s, a New York speakeasy, so we all wore vintage costumes in the first act of the

show. Jacksonville Harmony’s Diane Parker was Roxie and emcee of our show. Our guest quartet was “Boardwalk” from Atlanta, who

finished second in the Dixie District Competition last October. They were funny and fabulous! The Shore Notes quartets, Coastal Rhythm and Just One Night, also entertained. We would like to thank Jacksonville’s Sarah Bican and Diane Anderson for being on the risers with us as well as the Jacksonville Harmony ladies who made the trip up to support us. It was a wonderful evening!