AGOURA
HILLS HARMONY
www.ahhchorus.com
 Good
luck to all competing choruses and quartets from
AGOURA HILLS HARMONY!
We are excited to be here and feel what it is like to compete at a different
time of the day, for a change, and get to hear some other choruses! Three ladies
will be competing with us for the first time this year: Mary Helen Storm-Larsen,
Debbie Kort, and Anita Levine. We are so pleased to have them with us.
Two quartets with AHH! members, BLISS! and LEADING
LADIES, will be getting lots
of cheers and encouragement from our section of the auditorium at our Regional
Competition. You go, girls!
In December we had a lovely show, "Holiday Gift of Music", that really
got us into the spirit of the season. In February, four AHH! quartets spread
Valentine cheer to many happy recipients of Singing Valentines. Several gals
say that giving this musical gift is the highlight of their Sweet Adeline year.
Of course we have been having a great time getting our contest package together
- lots of creative energy buzzing about. Coach Carole Kirkpatrick helped Anne
Casey whip us into shape with two fun new songs at our annual retreat. After
an intense day of singing with those "ab" muscles our laugh muscles
were well exercised during the evening's activities!
A big 'thank you' to our hosting chorus and to the RMT for
all their work in putting on this competition. Break a lip! -- Kim Toth-Tevel
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CALIFORNIA
HEARTLAND
www.caheartland.org
 CHC came
through the holidays tired and happy. We had
a GREAT Christmas show at St. Theresa in
Fresno with a very enthusiastic crowd. FINESSE,
a YWIH group from a Visalia High School, performed
and then joined the chorus in a grand finale
of a new arrangement of "Jingle Bells." We
survived the hectic holiday schedule of Hollygrams,
sing-outs, caroling at Fig Garden. Christmas
Tree lane, and, of course, our own Christmas
party.
Gerry Papageorge was with us at our annual retreat
to give us a good push towards competition, Her
return this January reinforced and polished what
she taught us.
CHC has two new members for this competition:
Sue Damsen is a former Sweet Adeline from Colorado
and she sings a mean tenor. Heather Andersen is our newest, and so accomplished, baritone.
We are so pleased to have these two as new sisters.
The chorus turns 50 years old this May! We would
like to invite everyone in Region 11 to help
us celebrate this momentous milestone. Look for
your invitation to join us on May 5 (6 p.m.)
at the First Baptist Church in Fresno. – Sheila
Martin
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CELEBRITY
CITY
www.celebritycitychorus.com
 CCC is
excited to be your hostess chapter this weekend.
Come by the boutique and check out the many baskets
of goodies we have prepared for your shopping
pleasure! "Break a Lip" to all competitors this
weekend. We've all worked very hard to sing our
best and to improve our scores from last year.
Most of all - HAVE FUN!
Jim is keeping us busy learning new music for
Calgary. He makes us wonderful learning tapes
so it's very easy to learn our music quickly.
Thanks to the wonderful shadow of her former
self, Bobbette Gantz,
who came out to coach us in February! She was
there when Jim and Lyn
announced that they'll be having twins in
August/September. We're trying to convince them
that since we sang at their wedding, we should
be in the delivery room to sing in the twins.
So far they haven't agreed..hmmm?
CCC has been
working hard to earn money for risers. Thanks
to many generous donations and our "change
jar at chorus", we now have new risers on
the way!
On March 10, we performed to a full house of
devoted barbershop lovers in St. George, Utah.
Fourteen chorus songs and four quartets performing
provided them a wide variety of music and thrilled
us with standing ovations. I'm sure we'll be
back there next year!
Renee Porzel and Jim
Arns will be our coaches
in July for our final retreat before Calgary.
Our rehearsals and retreats are always open,
so if you are in the area, please come by and
say hello! – Karen Lewison
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CENTRAL
COAST CELEBRATION
www.celebration-chorus.org
 It
was a very busy past few months for the members
of the CENTRAL COAST CELEBRATION CHORUS. We continue
to thrive and grow under the direction of Dani
Avalos-Prigge. She never ceases to amaze us with
both her talent and her wonderful sense of humor.
We proudly welcomed two new members. They are
Wesleigh Chriss, a YWIH member and Cindy
McBurney,
both singing lead.
Our show on November 18 featured a host of Judy
Garland songs and the wonderful quartet, CHICAGO
FIRE. We sang to a full house of over 600 people.
In December we were very busy with Holiday Performances
to spread happiness and cheer.
Then in January we met for retreat in Pismo Beach
for a Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning
of work-work-work! We sang our little hearts
out and felt so lucky to have Linda Taylor sharpening
our skills on those days. Her knowledge and expertise
is amazing to work under.
In February and March we spent two days with
Fred Bologna, learning some moves and fancy footwork.
Fred is so much fun and has the energy of three
people!
CCCC, now boasts of several quartets from our
ranks, with RIO winning the hearts of many on
February 14, by doing singing Valentines throughout
San Luis Obispo County. RIO consists of Dani
Avalos-Prigge, Diane McGrath, Alisa Zichterman
and Karen Betancourt.
Here's hoping all of you have a great Bakersfield
experience. – Dorothy
El-Helou
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CHANNELAIRE
www.channelaire.org
 It's
great to be back in Bakersfield again. We're
looking forward to all the big changes this year during
Convention weekend – several Channelaire members
are on the Regional Convention Steering Committee,
helping to make the Convention run smoothly: Carole
Sundeen, Tammy Ragsdale, Debbie Curtis, Pat Vincent,
Wini Sell, Jeanne Cathaway, Bobbette Gantz, and Linda
Ragsdale.
We are especially looking forward to see all the choruses
perform. Best of luck to everyone competing this weekend.
Special good wishes to our quartets: Pipe Dreams,
Sky High, Extra! Extra!, Cheers!, Sweet Synergy, Joyful
Noise, and Sound Solution. And to our sister chorus,
SOUTH VALLEY SOUND, with many CHANNELAIRE dual members!
After taking a much-needed holiday break, we came back
in January with high-energy rehearsals and lots of
terrific coaching from Betty Clipman,
Marcia Pinvidic, and Erin
Howden. Thanks also to our local friend, Lori
DeHoog, for keeping our choreo. team armed with the
best tools!
Singing Valentines were again the highlight of February,
with quartets delivering 100 valentines all over Ventura
County. Our Sneak Preview show on March 10 gave us
all a chance to shake out the nerves and test our contest
packages on an appreciative audience.
Have you heard that CHANNELAIRE is going to Japan in
May? Our entourage includes 65 singers and many guests
for a total of nearly 120 travelers! Judy Ashmore has
been mentoring a few new choruses in Japan, and now
we're going there to perform! And we're
learning two songs in Japanese to sing with them! We
can't wait! – Debbie Curtis
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GOLDEN
SANDS
www.goldensandschorus.org
 Once
again, GOLDEN SANDS has had a very productive
and fun season. We held our annual show in September,
entertaining our audience with the Sounds of
Summer in the park. Soon the Christmas season
was upon us, and we performed at seven different
venues during a two-week period! One of those
venues was the Aquarium of the Pacific, where
we sold tickets to a screening of the movie American
Fusion. Prior to the movie, we sang a few of
our favorites, and afterward held a Q and A with
the film's director. It was very fun and
very profitable!
GOLDEN SANDS is delighted to officially welcome
three new members to our chorus: Margaret
Brewer (bass), Lillian
Zellmer (bass) and Susan
Delude (lead). Margaret brings to us wonderful new fundraising
ideas, such as the Aquarium gig. You will see
Susan dancing in the front row at contest (something
she considers to be a "terrible honor"!),
and we will be dressed in costumes made by Lillian's
company!!!
On August 4, GOLDEN SANDS will be hosting an
all-day Quartet Matching event! Monica
Tautkus will again be our guest coach. Stay tuned for
more details. If you want to be in a quartet,
come on down!
As with all other competing choruses, we have
spent a busy winter and spring preparing our
contest package for this weekend, and want to
thank all our fabulous coaches, including Pam
Pieson and Gerry
Papageorge, who were our retreat
coaches; Jeff Baker, Monica Tautkus,
Laura Pallas, and Chris Robertson. We are very blessed to have
such a distinguished roster of coaches who take
time out of their busy schedules to help us improve
our sound. And a very special thank you goes
to our fabulous Diva Director, Choreographer
extraordinaire, and new Certified International
Faculty Member, Lynne Smith, for her dedication
and devotion to GOLDEN SANDS.
GOLDEN SANDS wishes all the
quartet and chorus contestants the best of luck
as we compete this
weekend, with special hugs and well-wishes to
our own GOLDEN SANDS quartet, a.k.a. We
also wish our special Kat Shaver good
luck as she competes with her quartet, PORTFOLIO,
in the Region 21 contest. – Barbara
Hennessy
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HARMONY
SHOWCASE
 HARMONY
SHOWCASE CHORUS is all psyched up for competition
this year. We've been working hard on package
with our fantastic new director, Kira
Wagner.
We've learned so much from her in her three
months with us. She has proved herself so very
knowledgeable and motivational in a non-confrontational
way. Quite a trick!
In January we held an all day coaching session
with Judy Ashmore, always so very educational – and
fun!
The new format for the Show of Champions sounds
like a winner. We're looking forward to it.
We wish all of our fellow competitors good luck
this weekend. We know you've all worked hard.
Also, congratulations again to Missy
Pearce and SHIMMER! who
you'll be hearing as mike testers Friday to open
the quartet competition. Don't
miss them! – Ann
Layton
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HARMONY
VALLEY
www.harmonyvalleychorus.org
We send greetings and best wishes for success and fun to all competitors!
We will be rooting for all of you from the audience.
As usual we stay very busy with performances and community activities.
On December 3, we sang for our Historic Courthouse Open House and the following
weekend had an entry in the Downtown Christmas parade and sang for the
lighting of the city Christmas tree. Another highlight in December was
our traditional ornament exchange and potluck - it was fun to have members
of the UCMerced choral group join us for the evening. Community service
continues to be an important part of our chorus life.
On March 31, we will be part of a "Celebrating Music in Merced" concert
at the recently renovated Merced Theater, a historic landmark in our downtown.
It is an honor to be included in this event along with other prominent
local musicians.
Starting April 18, we will conduct a 6-week vocal health class for the
Merced County Arts council. We hope this trial project will be successful
for the Arts Center and for us as a marketing effort.
Then starting June 5, for the 11-week summer session, we will become a
Merced College Community Services class that will be listed as "Choral
Dynamics - A Cappella Harmony Chorus. Through marketing of the class by
Merced College we expect to reach a greater number of women singers and
thus attract new members.
This Spring, we will again offer vocal scholarships to local high school
girls using money in our "JoAnne Ingels Legacy Fund." – Nancy
Weidenmiller
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HIGH
SIERRA
 It
has been a wonderful experience working with
Nancy Coufal, and getting to know her in her
new role as director. We got through the holidays
with many sing-outs for Care Centers, church
luncheons, etc., and loved every minute of it!
Last October, Monica Tautkus and Mary
Ashford visited for some great coaching prior to our
hostessing at Fall Festival. We had a great time
doing that! Then Mary came back for our retreat
in February and worked her magic by making some
positive changes.
In February, we had two quartets (ALPENGLOW was
one) delivering Singing Valentines. It is so
much fun, with all that love flowing around!
We welcome new member, Sara Lokan, an awesome
baritone, to the risers. She travels all the
way from Mammoth, bringing a great voice and
a great attitude. She will be a first-timer,
as Nancy will also be a first-timer in her new
role on competition stage.
We really look forward to this weekend. The best
of luck to everyone on the competition stage
this year - let the divas shine! – Katherine
Little
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KERN
VALLEY
We can't believe it's spring already and here we are at contest in Bakersfield.
Coming down the canyon the wild flowers are beautiful just like the choruses
in Region 11. KERN VALLEY has really been busy this last few months. Dede
Nibler coached our retreat in below 20's weather, but even with frost bit
noses we managed to completely change both contest songs. If that wasn't
enough change, we had Laura Pallas follow her within 3 weeks. Our poor
brains are on overload. What a great time we had with these two wonderful
and talented ladies.
Valentine's Day and lots of singing leads us into our annual Whiskey
Flat Days Celebration in Kernville, which turned out to be the biggest
and best success ever. Well, 70-degree weather in February doesn't happen
all that often in the Mountains. We've had a couple of years in the distant
past where we had to dig out of the snow. Sweet Adelines, KERN
VALLEY-style,
sells hot Pastrami sandwiches. Both of these events are great moneymakers
for the chorus.
In December, our own SIERRA SOUND recorded a special CD with a collector's
song called, "Christmas in Kernville". It was only one song and
as we watched how the CD sold and the comments that were made, our director,
Cheryl, started the wheels turning and now the whole chorus is set to record
a Christmas CD. Our sound studio will be the Baptist church in Kernville
and the composer of Christmas in Kernville, Butch Dubarri, the soundman.
It should be noted that Dede Nibler was the barbershop arranger of the
song. So, with copyrights in place, thanks to Dianna Wade, we will begin
recording in June. Christmas in June. HMMM, a novel idea.
We will be competing with new member, Kay Gregory,
who we welcome. She sang in Sweet Adelines in Montana years ago and now
joins the
bass section. Congratulations to all competitors and sisters. We love you
all. – Cheryl Borthick
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L.A.
SOUTH TOWNS SHOW
www.lasouthtowns.org
 "I
Love the Limelight" was our December annual
show and a great success. A CAPPELLA
GOLD, the
2001 Queens of Harmony and winners of the Oreo
Cookie and Milk jingle contest, were our featured
performers. Sadly for the world of vocal music,
this was their final performance together. Having
them perform with us and be part of our afterglow
was great fun for everyone. We know many members
and friends from Region 11 came to the show and
we appreciate your support.
Our 2007 performance schedule got off to an early
start. Private performances at the St. Margaret
Mary Church and at the El Segundo Women's Club
kept us busy in January and February. In April,
we will have our Team Installation and Chapter
Dinner, as well as our "Spring Fling" Open
House. Our always popular and much-anticipated
annual Ladies'
Tea and Harmony will likely be held in June.
We are pleased to welcome to the fold 4 new members:
Lee Ann Lohran (baritone), Charleta
Williams (lead), Maxine
Chavez (lead), and Carolyn
Correnti (bari).
To every chapter's newcomers and long-time chord
freaks, we wish you "Break A Leg"! – Melody
Saffery
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PACIFIC
HORIZON
www.slonet.org/~slophc
PACIFIC HORIZON CHORUS is breathing a collective sigh of relief at the
news that one of our newest members, Cathi Powers, survived after being
overcome by carbon monoxide while working in the basement of a home in
northern California. She was literally minutes away from 'too late' when
friends found her and paramedics whisked her off, unconscious, to
a hyperbaric chamber that saved her life. Cathi joined the chorus with
her sister, Virginia Collie (a fine tenor), in January. We hope Cathi's
lead voice and enthusiasm will be back with us soon. She's already
reminding everyone to have a carbon monoxide detector installed in our
homes!
We celebrated Valentines Day by sending our quartets on the road to deliver
love songs, flowers and cards to folks all over the county. The gift of
song brought a great deal of joy to both singers and recipients.
Our newest quartet finally has a name, STEPPIN' OUT!, featuring Nora
O'Donnell,
lead, Alison Drake tenor, Diane Douglas, baritone, and Maggie
King, bass.
We have high hopes that the contributions of our coaches, Monica
Tautkus, Bobbette Gantz, and Linda Kelly, will enhance our contest performance.
What fine talents these wonderful ladies are!
For those who enjoy driving to the beautiful Central Coast, Our popular
Mothers Day Tea is taking place on May 12 in San Luis Obispo. Make your
reservations early!
P.S., Ask Director Kim to see pictures of 'Juniper Eve,' her first grandchild. – Diane
Ludin
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RIVEROAKS
 Still
admiring our "Most Improved Chorus" ribbon
from last year's competition, we have not been
letting the grass grow under our lips. With consistent
support, enthusiasm and encouragement from our director,
Theresa Schonbach, RIVEROAKS CHORUS is surging forward.
Not only have we continued to add new songs to our
repertoire, but we are doing more community sing-outs,
increasing our membership and gearing up to give Bakersfield
everything we've got in March! And we welcome
our newest member, Kathleen Malpede.
In November, we put together two double quartets, aptly
named DOUBLE STANDARD and DOUBLE
TROUBLE. We had nearly
100% attendance from our active members who stayed
for the seminars on Saturday. We are taking advantage
of every opportunity to learn and grow as a chorus.
The holidays brought many opportunities to carol for
the community and our name is becoming better known.
We presented our Annual Show, "Americana",
in January in a cemetery. Yes, we sang at Forest Lawn
in the Hall of Liberty and the house was pretty packed.
By all accounts, we knocked ‘em dead (no pun
intended)! We were delighted to have SWEET
SYNERGY and READY, WILLING AND MABEL as our guest quartets
and we
complemented the show with a killer silent auction!
In February, we all gathered at a hotel in Simi Valley
for our annual retreat where all we do is sing, sing,
and sing. Well, and eat. And laugh a lot. But mostly
sing. We were blessed to have Laura Pallas coach us
on Saturday. Just when you think you've learned
it all, you learn you haven't.
RIVEROAKS is moving ahead like a tidal wave and we
look forward to seeing everyone in Bakersfield! – Kathy
Theodore
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SANTA
MONICA
www.santamonicachorus.com
 Don't
myth this year's Summer Sizzler, "Calling
All Goddesses", on August 17-19 hosted
by us, the SANTA MONICA CHORUS.
Take part in a classic weekend of song, studies,
drama and
celebration and get in touch with your own inner
goddess. Listen and learn as Queens of Harmony,
THE BUZZ, sing for you! Take
classes from Sweet Adelines stars! And see our Laura
Pallas as Queen Dido, Jonni
Anderson as
evil Madam Ruth and SANTA
MONICA CHORUS as
a classic (?) Greek Chorus when we perform "Love
Potion #9 –A Tragic Greek Comedy".
We promise you it will be an enCHANTing weekend!
Our chorus had a great start to 2007. We welcomed
two new members: Amanda Streit and Kathy
Ball.
We learned the whys and wherefores of riser placement
in one truly educational rehearsal with Judy
Ashmore. Erin Howden whisked her magic choreo
wand over us to give our contest package style
and pizzazz! We had a fantastic Malibu retreat
with our incredible coach, Lori Lyford. We welcomed
wonderful Alan Gordon for our final coaching
session before contest. And now, here we are
in Bakersfield!
Good luck to our competing sister choruses and
quartets, especially to our very own SERIOUS
TREBLE, OOH LA LA and SWEET
SYNERGY. Just being
here, seeing old friends, meeting new ones and
joining together in song makes each and every
one of us winners! – Patti Nugent
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SOUTH
VALLEY SOUND
www.sweetadeline.org
 SOUTH
VALLEY SOUND has had a oo-WONDERFUL year! For
the first time in our history we are competing
as a mid-size chorus. We are also celebrating
our 6th year with our fabulous co-directors,
Mary Ashford and Lee
Hays.
Last August, we test flew a pilot program called "Shop
'N Sing". The goal was to simply shop, sing
and spend the day together. Since then, we've
had two more Shop ‘N Sings, and since August,
we have had eleven new members join our chorus!
We are very excited to welcome: Helen
Gleason, Terri Schreiner, Brenda Garnas, Valerie
Steinfeld,
and Earlene Smith (leads); Teena
Manticos Spizzirri and Trish
Mooring (tenors); Judy
Pitt, Jan Smith, and Martha
Rasmussen (baris), and Peggy
Derleth (bass). We are proud to have dual members from
five choruses, including VERDUGO HILLS,
VOICES UNLIMITED, TRI CITY SOUND, CALIFORNIA
HEARTLAND
and CHANNELAIRE!
Sweet Adelines and SOUTH VALLEY SOUND were featured
in a full-page color layout in last month's edition
of the Bakersfield Magazine. We have yet another
exciting Valentines season in which we sold and
delivered over 110 singing Valentines!
Thank you to our marvelous coaches, Patty
Cobb and her fiddle playing husband, Jeff "for-oo-wuh" Baker,
Marcia Pinvidic, Jim Arns, Dawn Castiglione and Marie
Hampton. We are looking forward to seeing
all you at competition and wish good luck to
all the competitors, especially to our own competing
quartets, SKY HIGH and SOUND
SOLUTION. To SHIMMER! – our
very own 15th Internationally-ranked quartet
- may you have a blast as this year's mic testers!
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TRI
CITY SOUND
 Another
Christmas Season has come and gone...and before
we had a chance to catch our collective breath,
we prepared for and completed our second annual
Singing Valentine program. We then provided St.
Patrick's Day entertainment for the Santa Maria
Knights of Columbus fundraiser for Catholic Charities.
All this while preppin' for competition. Speaking
of which, our chorus is grateful for the coaching
support we have received from Dani Avalos-Prigge.
In addition to working with all of us, she provided
an evening of individual section coaching for
our leads. Diane McGrath, a knowlegeable and
skillful bass also with CENTRAL COAST
CELEBRATION CHORUS, gave our bass section a wonderful afternoon
of coaching. Many thanks to these generous women
for their support. Our chorus, with 20 singers
on the competition risers, is comprised of 10
first- timers to the competition stage! TRI
CITY SOUND wishes our 10 new singers and all competitors
a happy and successful weekend. Last but certainly
not least, we welcome our newest member, Karolyn
Addington.
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VERDUGO
HILLS
www.verdugoshowtimechorus.org
 Hey,
these cowgirls ain't sittin' ‘round
chewing milkweeds. So, let's start with
this... CONGRATULATIONS, Gerry Papageorge,
baritone of the 2006 International Sixth Place
Quartet, XTREME!
And a Yee Haw! goes to our double quartet, RUSHIN' IT.
Those 2nd place regional winners included Melinda
Dean, Susan Huntzinger, Patti Loitz, Gerry Papageorge,
Sue Peacock, Donna Puglisi, Carol Stromsoe, and Jeannie
Vercillo.
And we haven't been spendin' time cuttin' down
Christmas trees! Naw, we were too busy with holiday
performances which included the American Legion
in Pacific Palisades, the Castaways Restaurant,
Holiday singing cards, and of course, our Holiday
Show which included guests Rita Almaguer,
Barbara Brunasso, Maryann Brunasso, Denise Delgado,
Anh
Lottman, Sally Marston, Elwia Miro, Pam Risinger,
Sunshine Marie Smith, Susan Smith and a children's
choir under the direction of Jackie Palmquist.
And writin'? The Pitch Pipe recently published
articles by Jo Shannon, "Learning Tapes",
and by Carolyn Westelaken, "A Cappella
Scholarship Festival."
Cowgirl Mary Dakan has been arm-wrestling us
for our autobiographies. Seems she's in
the habit of takin' those sheriff files
and posting them in our newsletter during our
birthday month. Good thing she's not askin' fer
a reward!
The latest new cowgirls to join us in our bunkhouse
are Deidre Cardello, Catherine Peters,
Sunshine Marie Smith and Susan
Smith.
A special day in January was spent with coach,
Lynne Smith, whose
main focus was on character development... so
from now until contest,
please refer to this cowgirl as "Ms. Kitty"! – Jo
Shannon
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VOICES
UNLIMITED
 Life
in VOICES UNLIMITED is more exciting than ever!
We've had a whirlwind of coaches through these
past few months. Jim Arns made us dizzy with
his high-energy coaching session and we enjoyed
quite a few climactic moments with Carole
Kirkpatrick. Beth Smith got our chords a ringin' and
Renee Porzel... well
what can we say about Renee? She got us dancing
like there's
no tomorrow, and lovin' every minute of
it!
In December we shared a beautiful Christmas show
with our local BHS chapter, the GOLD
NOTE CHORUS.
We were proud to perform the National Anthem,
dressed in pink for a special 'Breast Cancer
Awareness Night' for the Fresno Falcons Hockey
game. On February 14, VOICES once again joined
with the GOLD NOTE CHORUS and our sister chorus,
CALIFORNIA HEARTLAND, as we spread harmony throughout
the community with Singing Valentines.
Over the past year we've welcomed two new members
to our risers, Sylvia Baggs and Amy
Hernandez.
Both ladies are seasoned barbershoppers and their
experience and love for singing have been a wonderful
addition to our chorus. Sadly, VOICES lost a
dear friend, Judy Saye, in 2006, but Judy's spirit
and the joy she had for this hobby will be with
us this weekend and forevermore.
VOICES has a busy coaching schedule ahead as
we gear up to represent Region 11 in San Antonio
in July and we can't wait! All our best to everyone
competing this weekend, especially our very own
TAYLOR MADE!
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