Dear Sweet Adeline,

Welcome to your January 2007 issue of the SING eZine! And HAPPY NEW YEAR!

We have a lot to read in this issue. Happy reading, and please feel free to write me at: jane@sweetadelineintl.org.   

Have a great month!

 Communications Department
 Kelly Kirchhoff, Jane Hanson, Joey Stenner, Sherree Murray and Ruby Loftin

SING: "To utter musical sounds with the voice."

eZine: "An electronic magazine."


Curves and Sweet Adelines
I was pleased to read in the December SING eZine about he Curves promotion.

Three of our chorus members, Ann, Marion and myself, from Nelson Bays Harmony Chorus, NZ, work out at Curves three times a week and we have already shown them the article published in The Pitch Pipe. They have placed it on their notice board and are keen to discuss the promotion further with us when the information comes through.

We will definitely be looking out for it.

Inga Cotton
Nelson Bays Harmony Chorus
Region 35
New Zealand

Busy Christmas
River Valley Chorus is still going strong, after signing Joe Millett as our director for the coming year and we are very excited. We have had a few prospective members and one did join, so we are hoping the others will too.

We were very busy with Christmas performances and learning the way our new director is interpreting our songs and learning how he directs. We are into our 41st year as a chorus, and things are looking up for us!  

Diane Ziobrowski
River Valley Chorus
Region 16, New York
 
 

Editor’s note: Letters have been edited for grammar and length. We cannot ensure publication of all letters. Thank you to everyone who writes in to us!

Listen to Your Body - It’s Talking to You!
By Cammi MacKinlay
Vice President, Worldwide Liaison, Editorial Review Board, Chair IES 2009
Lions Gate Chorus, Vancouver Canada

I have always prided myself on being in tune with my body and any physical changes, and have been very diligent about getting things checked if something didn’t seem quite right. So it was quite a shock to discover that some gastric difficulties I was having last spring were due to ovarian cancer and not due to something I had been eating!

Ovarian cancer has been nicknamed the "silent whisperer" because the symptoms are quite vague and don't necessarily point to a gynecological source. I had all the classic symptoms, such as gassiness, weight gain, bladder changes, bowel changes, bloatedness, clothes not fitting at the waist, etc. Had I known what the symptoms of this cancer were, I might have asked for an ultrasound much sooner.

After a complete hysterectomy in August, which fortunately showed no evidence of the cancer having spread to the lymph nodes or other organs, I am now undergoing six treatments of chemotherapy to make sure none of those nasty little cells are looking for somewhere else to find a home! I have not given up any of my Sweet Adelines commitments, but have taken a medical leave of absence from work until the treatments are done.

Why am I telling you about something so personal? Because I want you all to be aware of the symptoms so that this cancer can be caught early enough for treatment. The reality is that 80% of the women who are diagnosed with ovarian cancer are already at Stage Three. So please, if you or someone you know is complaining of gastric changes or difficulties that have persisted for three weeks or more, insist on a gynecological examination as well. 

Let's stop this disease from whispering! Know your body and be persistent. Don't let your doctor tell you it's just a stomach flu if you think there's more to it than that. You may be right!

Cammi MacKinlay
 

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Editor's note

When submitting an article, letter, or comment please try to follow these guidelines:

1-One space only after a period, before a new sentence.

2- No hard returns at the end of lines, just keep typing.

3-Avoid very long sentences (separate into two sentences where possible).

4-Try to keep paragraphs under eight lines.

5-Use your spell-checker.

6-Keep it under 500 words.

Many thanks!

Our Busy Lives
By Sandra McNames
Hi-Plains Harmony Chorus, Region 8, Kansas

Here on the High Plains of Western Kansas, we are busily organizing and helping with fund-raisers, going to regular practices and extra ones, quartet practices, and preparing for our show, Shee Haw, which we are very excited about.

In a small chorus we all have to wear many hats to get the jobs done. We are also very busy with daily work schedules and family obligations.

I think I speak for all Sweet Adelines the world over when I say:

It’s Tuesday night, I’m in a rush,
No time to tinker, no time to fuss.
No time to cook an evening meal,
No time to let my sore feet heal

Pick up the toys, put dishes on hold.
No time to dry the clothes, or fold,
No time to garden or write a check,
Company’s coming, the house is a wreck.

Tell Hubby “Bye” as I run, ‘cause I’m late,
“Please have the children in bed by eight.”
While on the highway, I’ll practice my song,
Brush up on the words that I always get wrong.

Now I’ve arrived and I take my stuff in.
“It’s so good to see you! How have you been?”
We greet one another and share all our joys,
And laugh and chatter and makes lots of noise.

The leader is telling us it’s time to start,
So we warm up our voices and sing from the heart.
The longer we sing, the better I feel
And I start to wonder if music can heal?

By the time we are finished, our song’s harmonized,
I’m no longer tired. I feel energized.
The singing of harmony heals like a balm,
Brings good friends together, brings on a calm.

My soul is now fed, I forget all my woes,
My horrific day is now calm at its close.
As I drive home now, still singing my part,
I’m glad that I came. It has lifted my heart.

WE ARE FAM-I-L-Y!
By Barbara Moore
Oklahoma Jubilee Chorus, Region 25, Tulsa OK

Sweet Adelines around the world are a FAMILY! Don’t we know wherever we go we can connect with a Sweet Adelines Chorus and be AT HOME? And Sweet Adelines within regions and states are also family, as proven by two choruses in bordering regions – i.e. Regions 7 and 25.

Oklahoma Jubilee Chorus, Region 25, and Sound of the Heartland Chorus, Region 7, joined forces to harmonize the states in two joint Holiday Shows.

It started when a chorus member from Region 7 was transplanted to Region 25 due to her husband’s new job in Tulsa. This member was leaving her first chorus (and we all know how painful that is!) as well as her Region 7 championship quartet ZING!

There’s almost no separating a regional championship quartet so the three-and-a-half hour drive between Kansas and Tulsa became commonplace for ZING! At the same time, this transplanted member joined Oklahoma Jubilee Chorus in Tulsa, and thus began a friendship with ZING and her previous chorus, Sound of the Heartland, in Newton, Kansas. It was an instant “mutual admiration society!”

The “merger” began when ZING! sang for some of the Oklahoma Jubilee shows, and the two choruses supported each other’s respective shows and regional weekends. Our directors felt an immediate “kinship” and a genuine friendship developed.

So a plan emerged: We would do a joint show – in both cities!

The shows were planned with the choruses sharing and learning each other’s music to sing jointly as well as separate songs. The choruses got together at a “middle ground” to rehearse together only once, and the outcome was two fabulous holiday performances – a week apart – one in Kansas and one in Oklahoma.

The shows were so successful that this might just become a habit!

Now that’s family! Harmonize the world!

 

A special video message about the exciting launch of the
Curves-Sweet Adelines Harmonize Your Way To A Healthier You! Contest!

Click here, or go to: www.sweetadelineintl.org/videomessagejan07.cfm to watch.

Harmonize Your Way to a Healthier You!*

Curves is teaming up with Sweet Adelines International to offer you a promotional contest that could change your life, as well as your waistline. The Harmonize Your Way to a Healthier You!* contest is sure to make you a winner!

Get together with a group of Sweet Adelines friends, join Curves between January 2 and 19, 2007, without paying the regular service fee, lose weight and win, win, win. See your face on the front cover of The Pitch Pipe! And read your success article inside. Fame at last!

Fabulous Prizes To Be Won!

  • One-Year Membership at Curves
  • Pitch Pipe Cover Picture
  • Feature story and photographs inside Pitch Pipe
  • Winner’s Certificate and Frame

*See contest rules for details. Go to: www.sweetadelineintl.org/curves.cfm. 

If you wish to join a Curves franchise and not take part in the contest, and still take advantage of the special offer, just join Curves before March 31, 2007, and show your Sweet Adelines International membership card to qualify.

 

Curves Contest

If you are interested in taking part in the Curves contest, Harmonize Your Way to a Healthier You, make sure you have a current membership card with Sweet Adelines. Your membership card proves you are a member of Sweet Adelines and entitles you to the special offer at Curves.

To obtain a new membership card, please e-mail Connie Heyer, Membership Registrar, at: connie@sweetadelineintl.org.  

Get Caught in the Stampede of Competition
61st Annual Convention and Competition
 Calgary, Alberta, Canada
October 9-13, 2007

Register Now to Take Advantage of Early Bird Discounts

Experience Calgary, Heart of the New West™, as the gateway to unbelievable adventure.

If you can visualize heart-pounding chorus competitions, the rush and excitement of the quartet competitions, the education classes, shopping in Harmony Bazaar, seeing old friends and making new ones, then you are ready to join the fun in Calgary.

Calgary is an attractive and dynamic city situated on the banks of the Bow River and close to Alberta's majestic Rocky Mountains. The Calgary Stampede is undoubtedly Calgary's best-known visitor attraction. This event, featuring a large parade and world-class rodeo, draws more than a million people each year.

See what Calgary has to offer and attend the first convention outside the U.S. since 1977 and only the second Sweet Adelines International Convention and Competition in Canada.

Visit www.sweetadelineintl.org or call 800.992.7464 or 918.622.1444 for more information.

IES Videos on Web Site

 
Check out the audio visual recordings from IES 2006 on Sweet Adelines International's Web site at www.sweetadelineintl.org/recordings.cfm. 
 
 
What if Sweet Adelines International earned a penny every time you
searched the Internet?  Well, now we can!

GoodSearch.com is a new search engine that donates half its revenue to the charities its users designate. You use it just as you would any search engine, and it’s powered by Yahoo!, so you get great results. Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to select Sweet Adelines International Headquarters (Tulsa, OK) as the charity you want to support. Just 500 of us searching four times a day will raise about $7300 in a year without anyone spending a dime!  And, be sure to check out GoodSearch on December 6 as we are going to be featured as the Charity of the Day!

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Many Thanks!
Check Out the Champion

The official newsletter for the Young Singers Foundation, The Champion, is on the Web site and ready for you to enjoy. Just click here.

 
The Sweet Adelines' MySpace

Check out the new Sweet Adelines’ MySpace page at: www.myspace.com/sweetadelines.  This page is a resource tool and intended to be informational for women interested in singing. We hope to make many new friends and inspire many new people to try barbershop on MySpace. Be sure to spread the word and let your friends know to check us out.

 
E-mail Signatures

As we all know, networking is a powerful way of spreading the message of membership in Sweet Adelines International.

It is amazing how e-mail messages spread – they could end up in the inbox of thousands of people you might not otherwise have contact with. So, it makes sense to do as so many members already do – add a permanent signature to all your e-mail messages promoting Sweet Adelines. Announce to the world that you are a proud member and how much you enjoy it – you never know who might read the message!
 

E-mailing headquarters?

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SING eZine. If there is no descriptive Subject Line, your e-mail may be inadvertently deleted. Thanks.

SWEET ADELINES INTERNATIONAL
PO Box 470168 - Tulsa OK 74147-0168
Tel: 918.622.1444 - 800.992.7464
E-mail: jane@sweetadelineintl.org
www.sweetadelineintl.org 

Gentlemen interested in barbershop harmony can contact
The Barbershop Harmony Society  
800.876.SING
www.spebsqsa.org