Well, the Valentine cards for the chorus were finished in time and I must say that they were a rousing success!

Everyone was just thrilled with the fact that I had made them for everyone and that they had a heart music pin to wear. Every single chorus member came over to thank me for my thoughtfulness and left wearing their pin.

I have to say I do enjoy having the ability to do something like this that makes people happy. It’s not terribly expensive, it just takes a bit of time, and it brings such smiles.

The rehearsal itself was also quite successful.

I haven’t really written much about the chorus lately, but we have gone through a very very bad time. There was a huge rift back in October when the director announced she didn’t want to direct anymore and that the management team thought that we should merge with another chorus.

Many of us were just appalled. We knew that there were huge problems and many many unhappy members, but we didn’t think it was up to the management team to decide that we should lose our identity and just give up. This chorus has been in existence for over fifty years – and some of the founding members are still with us.

The chorus that they wanted us to merge with was thirty miles away and involved driving on Rte 128 – which is a notorious Boston nightmare. There was another chorus that was closer to us – but in the other direction – that should also have been brought into consideration, but that management team didn’t like that chorus so they didn’t want to go there.

Some of us were downright furious. What right did they have to assume that we would just pack up and go somewhere else?

As it turned out, the other choruses didn’t want to merge – it’s a complicated process – but would welcome anyone who wanted to audition and join.

So there was one group that went to one chorus, and another group that went to the other, leaving about 25 of us who stayed to see if we could regroup and go through (yet another) director search.

The one thing that is happening is that we are bonding as friends again. This was something that had really fallen apart, so it’s nice to be getting it back together.

Tonight was a guest night and we had about 15 people attended, and several of them have indicated that they will be coming back. Our goal is to boost our membership to at least thirty (I’d like to get even more – a group of fifty would be swell). If we can have just a few more singers join us, it would be such a boost.

But it was a fun night. There was a nice balance of performing for the guests and including the guests into the various songs and choreography that we wanted to teach them.

We also allowed time for socializing and schmoozing, and had a nice spread of food as well.

I do hope these women return. It would be so nice to boost our membership quickly and let those who left us know that we can get along without them quite nicely. Thankyouverymuch. They thought we’d fold without them. Instead everyone has stepped up to the plate and has taken on a job or two to keep us going.

Now if we can find a permanent director I think that it will work.

We will survive.