St. Joan of Arc Choir Party ...a Celebration of Life and Music Friday, May 18th

It is an occasion that we always look forward to - The Year-End Choir Party. As a St. Joan choir member it is not to be missed. Friday evening, May 18th, was weather-perfect as we arrived at Charlie and Irving Bloss’(right) lovely home and lawn in south Minneapolis. Each guest carried a contribution to the picnic spread. And - what a spread it was. What is now a traditional choir picnic appetizer eagerly sought after is Roger Dick and Ann Garvey’s concocted “Timpano” an Italian mixture of noodles, meat and other goodies shaped in the form of a drum as the name appropriately implies.

Plate after plate of delicious side dishes, drinks and desserts arrived. Charlie heated up the grill and the smell of brats and burgers filled the air.

With my roving fictitious microphone in hand, I moved through the growing crowd to ask which of the choir participated events they deemed as their favorite this past year. At first, the dominant favorite was singing with Robert Robinson, but as they began to think more about it, they stated it wasn’t just singing with Robert, but the whole Palm Sunday event that was the clear favorite.

As the evening progressed, however, the question now becoming small group discussions, the favorite events began to expand: “I liked singing at the Basilica for the Confirmation” and “ I was really moved by Neil Hagberg’s poetry reading and our singing “Anthem”. The Lenten prayer service was mentioned when John Bell’s Celtic songs were featured. “I remember how “Total Praise” always affects me” and “how can we forget “Down To The River To Pray” were some of the comments heard. The final consensus was that Anna Vagle, our talented director, makes fine repertoire choices and using her magical way of teaching us the meaning of the music seems to result in a cohesive and likeable body of work no matter what we are singing.

Our attention was delightfully diverted to our surprise guest musician, Mr. Jim ten Bensel and his golden trumpet. Jim, accompanied by Joe Chouinard, played some lively tunes for us that resulted in our singing along to the ever favorite, “When The Saint’s Go Marching In”. Some of the picnickers moved into the inviting candle-lit gazebo to discuss other matters and eat the dessert laid out there. Some danced to the magical live music. Cy Speltz showed the younger members what dancin’ is all about! Way to go, Cy!

Following tradition, it was now “award time”. An award for the person coming the farthest distance” was presented to Julie Ditzler who lives in Shakopee and works near Rochester. Roger Dick accepted his “helpful with foreign languages” award by speaking in tongues, we think. Harriet Horner received the coveted, “keeper of the choir stoles award”. Engaged and nearing their wedding date, Loren and Louise received an apropos “sweetest couple” award. No long acceptance speeches were allowed.

Having eaten our fill and after singing renditions of “Down to the River to Pray” and “Total Praise” for the neighbors, we moved inside the house to escape the mosquitoes, bringing Joe and his keyboard with us, where the music continued until we couldn’t think of any more songs.

Then, it was over. It is always a good party when nobody seems to want to leave. I am not sure whether it was because the choir party was over or was it that we didn’t want to leave because the choir “year” was over.

There is a deep and powerful bond between these exceptional people who faithfully attend rehearsals every Thursday night for eight months of the year no matter what is going on in their lives. It could be called a “large based Christian community of another kind”. One new member said that if she hadn’t been encouraged to join the choir she would still have a deeply rooted fear of public singing and would have missed an incredible musical experience.

There are many beautiful stories I could relate about the individual choir members and overall concern for each other and how we pray and help each other, but the thread of the love of the sung music is the most beautiful story of all. For it is in this collaboration that we as imperfect singers progress from individuals to a “oneness” of voice for the purpose of reaching the listener so the voice of God is heard.

Joann Potts is a retired music and English teacher and 30 year member of St. Joans. She enjoys working with Anna Vagle each week. She is "in charge" of doing those slides you see at church each Sunday and for preparing the music sheets for the musicians. JoAnn and her husband Jim will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in 2001 and are proud of their family of five children and eight grandchildren. Her hobbies include singing, playing her digital piano, writing her memoirs, reading, writing poetry, entertaining friends, visiting the North Shore and ballroom dancing with Jim.

When we sing together, it is as though the music, along with the message, is coming from someplace else, and we too can hear God’s voice speaking to us. There is nothing in the world like this. It is no a wonder that the “Heavenly Choirs” are mentioned so often in scripture. Then, there is that famous quote, “to sing is to pray twice”. We have found this to be emphatically so.

Photos were taken by choir and webteam member Peg LaSota. Peg wrote her own final impressions of the choir scene below.

The end of the year choir picnic is always a fired up "hee haw" event that puts the icing on the "What's so GREAT about being in the choir"!!! This is one HARMONIOUS family who came together to celebrate just that. JoAnn's story tells about the thread and common bond we feel. It's a confirmation for the care we have for one another.

Here, also, is a little more on the action going on behind the scene in the choir year:

We do have a collage of stories that accumulate during the year. An easy guess is each of us has a story to share. They are countless.....too many to write about so to share in them, one must attend and join in the group. Each Thursday evening we come together to give our "all" through singing. There's such "fabulous" fun in it . It is little effort on our part and we come away totally gratified.

The chitchat exchanges just walking in the door and signing in are enough to take up the entire night. "So many members and too little time" makes getting to know each other a trick. Half the time you have to force yourself to get to know the other vocal sections. At the beginning of each year we reintroduce ourselves like long lost relatives. It helps clear the cobwebs from summer. Some are regulars year after year, some skip a year or two, and some are biannual.

There are the regular yearlong volunteers taking care of announcements and some who trial and error us to death with "Choir Music Control Policies" still in their beta format....the jury is out. (We still love him though). We have a baby member who puts up with our cooing over her and our passing her amongst us behavior. We have regular mischief members and yes, plenty of the serious minded to pull us back in. Whatever it takes.

New members are asked to identify themselves and their "bio" highlights. We try to go easy on them. It's your best chance at the "fifteen minute fame" thing. Every year the numbers keep growing.

The garden variety of people is phenomenal. What delight in the resources we can pull from. We have flutist, violinists, linguistics, translators, genius pianists, and a radiant Director !!! This group clicks pretty smoothly. We tap into backgrounds, create stellar performances and develop quirk like characteristics as a "whole". Good intentions from this choir bonds them together.

Peg LaSota is interested in the biographies of parishioners... any suggestions?? She also loves studying piano, recorder, Spanish, and of course...singing in the choir!

We have developed friendships and camaraderie, a quality taste in significant music, a greater desire to participate in the seasonal celebrations, and a deepened dedication to Anna and her commitment. This unison of voices signifies strengths, compassions, and hopes. It is a collage of absolute POSITIVE energy. Even though final count is at 1000, we welcome you all !!! (Absolutely No prerequisite required)

The choir will re-gather and make music plans for next year on Thursday, September 20. For any information during the summer call Anna at 612.823.8205 ext. 235.