Page 18 - Fall 2017 Tags and Swipes Newsletter

Tags and Swipes, Fall 2017

Farmington Valley Chorus

Though Farmington Valley is laser focused on International right now, we have woven a lot of fun in.

Vivacious and vibrant Betty Ciriello celebrated her 40th year with Sweet Adelines in July. Betty and her
trusty sidekick, Pat Coffey (who has been a Sweet Adeline for 50 years this year), drive almost an hour
every week to rehearsal and are up on those risers shakin’ their booties and out-singing and out-
showmanshipping even those half their age. Both are coming to Vegas with us –Livin’ the Vida Loca!

Exemplary Captains were appointed this summer to watch over sections of the chorus and help us navigate
through our new choreography, determining if it was good enough to cruise through or to be thrown
overboard. Captain Hook, the Skipper, Captain Jack and O-Captain-
My-Captain ( Sharon, Louise, Cathy and Laura) did a fabulous job
making sure there was smooth sailing through the summer.

Goofballs galore! Who knew that Cheryl could not only cook up a
great ringing chord, but was a beast at the grill- cooking up burgers
and dogs for us all. We had our first FVC BBS BBQ at Cheryl’s house
on the lake. Playing games like “Ring Them Bells” and “Cool
(uh…freezing) Costume” and a totally inappropriate game using toilet
paper and plungers reminded us how wonderfully goofy we are. Some
of us even ventured out on the lake in a deflating five man float,
singing tags and going in circles because the two oarsmen couldn’t get
their rowing choreography in sync. A really fun time with just us
FVC-ers goofing off. We’re hoping it will become an annual event.

Awesome members -we all have them- you know, they’re the ones who do so much for your chorus but most
members have no idea what that awesome person does, and how sunk the chorus would be without them.
This summer FVC created the “You Are Awesome Award”. It comes with a plaque, that the recipient will
sign or engrave their name on the back and give it up after an appropriate amount of time (at the whim of the
management team who decides who the next recipient should be). Our first “You Are Awesome Award”
went to Carolyn Gresham. Carolyn is officially our Performance Manager. She seeks out performances,
coordinates and negotiates with the customers (who sometimes can be incredibly neurotic), and coordinates
with the chorus/director providing info on costumes, songs, scripts and directions.

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North Atlantic Region 1 Sweet Adelines