In This Issue

A Spicy Thought

Happenings from

TuneTown Show Chorus

Quartets Make Region 23 Proud

in Calgary!

Southern Accent Chorus

Crossroads of the South Chorus

Metro Nashville Chorus

Region 23 Calendar

Marketing Tips

Our Mission

Region 23, Sweet Adelines International, are women dedicated to the mastery and advancement or the art form of barbershop harmony through education and performance while providing opportunities for personal growth for our members.

Hot Links

www.region23.com

Visit the region’s website for pictures of our recent contest, forms and details  on upcoming events and loads of additional info about Region 23

www.sweetadelineintl.org

The official Sweet Adelines site is your one-stop shop for international event, information and sales.

Submissions

Heart to Heart is now published six times a year:

Remaining 2007:
October & December

2008:
February
April
June
August
October\
December

Send stories and photos to:

Region23H2H@aol.com

Your RMT

Communications Coordinator
Sherry Crawford
Memphis City Sound
901.826.6971
sherry.crawford@yahoo.com

Director’s Coordinator
Portia Little
Harmony Hills
205.655.4200
dc23@centurytel.net

Education Coordinator
Sue Ann Justus
Wings of Harmony
770.364.2119
sajustus@bellsouth.net

Events Coordinator
Natalie Allen
Metro Nashville
205.620.0894
nallensing@aol.com

Finance  Coordinator
Dot Hackman
Southern Accent
205.985.4867
dotmcj@aol.com

Marketing  Coordinator
Ginny Karschnik
Memphis City Sound
901.754.1514
ginnysings@peoplepc.com

Membership  Coordinator
Faith Miller
Song of Atlanta
770.607.3888
faithmille@bellsouth.net

Team  Coordinator
Robin Hanson
Smoky Mountain Harmony
865.675.9102
rchanson@tds.net

A Spicy Thought…

To our sisters of Region 23,

We just wanted to thank you for thinking of us so generously as we head north for that international competition state in Calgary! We will take your “good luck” and “best wishes” right on stage with us!

Thanks again!

Stacy, Alexis, Susan and Janet – Spice Quartet

Happenings from TuneTown Show Chorus

Submitted by Pauletta Frailey

Wow! It has been a very busy, but thrilling summer for all of us here in TTSC. We began our summer by singing before hundreds of enthusiastic new fans at a Fourth of July celebration on the campus of David Lipscomb University here in Nashville. We were privileged to open Acafest, an international festival featuring groups who specialize in a cappella music. We gained many new fans and even signed up some new recruits as a result of this performance. All in all, it was a wonderful experience which we hope to be able to repeat in the future.

Next, on July 23rd, we held our inaugural Harmony Golf Tournament at the Temple Hills Country Club in Franklin, TN. It was a perfect day as men and women golfers gathered in support of TuneTown’s quest to represent Region 23 at this year’s International chorus competition in Calgary, Canada! Participation was wonderful and we achieved our goals in both golfers and corporate sponsorships, as well as in a myriad of businesses contributing with hole sponsorships, door prizes, silent auction items and cash. Responses from those attending ranged from “I had a blast!” “Good luck in Calgary!” to “ We’ll see you next year.” We hope you singinggolfers will join us next year for this fun-filled event.

We are so very proud of Last Minute and their second place win at IES this year! We are strutting and our buttons are popping off our vests! These girls have done and continue to do a wonderful job at representing not only TuneTown, but Region 23 as well. Kudos ladies and keep up the good work!

As we prepared for Calgary and our annual show, we had the pleasure of some superb “outside” coaching in addition to our very own competent and talented Master Director, Sherry Lewis. The fruit of our labor was never more obvious than when we gathered for our summer retreat in the mountains near Chattanooga. With the help of Jim Arns, Sherry Lewis, and our fabulous music team this weekend, we kept honing our skills. During the retreat, we shared a fabulous time of fun, frolic, and feverish coaching. We aimed to make Region 23 proud in Calgary!

TTSC was able to preview our contest packages on stage with new costumes and choreography at our annual show Encore! Held on September 22nd, we sang before a large number of very enthusiastic and appreciative fans. Also performing on the show with us was Durant, the Hot Air Buffoons, Last Minute (second place IES winner), and Fiddlestix (wildcard quartet for Calgary).

We had a wonderful time in Calgary and were so pleased that we were able to represent Region 23 in international competition this October! We cannot help but express our excitement about our 13th place and all the wonderful and warm comments made about our efforts! Thank you to everyone in Region 23 for your continued support, especially during our inaugural journey to the international stage.

We love you all!

Quartets Make Region 23 Proud in Calgary!

SPICE boarded many planes to Calgary and landed in the TOP 20 best quartets in the WORLD! Thank you to our coaches, Ken Delaney, Carolyn Sexton, Debbie Connelly, Karen Breidert, Sandy Robinson Marron and Dale Syverson! Thanks to all our SOA friends, our WebCasted SPICE RACK members, Region 23 members and our Saddledome cheering section including Momma Spice and Gail O’Spice! Thank you to Becki for an hour long (at least) conversation Post-Quartet Semi-Finals regarding our performance filled with great advice...all this after HOURS of judging and many more hours to come! And an especially hearty thank you to our sisters in the TuneTown Show Chorus (who scored an amazing 13th PLACE their very first time competing on the International stage, by the way) who pulled us in, wrapped us up, fed us, showered us with gifts, made us Honorary Calgarians, invited us to their score sheet reading (which was SO totally fun!) and treated us as if we were their very own members!! YEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAA!! Oh, and a Big ‘Ol Genuine Tennessee SNIFFFFFF! Last, but not least, we're very proud to be a part of Region 23 and to be the recipients of your support that comes in many forms. Thank you SO much. Now it's time to get back to work again for next year . . . . eh? (That's Canadian for “right”!!)

Fiddlestix is still “Riding High” from our first trip to the International Competition stage in Calgary! It was such an honor to represent Region 23 as a Wild Card contestant. Words just can't express our heartfelt appreciation for all the love, support, cards, words of encouragement, special gifts and financial assistance that we received both prior to and on site. Our special thanks to our three chorus families - Harmony Hills, Song of Atlanta and TuneTown Show. What a sisterhood we share!!

Our congratulations go out to Spice and the TuneTown Show Chorus for their excellent performances. Sharing the stage with so much talent from Region 23 was awesome!!

As the “Stix” stood backstage waiting for our introduction - doing all the things that we do and feeling all the things that we feel - it was thrilling to hear the chants of Region 23 coming through to us even at the early hour. We felt the vibes and energy!! What an inspiration to go out there and do our best!

Then when we left the stage and moved down the hall, a literal “Tunnel of Love” awaited us from the TuneTown Show Chorus and all the members of Region 23. That was a real “win” in itself!

All the way from the terrific luncheon on Tuesday with TuneTown, Spice and many friends to our flight home from beautiful Canada, it was a “trip” that will live in our memories! Thank you again for everything ........... you are indeed the greatest!!

Marcy, Michelle, Portia and Sher

Southern Accent Chorus

Submitted by Ramona Kirchgessner

Southern Accent performed for the Annual National Dinner for the National Legislative and Security Association at one of their National meetings held September 21, 2007, in Montgomery, Alabama. We sang the National Anthem at the presentation of colors by the National Guard.

Also, a quartet representing Southern Accent sang the National Anthem at the celebration of the 60th Air Force Academy Anniversary held at Maxwell Air Force Base, (which was locally televised).

Crossroads of the South Chorus

Submitted by Lynda McNamee

CrossRoads Chorus has a new director! Kim Grimme took the reins from Marsha Fortune-Ray following Marsha’s retirement in August. Kim has been with CrossRoads since its start more than ten years ago. Kim, who has three children, a husband, a dog, a cat, two hamsters and a degree in music spends her “spare” time as Minister of Music for Ridgeland UMC in Ridgeland, MS. She sings lead. As usual, CrossRoads has been pretty busy lately. In addition to some recent engagements, including a performance for the Baptist Children’s Village’s annual conference, we are getting ready for Christmas. Every Saturday afternoon in December, we will be caroling in Highland Village, a unique shopping area in Jackson. We are also looking forward to our annual outing to River Oaks & Women’s hospitals. For the last several years now, we have been blessed with the opportunity to sing for the hospitals’ patients and staff during this special time of the year.

Speaking of “special times”, three CrossRoads members, Marsha Fortune-Ray, Terre Male and Lynda McNamee attended the International Convention in Calgary. Not only did they have a great time at the convention itself, they had quite an adventure getting there!

Marsha and Terre drove from Jackson, Mississippi to Las Vegas (by way of Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills of South Dakota, of course). Lynda joined them in Vegas and the trio spent the next three days camping (yes, in a tent) and exploring the canyon lands of Utah before making their way to Salt Lake City where they picked up old friend Roz Allen. Roz is a former member of CrossRoads who now lives near Sacramento, California.

The quartet of friends then headed north toward Calgary – with a slight detour through the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone – laughing and singing all the way. After the convention, they continued on together to Spokane where, after one last night in the tent and a little singing around the campfire, the reunion came to an end. Well…sort of. You see, Lynda (that’s me, by the way) had to go back to work! So did Roz BUT… she worked just long enough for Marsha and Terre to drive from Spokane to her home in California where the three of them continued to play WITHOUT ME for another WEEK!!!

But, I’m OK with that. After all, I had a wonderful time, especially as we cheered our Region 23 friends, TuneTown Show Chorus, Spice and Fiddlesticks! I’m telling you, folks…..they were terrific!! We ARE so proud of them!

Metro Nashville Chorus

Submitted by Colleen El Amri

Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun? And what fun! At Summer SINGsation MNC performed for the perfect audience—Sweet Adelines from our own region whom we know and love, who know us and “get” us. The results were magical. We performed at Miss Martha’s Ice Cream Crankin’ and in the town square of Waverly, Tennessee. It wasn’t easy to get the attention of ice cream lickers in 90+ degree weather. Nor was it encouraging to follow an Elvis Presley back up singer in a small southern town! Then, September sent TuneTown Show Chorus and quartet SPICE to Calgary where they put in amazing performances. Hearty congratulations to these sisters. Region 23 is sounding mighty good to the world out there.

Sadly, we lost both of our Bradley tenors (Esteline returned to Capitol City Chorus and Lynne moved to Georgia). But when one door closes, another opens. Two of our can-do sisters who ordinarily sing other parts took on the tenor challenge and are warbling already! We’ve added talented rookies to our risers, too. When we lose a valued singer, it seems that a new one finds us. Quartet “Runnin’ Wild” found a new baritone and our newly-founded foursome “Tessitura” has had several gigs. You’ll be hearing more from them!

MNC has had to make some big decisions this year. Since placing among the top five mid-size choruses in SAI at last spring’s Region 23 Competition and qualifying as a wild card for the 2008 International Competition in Hawaii, we had the enviable burden of deciding whether to compete at IES in San Antonio in 2008 or to pack our bags for Hawaii. The chorus overwhelmingly chose IES as the logical challenge for us in 2008. So, back to Salsa City we go, with a new package and renewed zeal for our “sport”.

We will be “Kickin’ It Up A Notch” at our annual show on November 3rd. Josh Coleman, fabulous pianist and grandson of Floyd Kramer, is included in the program. SPICE, back from a tremendous showing at International, will perform also. We are trying out our new package and adding several show-stopping tunes to the entertainment. More information can be found at our website www.metronashvillechorus.org.  We would love to sing for you!

Region 23 Calendar

Marketing Tips

Submitted by Ginny Karschnik, Marketing Coordinator

If you are about to skip this article because you “don't do the Marketing/PR for your chorus,” please don't!

The most frequent method of recruiting members is still word of mouth, and this means that all of you are members of your chapter’s marketing/membership team!

Here are some basic principles to remember when you are selling Sweet Adelines.

1. Share the love you have for the craft by letting others see your enthusiasm and passion for the barbershop style.
2. Use the words “a cappella”, “ 4-part harmony” when describing SAs rather than “I sing barbershop.” We all know that barbershop harmony is anything but old fashioned and out of date, but those who no nothing about us may have a preconceived negative idea associated with the word barbershop. Let’s get the potential member in the door to experience the thrill of ringing a chord first hand.
3. Make sure you always have up to date business cards in your purse, or in your car to share as well as some blank paper or 3x5 cards to get a name and phone number or email address so you can follow up.
4. Use “ conversation starters” - wear music themed jewelry or a button that promotes your chorus. Wear clothing with the SAI logo or chorus logo. Put a picture of your chorus or quartet on your luggage tags. Make the SAI web site your home page and download the SAI screensaver as well.

I would love to hear about the ways you share the word about SweetAdelines. Please share your ideas with me so I can pass them along to all our members.

Looking for a Back Issue?

Old issues of H2H from 2003-2007 are available on the Region 23 website, and the e-newsletter will be posted there are well.

Deadline for Next Issue:

December 15, 2007

Send news and photos for publication to:

Kay Crouch, Editor
Region23H2H@aol.com

or

kcrouch@vanguardhealth.com