Tonight the Ladybirds met at Bob Evans to carpool to the Heartlands of Keyser. This is a nursing home at which the singers have performed on several occasions before, but it was the first time for some of the newer members of the Ladybirds.

The Ladybirds meet at the Heartlands

The group arrived on schedule and met in one of the sitting rooms to warm up in preparation for their performance. Two very important announcements of good news were made…

First, the Allegany Arts Council contacted Shirley Chisholm after their meeting on July 11 to report that they had voted in favor of donating the Ladybirds Barbershop Harmony Singers a grant to help defray the expenses of their show, A Night at the Music Box! What wonderful news! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Allegany Arts Council!

Second, Karen Emerick reported that Victor Holler, Marketing Director of Super Shoes, has finished the printing of the tickets and posters for the show, too! She brought the finished print jobs to Ellie Batchelor at the gig tonight at Heartlands Nursing Home. Ellie suggested holding the materials until Karen can show them to the chorus at the rehearsal next Thursday (July 20). Ken Batchelor was most interested to see the newly printed documents as he is the person who designed and formatted them. He was very favorably impressed, saying that Victor has done a super job of printing!

A Night at the Music Box Poster
(Download PDF Version)

The Ladybirds cannot express how pleased they are with both Ken’s and Victor’s fine work and their willingness to help the Ladybirds have exactly what they need to assist them with these important preparations for the show. Thanks so much, guys! Just wait until you see the final productions, ladies! You’ll be impressed and thrilled at the expertise that has gone into producing the tickets and posters for A Night at the Music Box.

The program design is underway and is progressing as fast as information about the script, the music, the chorus, the quartets, and the ad sales come into Ken. Upon completion, this project, too, will be forwarded to Victor Holler, who will print the programs in their final form. There is no doubt about the quality of workmanship that the Ladybirds are receiving from these generous, skilled, and talented people who are helping them so very much! The Ladybirds are deeply grateful for all this wonderful help and support!

Back to a description of tonight’s gig, though — the performance began at about 7:00 p.m. with the song Hi, Neighbor. After the first number, Sandy Daughton, president, announced each song as it was presented. The audience was so happy to have the chorus sing for them. One of the personnel of the home stated that fact and said, “You will be getting another call soon. You will come back again, won’t you?” As the program continued, such selections as Daddy Sang Bass, We Sing Our Hearts Out, Country Roads, America the Beautiful, The Irish Blessing, and I’m Still Havin’ Fun were presented to rousing applause. As you can tell, the chorus enjoys putting on a program as much as the audience enjoys hearing it. It works both ways!

The Ladybirds at the Heartlands

The Ladybirds were pleased to see one of their former members who has not been with them for a couple of years now — Lorraine Avers. She lives in Keyser and came to Heartlands to hear the show; later she and the chorus adjourned to the local Denny’s for refreshment and socializing.

The chorus left Denny’s and returned to the parking lot at Bob Evans, having once again fulfilled their mission statement, “to share music with others and to have fun doing so.”