By Faigy Grzeda
In 2018, I retired and was excited to spend my first winter getaway at CVE as a snowbird from
Canada. I was someone who had been singing a Capella for 20 years, first in a choir and then in
an octet called the Burton Street Singers, and I was desperate to find a choir to join while in
Florida. That’s when I discovered the CVE Choraleers, which has actually been around since the
1970s! After dropping by to observe a session, I decided to join.
I met so many great people in the choir. The Director of my former choir in Montreal often said
that although she had worked with many professional choirs, she found that amateur choristers
bring so much “heart” to their singing, and this was definitely true at my new CVE choir.
The Choraleers President at that time had decided to step down and before I knew it, I had
agreed to take on the co-presidency, along with another member.
At the season’s end, I was proud to sing in our annual show where we don our elegant black
and white performance clothes and offer the fruits of our months of hard work to friends,
family and other lovers of amateur choirs.
In my time as co-president of the choir, we hit an unprecedented stumbling block – the COVID
pandemic. Choirs were front and center as one of the riskiest activities for spreading the virus,
and sure enough, in 2021 we ground to a halt. A small group of us continued to meet via Zoom
where we could not effectively sing together but we could keep up our social connection and
keep the flickering flame of the Choraleers lit.
The following winter of 2022, many of us returned to CVE and arranged to meet informally in
the Gazebo to rehearse some simple new songs which we directed on our own. The result was
that we managed to keep singing, engage with some members, and have a great potluck picnic
at the end of March.
This past summer, a core group of members continued to meet over Zoom to brainstorm what
the 2022/23 season might look like. We determined that many of our members would be
returning but the best surprise was that our director Linc Lackey and our pianist Billy
MacCumber were happy to lead us again.
If you are someone who loves to sing, please consider joining us. We welcome you to drop by
to observe a rehearsal. You can find us most Wednesdays from 10:00 a.m. until noon in the GPA room (We have a few rehearsals at Le Club - check with the Recreation Office for the
schedule).
Our annual show will be held on Thursday, March 9, 2020. We are planning a “potpourri” of
musical offerings from the choir as well as soloists and small ensembles. For more information,
please call Judy at 954-354-7054 or send us an email anytime at: cvechoraleers@gmail.com.