As a member of the SLHC we had the distinct privilege of winning the 2009 Harmony Achievement Award in Honolulu, Hawaii. This award is for chorus competing at the international level with under 70 members on stage. Out of all the choruses, SLHC has the distinction of now being the best small chorus in the entire Sweet Adeline Community.
We asked our members what a privilege like this meant to them… their responses follow.
Carol McFadden
To win the Harmony Achievement Award was a special thrill to me as it was the first medal ever given for the award. I will wear it proudly as a member of SLHC and especially to our regional contest in April 2009. Our region consists mostly of choruses that would definitely be eligible for such an honor and reward for their very hard work. It impacts why all the rehearsals, coaching sessions and educational events we have at our fingertips are so important and worth going the extra mile.
Sharon McCarron
“…you sit there watching all these fantastic choruses with 100+ voices move on and off stage and you listen with awe, then you start to wonder—even with great sound, how can we compete with that dynamic? It was extremely rewarding to be recognized for what we can do a small chorus. I think the recognition has to give other smaller choruses a huge incentive to keep working hard!”
Debbie Rimmel
My time with St. Louis Harmony Chorus has been the best time of my life. Winning the Harmonize Achievement Award in Hawaii was the icing on the cake. My very first time on any stage was in Indanapolis 2004 when we won the first Harmonize Achievement Award. I did not realize what it truly meant until this past November. We actually won first place in the world as a small chorus, not just one time, but twice and I was part of it both times. I know now no one ever in the world has had this honor before. I feel so blessed to have so many women as friends who also enjoy my passion. This award and all my friends has given me a new out look of what life is all about.
Norma Owen
In an International contest for medals, the Harmony Achievement Award and medal for choruses of under 70 members, provides an opportunity for small choruses, who cannot hope to compete against large choruses, to be recognized. As Regional Contests now provide medals for small, medium and large choruses, it should follow that the same recognition is provided at International Competition. The first time we won this award we received a ribbon. This time when I got a MEDAL, I felt as if I won first place in my category!
Roseann Haven
The first chapter I joined had 26 members on stage at Regional Competition and we took 4th place that year. I was disappointed that we didn’t win and was not too impressed with a 4th place finish until they explained that only a year before they had been on probation and almost lost the charter! So my point is, it is all about your perspective. I was thrilled to be on stage in Hawaii and ecstatic to have our name called from the International podium as the winner of this award. We sang better than ever and showed the audience that 70 people can give an exciting, vibrant, entertaining performance. It my first international medal and I intend to get a few more, so look out!
Becky McDuffee
The Harmony Achievement Award is the very first medal I have ever earned, in 29 years of being a Sweet Adeline. When the topic of sleeping in the medal came up, it was a no-brainer. I told my roommates: “If I strangle myself with it in my sleep, tell my family I died happy.”
Shirley Roth
For 1872 Tuesday’s I have thought about earning an International medal.
When SLHC won the Harmony Achievement Award the first time, our ribbon found
a home on my notice board in my kitchen. It is still there. Since 2008 in Hawaii, it has
been joined by my 2007 Regional first place medal and the 2008 Harmony Achievement
Award Medal. I wear it often, along with my other members, proudly, and when I reach home, it goes right back on the board where I can see it daily, and tell the story of it to friends and family. There is another gold pin on the board, waiting for the next medal won on International stage. What does this Award mean to me? To now dream the possible dream.
Kelly Jurotich
2 days before I was due in Hawaii, my grandpa passed. It was a hard and tragic thing for me to attend his wake, and have the entire family tell me that I should still get on a plane to Hawaii, because Grandpa would want me to go. They knew his support for the chorus, they knew how much he loved to hear us sing. He would “oh and ah,” and try to add his own part to our chorus singing, and was a huge fan of the “pipes us gals have.” The harmony achievement award medal performance was won for only hours after I finally arrived in Hawaii. Red-eyed and weary and sad, I woke up that morning with one goal, to say good-bye to my grandpa the best way I could, and give the performance of my life… When I stepped out on that stage, it was for my grandpa, and when I surprisingly had a purple medal, that i didnt even know was possible, put around my neck, it was further proof that something special had happened on that stage. It wasn’t just a personal achievement for me to give a performance that made me feel so satisfied with, but it was a realization that there was so much more that I could give. It was so much to give it all up for my grandpa, but it would be so much more if all of this was just the start of something amazing… and so far, it has challenged me to be more, to be better, to raise the bar, and to dedicate every note to achieving a performance worthy of my grandpa’s approval. That is a true harmony achievement- the recognition of the individual effort each of us put forth to make it the most memorable performance possible.
Marsha Pierce
To be recognized for you hard work and diligence as a chorus was a thrill beyond compare. The synergy in the St. Louis Harmony chorus and the drive for excellence is the reason we were honored with the chance to compete at the international level in Hawaii. To win the Harmony Achievement Award was just the icing on the cake and we were delighted with the recognition and well wishes from hundreds of our sisters in harmony.
Twilla Duvall
My home chapter is a Division A chapter and without the dual membership option, I would not have had the opportunity to be on the International stage. Singing with a “big chorus” and absorbing the coaching and learning that accompanies an international competition has been indescribable.
Sometimes it was a struggle to get home at 1:00 AM and then be up at 5:30 for work, but it was worth it when we heard St. Louis Harmony announced as the winner of the Harmony Achievement Award. MY FIRST INTERNATIONAL MEDAL!!! I wear it with pride and honor. Plus I rekindled some old friendships and found new acquaintances. I can’t wait to hug my riser buddies again. This is an experience that I will cherish for a long time.
Thank you St. Louis Harmony for the wonderful ride!
Dixie Dahlke
Exciting! What a thrill! Even though, due to distance and expense, we left several members home, we achieved a difficult goal and I’m very proud of my medal — and my (new) chorus!
Joyce Greiner
Standing by the ocean in Hawaii singing The National Anthem, holding my first place medal ” just like at the Olympics” that is what my medal meant to me.
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