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Battlefords Blend Celebrate 35 Years!

Submitted Thirty-five years ago, after a couple of years of hard work and improved singing, Battlefords Blend earned their charter as a member of Sweet Adelines International.
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Submitted

Thirty-five years ago, after a couple of years of hard work and improved singing, Battlefords Blend earned their charter as a member of Sweet Adelines International.

In 1979 Jean Seeback and Karen Nyholt got together and encouraged women to join them to sing in barbershop style. Jean had been singing with a Sweet Adelines group in British Columbia for a number of years. When their family moved to North Battleford, she missed her music and decided to try to start a group here.

With Karen on board she started organizing things in 1979. That fall they invited someone from Sweet Adelines International to audition the group. They didn’t make the grade that first time, so they tried again.

Finally, in 1981, they had a group of more than 20 women together that produced the quality barbershop sound that met the standard set by Sweet Adelines International. That sound consists of four part harmony, tenors, leads, baritones and basses who sing together without the need of accompaniment.

One of the qualifications for being a member of Sweet Adelines is that the chorus has to compete in a regional competition at least once every three years. In 1984, Battlefords Blend went to their first competition.

At that point, with 29 members, they were classed as a small chorus. Not a surprise when some of the larger choruses have hundreds of members!

The surprise came when the MC announced the winner of the small chorus category -- “Battlefords Blend!” It was Jean Seeback as director and Alice Henderson as president, who floated up to the stage to accept the award.

Of course this didn’t mean that Battlefords Blend was the best small chorus in the region as many of the small choruses with more experience did not travel from BC or Alberta to compete that particular year. That didn’t lower the excitement or the feeling of accomplishment for any of the members who competed that year.

Oh, by the way, Alice Henderson is still a member of Battlefords Blend. She was there once the chorus received their charter and has remained through all the changes in the group.

For example, there have been several directors: Jean Seeback, Linda Hebert, Grace Waldner, the partnership of Marie Fergusson and Annette Duhaime, then Annette alone. Now Jo Carter directs a group of about 20 women.

Through the years the numbers have varied, but there are usually about 20 to 25 women in the group. The other thing that has changed is the type of music that they sing.

At one time there was an expectation that Sweet Adelines would sing particular songs that were written in the Barbershop style. Now other songs are being arranged in the Barbershop style. This makes a much wider choice of music from which they can choose.

Along with those expected to be sung, Battlefords Blends now sings songs such as Miley Cirus’s The Climb, Sir Elton John’s collaboration with Tim Rice, Can You Feel the Love Tonight or Gordon Lightfoot’s Song for a Winter’s Night. Even songs like Beautiful from the recent musical Glee.

Although there have been many changes, Battlefords Blend has managed to maintain the family feel that first brought it together. Members often refer to each other as “sisters in harmony.” For many in the group, like Alice, “it has been the most wonderful thing in my life.”

This group seems to encourage all of the members to become close. They are supportive, like a family. In some families sisters don’t get along all the time, yet when something goes wrong, they are there to support, listen and help out in whatever way they can.

The membership over the years has also managed to maintain a high quality of sound. Part of the reason for that is that each member is required to audition after attending practices for a number of weeks. Nobody has failed the audition yet and that is, in part, because those who love singing can usually find a way to fit into one or more of the four part harmony group.

Being part of an international organization has other advantages too. Sweet Adelines supplies various coaches who come a number of times each season to help each group. The coaches concentrate on different aspects of performances each time they come. One might work on breathing while another might work on phrasing. Others might concentrate on various aspects of performance that don’t have as much to do with singing as it has to do with appearance on stage.

There are also workshops which take place occasionally and allow members to spend a little more time socializing while working on an upcoming show or competition.

While it is primarily the commitment of the various members of Battlefords Blend that keeps the group going, it is also because of the support of the Battlefords and surrounding area who continue to attend performances, hire the group to sing at birthday parties, Mother’s Day events, anniversaries and other things. Some performances are simply for the pleasure of entertaining people in a long term care facility who can no longer get out on their own to see such shows.

Overall it’s a great chorus with good leadership and a good director combined with some tremendous voices. They come together to sing with like-minded women. The commitment is to the group, the community and Sweet Adelines International.

Their special 35th Anniversary Performance will be at the Dekker Centre on Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. The guest performer is Jeffery Straker, a Saskatchewan singer/songwriter/pianist and wonderful entertainer.

Unfortunately, Alice will not be at the show. Some years ago she gave up wintering in Saskatchewan and regularly travels south before the snow flies.