Valley Gospel Choir
110-voice choir made up of members from all over the Chippewa Valley
Merlyn Aude, Director
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ANNUAL CONCERT 2012 July 17th and 18th "I look forward to us preparing another outstanding program...and performance..." [Merlyn Aude 2011 newsletter] Doors open at 6:30 PM Tickets $10 |
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The Valley Gospel Choir was formed in the spring of 1992 to perform at Country Jam as part of the Sunday morning events. The first choir was made up of members who loved to sing, sang in area church choirs, and enjoyed singing gospel music. Our first concert was in 1992 at Memorial High School.
In July, 2000 we moved to the State Theater and began singing two concerts in mid-July. July 2009 brought another change as the concerts were moved to Grace Lutheran Church in Eau Claire. With the audience so close, there is an a special association enjoyed by both the listeners and performers.
We have had only three directors in these 15 years. The choir was formed under the direction of Paul Nixdorf. Cathy Reitz took over the choir in 1996. Merlyn Aude took over the choir in 2006. Many of our current members are charter members having sung with the choir since the beginning. We have a loyal following of concert attendees who look forward to our yearly concerts.
Mid-year we get together to sing and prepare a short concert given as a benefit for a local organization. Persons who wish to have the choir perform for their organization should contact the Director, Choir President, or Office Manager. Members are elected to the Board of Directors who plan, prepare, and direct the organization.
Contact Us: Kris Ruckman, Office Manager, 715-835-7649, krisruckman@hotmail.com
Choir Director: Merlyn Aude, 715-647-5433, merlynaude@hotmail.com
Board Members:
Barb Smith, President
George McLeod, Vice President
Mary Mero, Secretary
Paula Luer, Treasurer
Tom Bohlinger
Shelly Theiste
Nadine Schlough
Paul Fetzer
Mike Theiste
Calendar - 2012
| February 19 | 6:30-8:30 pm | Rehearsal for Winter Benefit @ Grace Lutheran Parlors |
| February 26 | 1:00 pm | Winter Benefit @ L.E. Phillips Senior Center |
| May 17 | 5-6 pm | Music pickup @ Grace Lutheran Parlors |
| May 24, 31 | 6:30-8:30 pm | Practices @ Grace Lutheran Parlors |
| June 7, 14, 21, 28 | 6:30-8:30 pm | Practices @ Grace Lutheran Parlors |
| June 24 | Sunday Morning | Church Tour |
| July 5, 12 | 6:30-8:30 pm | Practices @ Grace Lutheran Parlors |
| July 16 | 6:15-8:30+ pm | Dress Rehearsal @ Grace Lutheran Sanctuary |
| July 17 & 18 | 7:30 pm | Concerts @ Grace Lutheran Sanctuary |
| July 26 | 6:30 pm | Annual Meeting @ Grace Lutheran Parlors |
The Chippewa Valley Predators are a semi-pro football team that calls Eau Claire home. The Valley Gospel Choir has been offered the opportunity to work the concession stands and admission gate in return for a percentage of the concession profit. Mike and Shelly Theiste will head up the fundraising as they have worked with the team the last for years. For more information, contact Shelly at 715-833-1667 or stheiste@att.net .
From the VALLEY GOSPEL CHOIR 2012 Newsletter Message from the President: Happy New Year to all of you. I hope you had a great Christmas and are looking forward to singing with us again during the 2012 season. Message from the Director: New Year's Greetings!
We had a great year and I want to thank each one of you for your hard work with singing, fundraising, and volunteering to be on our various committees. Your participation, enthusiasm, and support are all greatly appreciated by the Board. We have tried to make things more streamlined and easy for all those involved. A special thanks to our office manager, Kris Ruckman, for the new forms and procedures! They will be of great help to all of us.
This Newsletter will provide you with information regarding our upcoming season, including the winter concert, along with the summer schedule, dues, and board contact information. We hope that you all can participate in the winter concert. If for some reason you are unable to attend the rehearsal but can attend the actual concert, please let us know and we will make sure to have a music folder available for you, unless you still have your music memorized!
We all look forward to working, singing, and sharing great music with you!
Barb Smith, Board President
2012 . . . my goodness, how quickly the years go by! The 2012 season will be the 21st year for the Valley Gospel Choir. After two seasons I think we are quite happily settled into our new performance venue at Grace Lutheran Church. We have received very positive feedback from the choir members and the audience with the performances at Grace. Being so close to each other and being able to see the faces of the audience makes for a very emotional connection between the music, performers, and audience.
In recognition of our 21st season I would like to ask Valley Gospel Choir members to invite any former members they know to consider singing with us again this season. It would be wonderful to have many of those voices and personalities once again be part of the Valley Gospel Choir.
A special thank you to all of the people who do so many things for our organization. The board, the committees, all of the many, many things our members do above and beyond the singing. You are what keeps us going! And an extra special thank you to the members of our pit band. What a collection of talent. We are truly blessed to work with such wonderful musicians.
I hope this letter finds you in good health and I look forward to seeing and hearing from you both this summer and for our winter performance.
Merlyn Aude, Conductor
If you know of a community member, group or business who may be a potential contributor to Valley Gospel Choir,
please send names, addresses and contact information to Kris Ruckman at #715-835-7649 or krisruckman@hotmail.com.
The Choir wishes to thank our major sponsors for their generous financial support:
EAU CLAIRE REALTY
CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS
SOURCE FINANCIAL MORTGAGE
