Dutchess County’s own Evergreen Chorus, Sweet Adelines International, was selected by Marist College students to be the subject of a DVD they produced as part of their Communication Capping course. This course is a capstone or thesis course in which the students are required to utilize all of the information and education they have acquired during their first three years at Marist and create a project that reflects the knowledge they have attained throughout their college careers. Wendy Baron, Jennifer Cadic, Grant Squire, and Michael Kingery, radio/TV/film students, were required to create a video. Their assignment was to find a local non-profit organization and work with them to create a 10-12 minute promotional video that the organization may use in the future.

“We found Evergreen Chorus in a round-about way. We originally had looked up a list of non-profits in the Poughkeepsie area and found the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing. When we brought this up to our professor, Dr. Laura Linder, she mentioned that there was a female barbershop group in Poughkeepsie, part of Sweet Adelines International, and we might want to consider them as well. We searched online and found the Evergreen Chorus website, and thought you ladies looked like so much fun! We could tell from all the pictures that you really enjoy yourselves and would be wonderful to work with.” (Wendy Baron)

The students attended weekly rehearsals and the annual show in October. They filmed raw footage of rehearsals, segments of the show, and interviewed several members of the chorus. Carole Argulewicz, Director from Lake Katrine; Pat Fleming, Membership Coordinator from Beacon; Nancy Clark, President from Bloomington, and Chorus members Jeannette Morse from Ellenville and Ginger Knapp-Ringdahl from Poughkeepsie, shared their feelings of how they felt being a part of Evergreen Chorus and Sweet Adelines International.

“While shooting, I personally found the energy within the group to be unique. The interviews were also very fun to do. Each individual member we interviewed had a lot of wonderful things to say and a great sense of humor and attitude toward us. In general, the Evergreen Chorus came across as a down-to-earth, special group of women with a true passion for singing and establishing/maintaining a family-like structure.” (Grant Squire).

The DVD shows the steps that the Evergreen Chorus goes through from learning the music, learning the choreography (yes, they dance as well as sing!), up to the finished product. “While filming the chorus, I was very surprised and impressed in a good way. I didn’t realize how serious the chorus was before we got there. I thought it would be a casual group of women who get together and sing for fun. Although this is true, they are also very serious and good at what they do. It was so much fun to watch the process they go through to perfect the choreography and notes of the song. On my first night there, I already felt like I wanted to join.” (Jennifer Cadic).

Michael Kingery commented about his feeling after seeing the show, “When Wendy and I went to the Chorus’ performance in Wappingers a few weeks ago, I was blown away after the first song. It’s such a beautiful voice that fills the air. I’m amazed that so many women take so much out of their daily lives for free. They do it for the music, and I find that very moving.” (Mike Kingery)

The enthusiasm and camaraderie of the Evergreen Chorus was obvious to the students. “I personally have been a member of choral groups for the last 10 years or so, since middle school, and I think that the friendships that you share between yourselves are so unique compared to other choruses that I’ve experienced. One of the central points of the video is how much you support each other and are there for each other. The Evergreen Chorus and Sweet Adelines certainly seem like a special, exciting place to belong to. We really enjoyed how eager and excited you all were to talk to us about this amazing organization.” (Wendy Baron)

The Evergreen Chorus rehearses every Tuesday evening at 7 PM at the Poughkeepsie United Methodist Church, 2381 New Hackensack Road, Poughkeepsie, NY. Guests are always welcome. Come and see for yourself what these students are talking about. For more information, visit http://www.evergreenchorus.org or call Pat at 845-797-4890.