Why do I sing? Because it makes me happy! Why do I sing acapella in the barbershop style? Because it makes me happy to sing four-part close harmony! Why do I sing with Sweet Adelines? Because it makes me happy to sing harmony with lots of my close friends! Why do I stay? Because I canât imagine not doing this â it is firmly embedded in my DNA!
I have been with Lions Gate Chorus in Vancouver BC Canada for thirty years. I had seen a group of women singing in a market at Christmas time, and someone handed me a flyer that said, âLove to sing? Come join us.â Having sung in choirs all through my childhood, but not having done anything formal since coming to Canada in 1975, I found that I really missed it. These women in their beautiful long red dresses singing Christmas music (always a favourite of mine anyway) made me realize that I really needed to do it again. So with my husbandâs encouragement, I went to the rehearsal hall the first Tuesday in January, and was immediately hooked â not just on the music, but on the friendly warm welcome I received when I walked through the door. And I can honestly say I have not willingly missed a rehearsal since! I definitely joined for the music, but I also joined because of the people. And I have stayed because I have been able to soak up the education I have received and use it in my everyday life. I am a better teacher and leader because of the opportunities that have been afforded me through my affiliation with Sweet Adelines, and I certainly would never have envisioned myself being the President of an International organization without the mentoring and encouragement of other leaders who saw potential in me that I did not see myself.
Joining Sweet Adelines has changed my life and I canât imagine what my life would be like without it!
If youâre reading this and you are not a Sweet Adeline already, check us out. Your life will never be the same! And if you are a Sweet Adeline, go out and find others to join us. We ARE Sweet Adelines!
Sweet Adelines has been the blessing I didn't know I had been missing in my life.
By: Janel Clemmons
I came to my first chorus rehearsal reluctantly. My mother had joined a year before me, and had been pestering me to join, insisting that I would like it. I agreed to join her one evening, mostly so she would stop asking me and I could at least say that I had tried. Before I joined, I had never heard of Sweet Adelines. All I knew was that my mom was in a singing group that wore more sequins than I knew existed.
But since that first time, I have not stopped coming. I am friends with women from all over, of all ages, who all do amazing things. Most of them are women I wouldn't be friends with if it weren't for this amazing thing we do together.
I jumped into Sweet Adelines and Harborlites with both feet. When I joined Harborlites in 2012, we were in the midst of preparing for Denver. What a way to jump in! Every rehearsal was hard work and very rewarding â we were all working toward this amazing goal. I ended up going through some tough times personally that year, and I know that if it weren't for my involvement with Harborlites, I would not have made it through as positively and hopeful as I did. I began looking forward to Monday nights, I knew showing up would give me the strength to get through the rest of my week. Singing with the Harborlites Chorus gave me hope and confidence and on those days that were really hard, I had this adopted family of aunts, mothers, grandmothers and sisters that truly loved me, for me.
In the last 4 years of being a Sweet Adeline, I have joined 2 choruses in two different states, I have friends from all over the world, and I have made lifetime friendships. This last year in Las Vegas, I was with one of my friends as a spectator and we looked at the older women there with their friends laughing and we turned to each other and stated how we will be those women someday. It's truly a culture and hobby I didn't know I was missing, and now I can't imagine my life with out it â I will always be a Sweet Adeline. I know we hear it all the time, but I wish I had found this sooner and I am so grateful to my mother for pestering me and insisting that I visit.
Twenty five years as a Sweet Adeline has changed my life...for the good and the better!
In February 1994, two friends from our church choir were involved and invited me to attend a chorus show where Ambiance was the guest...you can only imagine how they moved me to the edge of my front row seat...and Iâve never sat back!!! I joined Enchanted Mesa a few months later. The audition scared the life out of me because it terrified me to know that someone could âhear me singâ! Little by little my curiosity got the better of me and I began to take chances, becoming a front row member in October, then in an ensemble for Valentines the following February and the next year in a Valentine quartet. As a fairly new chorus member, I was asked to be the Lead Section Leader to women who had been members for many years. I think they wondered about my credibility but I maintained that position for until 2015.
As a singer, the turning point for me was going to the SAI Convention in Salt Lake, the fall of 1997 and somehow being coerced into âSinging with the Queensâ. I spent the entire week singing the one song I knew that Showtime sang and finally on that Friday morning, I stepped into Debbie (Connolly) Clevelandâs lead spot, shaking and wondering how I would breath...sang âLove Lettersâ to a crowd of many of my friends. I survived! I went home and told my âValentineâ quartet I wanted to compete and soon after put together Southwest Edition.
We registered in January 1998, went to contest...didnât do a terrible job but the quartet, with a few personnel changes, is still singing eighteen years later. We placed as high as 4th and always in the top ten...in Region 21 that is commendable! Another highlight was singing on the international stage in September of 2003 with the other 97 members of Enchanted Mesa as we represented Region 21 and placed 22nd in the world! What a thrill!
By the end of the first year, I was a member of Enchanted Mesaâs Board of Directors and involved in the change to Team Management. In 2007 I became a member of the Golden West Region 21 Management Team. It always amazes me that people see something more in me than I do. I was the Team Coordinator for seven years. I met so many wonderful, talented, smart, encouraging women. The level of commitment and respect from the women at that level of leadership is inspiring. Itâs an experience I will always appreciate.
In 2011 I joined a newly chartered chorus, Route 66 Sound with other members of Southwest Edition. Dual membership, chapter leadership, quartet, regional duties and my family kept my life pretty full. People would ask how I did it...I wasnât sure but I loved every minute of it. In 2015 when my mother was very ill, I took a leave from both choruses and didnât plan to go to Phoenix for regional competition. In a coaching session for Route 66 Sound, our coach convinced me to plan to attend contest knowing I could step out if necessary. I went and without realizing how important it was that I attend...was awarded the Region 21 Hall of Fame. Listening to the announcement, one that I had presented for the previous seven years and thinking that would be the highlight of my âregional experienceâ...it became pretty clear that I was being awarded this honor. With the likes of women who have helped make Sweet Adelines what it is today...I am still so humbled. If my Sweet Adeline career was over...I would be a happy girl.
I did resign from Enchanted Mesa that summer on the day of my motherâs funeral but I needed to pull back. I miss my Enchanted Mesa friends and singing with them. They are who helped me grow, gave me the ability to be a singer, to be a leader and hopefully set an example for others. Southwest Edition continues to plug along as a local quartet with a rich history of entertaining over the past eighteen years as weâve sung at weddings and funerals, for babies and dignitaries. I truly love these ladies! And, I have a wonderful small chorus of terrific singers, good friends and that has great potential.
Sweet Adelines has been a lifestyle for my family. As a toddler my sixteen-year-old grandson would sit in the audience at our shows and shout âYea Mamawâ to my delight. Now I sit in the audience for him as he plays a mean jazz alto sax...âYea Connorâ! And, my thirteen-year-old granddaughter playing the French horn in the local youth orchestra and my six-year-old granddaughter who sings constantly and loves the song, Alfred the Alligator. Who knows if the newest little Cody will continue the love of music...I hope so. They really make me appreciate this love of harmony I think Iâve passed on to them, that my friend Judy Moore shared with me twenty five years ago... Thanks Judy.
I felt the familiar sense of relief as the plane wheels hit the tarmac. The level of excitement and anticipation was starting to build, as I waited to exit the plane and catch a taxi to the hotel. I had arrived in Calgary! It was October, 2007, and six months before, I had only dreamed of being able to compete in a Sweet Adeline Championship Chorus.
I originally joined the Harborlites Chorus, based out of Huntington Beach, CA, in 1993. When I moved to Hawaii in 1997, I inevitably had to leave the chorus. Harborlites is a womenâs competition show chorus singing a cappella, 4-part harmony in the barbershop style. While I was away in Hawaii, Harborlites had come in 1st place at the International Competition in 2004. They were working towards a repeat performance at the International Competition in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. I moved back to Southern California in 2007, and at the urging of some old friends from the chorus, decided to re-audition for them in April of that year.
The chorus had completely changed in many ways from when I left in 1997. They went from having 60-75 women to 130 at rehearsals. The level of dedication the members exhibited was remarkable, and therefore, the rehearsals were much more serious. They spent 45 minutes, at the beginning of each rehearsal, to warm up their voices and to train their ears to try and perfect the craft of barbershop singing. To my surprise, they no longer took 15-20 min breaks in the middle of rehearsal. I recall noticing that many of the women in the chorus were well over twice my age and wondered how they could possess the stamina, that standing on the risers and singing for 3 hours requires. At that time in my life, I was in great physical shape, but found that I was ready to drop at the end of the rehearsal.
After learning two songs and some choreography, I auditioned and was accepted as a member of the chorus again. I soon realized that I had less than six months to learn six competition songs along with the choreography that accompanied 4 of those songs. This was going to take some work, but I was excited to be singing again with my old and new friends. Their excitement, discipline, and dedication were truly admirable. My focus began to intensify, and in a few short weeks, I was just as motivated to do well in Calgary as everyone else.
The preparation that a competition chorus embarks upon is challenging, time-consuming, and rigorous. We met for 4 hours on Monday nights. 1 hour before rehearsal was for extra help with the choreography. Harborlites had a choreography team that would teach and critique our movements. I knew I was behind the curve on this journey and I decided to make every effort to be at all of the extra choreography rehearsals, which were many. Two months before the competition, there were choreography rehearsals at several membersâ homes on the weekends. In addition to the regular rehearsal schedule there were 3 or 4 weekend rehearsal retreats. A coach would be flown in from another state, to come and assist us in improving our unit sound, musicality, and overall presentation. The weekend would involve 3 hours on Friday night, all day rehearsal on Saturday, and 3 hours on Sunday. It was a grueling process, to say the least, but we kept our eyes on the prize. The prize was to be able to get on that stage in Calgary and give our best individually so that the entire chorus would excel as a group. The other prize would be to bring home a gold medal. The coaches and director spent time encouraging us to stay focused and dedicated to the cause. They also reminded us that we are not individuals going on that stage; we are a cohesive group of dedicated singers who are striving to reach the same goal.
Was it always easy to remain focused and dedicated? No, there were many rehearsals where the director would be shouting at us to gut it out and to not forget what we had just learned from the coaches, only a few days before. There was a group of âPep Teamâ members that designed t-shirts that said, âAre you ready, Harborlites?â We were ready, but we didnât know it yet. The director would talk about how our focus and discipline would increase once we arrived in Calgary. I had not been involved in this level of competition before, so I was curious as to what they were referring to.
It was Monday afternoon when we landed in Calgary. The semi-final competition was set for Thursday and if we made the cut of top 10 choruses, we would be singing in the chorus finals on Saturday of that week. With each rehearsal, the excitement would build, our mental visualization became clearer, and the bonding that developed among the members and director was incredible. Just thinking back to that time, I remember the directors and coaches shouting, âMove with the musicâ, âBend your kneesâ, âTell the story of the songâ, âSing to the back of the arenaâ, âMore resonance!â, and on and on. By Wednesday night, we were ready for the next day.
The semi-finals had begun and after having a chorus breakfast to receive last minute words of encouragement, we were dressed and ready. The buses arrived and we were officially âin the patternâ. We filed onto the dimly lit stage and after the pitch pipe blew our first pitch and we were announced, the stage lights went up and we performed our two songs for the semi-final set. We sang our hearts out! One part of our goal had been met. We left the stage knowing that we did our best and that was the most important thing to us. We were confident that we would make the top ten and move on to the chorus finals on Saturday.
It was Saturday and we had made the cut.  The chorus members filed onto the buses once again. This was it! We would be performing our entertainment package for the judges which included 4 songs with a 15-minute time limit. The audience was chanting, "HAR-BOR-LITES!", as we filed onto the risers, made it a challenge to focus. We had been coached for months on staying with the plan and not let anything, not even an itchy nose, causing us to get off our game. We were in this to succeed and we definitely did not want our individual inaction to cause the chorus, as a whole, to suffer. We had been relentless in our preparation and after many prayers had been said, we felt confident that we would perform to the best of our ability and the judges would score us accordingly.
After the end of our 4th song, we received a standing ovation from the audience. It is hard to describe the feeling of exhilaration and gratitude we all felt. We had left everything on that stage; we gave it our all and then some. There were times during the preceding months that we wondered if all the hard work was worth it. At that moment, we wouldnât have traded that experience for anything in the world. At the end of the finals competition, the judges tabulated their score sheets and many announcements were made. By this time, the arena held about 8,000 people who were extremely excited to hear the impending announcement. The panel secretary stood at the podium and read off the top five scores along with the corresponding chorus names. âAnd the first place medal goes to the new 2008 Championship Chorus, the Harborlites Chorus!â We did it! We won the 1st place gold medal! The culmination of months of hard work and preparation had paid off in that moment.
It wasnât until many weeks later, that I pondered on some of the lessons I learned and the blessings I received, from having this experience. I had developed a new ânormalâ when it came to working hard towards my goals. I also knew that performing for people and causing them to âfeelâ something was a true gift. This journey not only elevated my vocal skills, but it increased my self-esteem many times over. I gained the knowledge it requires to work as a team and was able to see the importance of truly âbeing thereâ for others.
In the end, we were headed back to the airport. All of us were wearing our gold medals around our necks and when the customs officers noticed us, they were extremely excited to hear about how we received our medals. We felt like Olympians, even for just a moment.
Who knew that forty years ago when I walked into a Sweet Adeline chorus at 22 years old I would still be loving every moment. In fact, I discovered my true self, learned numerous new skills, developed my creativity, and made it my second career! Unbelievable, but thatâs exactly what happened...
At first glance and mostly after listening to Led Zeppelin, I must admit that I thought the music was a little weird, but ringing a chord was unbelievably cool. I quickly fell in love with the people and stayed. This is where the journey actually began. I made lifelong friends, many of whom I consider family and even though I thought I knew it all, I quickly learned what I didnât know. I also know now that this was the best part of the organization and actually what drives you to want more.
The education is readily available, and you never stop learning because the barbershop craft is challenging, unique, personal, and teaches you about yourself.
I was given so many opportunities to develop my skills and special talents and thatâs how I came to where I am now. When my Director saw a twinkle in my eye and asked me if I would consider helping the chorus with our visual performance my response was, âWell, Iâd probably be better than no one.â After finding that twinkle was a knack, taking as many classes as Sweet Adeline's offered, and using the chorus as guinea pigs, I found my strengths. I eventually was asked to help others in my region, and then in other regions, and now in other countries. Wow, I was now on the road, in planes and trains, not only learning more skills, but helping others find their talents!Â
I realized that Sweet Adelines and I were a match made in heaven. I starting developing all these skills as a hairdresser, and that prepared me for my Sweet Adeline career. I learned people skills, earned a degree in Makeup Artistry, and understand image, fashion and costume. In the salon chair, I practiced being a role model and âtherapistâ for women, and found that so many just wanted to be needed, be appreciated, and find their own thing. Ten years later the International organization recognized my passion and skill in the Showmanship category and today Iâm a member of the International Faculty, and travel around the world coaching, teaching, and still empowering women to find their passion...Iâm a lucky girl.
I have spent the last forty years literally singing my heart out, which by the way is way less expensive than therapy! Met women all over the world and empowered them to believe in themselves and accomplish anything they want. I let them know that I was just like them, looking for a hobby, my passion. I found it and it even led me to write my first motivational speech called âThe Power of Passion!â
Don't waste another moment, find your voice, and feel the passion...itâs Sweet Adelines.
 Lynne Smith
Bass, Harborlites Chorus, Huntington Beach, California
Showmanship Coach
International Faculty Member, Sweet Adelines International
