Canadian Showtime Chorus Gals Hit Baltimore - Proud Members!!

It's the most beautiful time of the year! This is the time of year that Sweet Adeline members all over the world congregate somewhere to either take to the stage after many months of rehearsals after earning the privilege to compete internationally at your regional contest or come to join in the fun as avid supporters of your sisters in harmony! You come along for the ride - for the education - for the love of this hobby! This year CSC gals came along for the ride!

With Baltimore being a short 8 hours away from home, 9 of us decided it was just too close to home not to go! Seven of us hit the road bright an early on Tuesday morning - it went like this! None of us could sleep beyond 5 am - the first car left east Ottawa and picked up passenger one in downtown Ottawa at 6:30 - car two in the west was already loaded and ready to go when we rendez-vous'd - hugs all around and we were south bound to pick up our last passenger! Let's identify those cars .... car number one - driver Maryanne Sprague, passengers Nancy Noecker and JD Crowe ... car number 2 - driver Nancy Mantle and passengers Debbie Pinkney, Santina Scalzo and Elizabeth Gibbs! Guess you could say that car was an outburst of fun (see what I did there ... Outburst the quartet was having outbursts of fun!!! :) )

We had no real plan for the road other than we would let nature take its course - if shopping came into play so be it, we would let it happen naturally. There was a flurry of texting between cars and starting mid-morning out master director 700 Sandie Nason who was flying to Baltimore started texting us as well. We got the sense she would have liked to be part of the road trip! :) When we were having lunch in Pittson Pensylvania she was in Philly - we arrived in Baltimore only an hour apart! Great day - great driving by Nancy and Maryanne! We missed having Nicky Wieczorek along for the ride but work commitments kept her grounded until Wednesday morning - but she's in for the ride on the way home!! Gotta love road trips!!

And here we were 8 hours later - in Baltimore - excited to get ourselves over to Harmony Classic in hopes of bumping into friends from all over Region 16 and the world! The small and large chorus in the Harmony Classic contest did not disappoint! What amazing talent - how inspiring! By the time 10 pm hit we were ready for food and libations and we found both around the corner from our hotel! Crab, crab and then more crab! There's no getting away from in and frankly, who wouldn't! Delicious!

Wednesday was a large day for our Lake Ontario Region 16 sisters in harmony as our tremendously talented quartets took to the stage! S.L.A.M., Enroute and Spritzer. It is so wonderful to see such a large number of our members travel to Baltimore to support. And we know MANY at home watched the webcast too! Our quartets were poised, confident, strong and fabulous - not to mention gorgeous! So very proud of them all!

The Lake Ontario Region 16 pep rally was a huge success! We all gathered in Buffalo Gateway's rehearsal room at the Marriott - hundreds gathered - we watched them rehearse for a bit - we watched them grow and glow from one repetition to the next - following the guidance of their master director Diane Porsch - amazing us with every word!! They are going to rock that stage today in the chorus semi finals! After an hour of fun, song, hugs and some emotional tears, we left Buffalo Gateway's home away from home and made our way out to a bistro for dinner! Some then went back to put their feet up - a few of us returned to the quartet semis to catch the last of the amazing talent this organization holds! We jumped with joy when we heard Spritzer being called to the top ten! Can't wait to hear them in the finals on Friday!

But today it is all about the choruses! All about Buffalo Gateway. Our room is slowly rising - the street below is humming and the rain gently falls on Baltimore! Competing choruses are getting in the zone and we envy them all a little bit. The excitement of contest day is hard to beat!!

Wish you were here! I will keep you posted - thanks for coming along for the ride!! I love love love this hobby!!

JD Crowe