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Chorus preparing for Feast
and Spring Reunion

By Chester F. Willey
Chorus Director

We are already actively preparing for a very different Spring Reunion this year, where we join in labor with the Grand Lodge of Ohio on April 27th. Prior to that event, we will be doing our annual observance of the Feast of the Paschal Lamb, and it too will be a little different this year.

Change is inevitable, and we need to always be receptive to it, although we must be careful about what is subject to change and under what circumstances, and what those changes are. 

One of the most pleasant kinds of changes is to welcome new members to the Chorus, and this spring we have two. Thomas C. Evans, a candidate in the Spring reunion of 2001, and Joseph Leatherman, a candidate from the Fall reunion in October, have both been attending rehearsals and adding their skills to the completion of the work. "Thrice welcome we give to the Brother whose heart with the heart of Mankind is akin!" Now - how many of you brethren out there can tell me in what degree conferral does the chorus sing that phrase?? Come to the reunion and find out!!

One thing that doesn't change much is that there always seems to be a certain amount of carping done about things that happen at the reunion. People talk at lunch or afterward about missed light cues, inaudible entrances, unplanned-for skips in the ritual, etc. - often they talk more about that than they do about the good things. Keeping that thought in mind, I have a little story to tell. I recently had the privilege of traveling with the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus to New York City, where we performed Beethoven's 9th Symphony at Carnegie Hall. During that spectacular weekend, I had some spare moments to attend a Saturday afternoon matinee performance at the Metropolitan Opera. These are the performances that have been broadcast regularly every Saturday since the 1930s. I've listened to them for thirty years, but I never had the chance to actually attend a performance at the Met until now. The performance was glorious - Placido Domingo singing (Brother) Mozart's "Idomeneo". 

And guess what?? In one of the top Opera houses in the world, with some of the top performers in the world onstage, with a union orchestra and union stagehands, and even a paid professional chorus - light cues woofed, entrances were missed, the curtain started to rise at the wrong time - and these were just the mistakes I saw from the back of the house in a standing-room-only seat!! All this is to say that, as we attend and review these two upcoming events, which are most important for our Valley, let's remember a little Masonic charity for the guys who are out there on the front lines. Officers are new to their roles, equipment does not always function, and minds go blank at the worst possible time. We're all trying our best, and over the reunions I've observed since I joined the Valley in 1991, generally they do a pretty good job. Some years, for various reasons, go better than others. In all cases, however, the heart and Masonic spirit are ALWAYS there for all concerned.

Of course, the standard response to any critical comments can always be, "Well, if you think you can do a better job...." Feel free at any time to come on down and, not merely express an opinion, but get involved. I'm sure we who are out "panning for gold" (that is, looking for recruits) would be glad to see any of the brethren who either have never been active in the Valley, or who were at one time and got away from us. Come on in - the water's fine!!!