Thanks to the efforts of several Bushnell- Prairie City High School band members, the Prairieland Barbershop Chorus was able to present them with a check for $1,000, Thursday, Nov. 7. These students helped the Chorus produce lemon shake-ups during the Heritage Day week last June. The funds will enable many of them to participate in band and chorus workshops, concert venues, or any other activity the B-PC music department deems worthy.
Thanks to band director Andrea Ferguson and chorus director Chloe Siebert for co-ordinating the B-PC work schedule and for encouraging students to participate.
For the last nearly 30 years, the Macomb Prairieland Chorus has donated a portion of their Heritage Days receipts to local school music programs for their help at the lemon shake-up stand. Whether it be mashing lemons (the secret to the Prairieland shake-up), packing ice, scooping sugar, shaking or washing cups, students help make the labor-intensive jobs easier for the barbershoppers.
As the longest active choral group in McDonough County, the singers of the Prairieland Chorus are fully aware of the long-term benefits of students actively engaging in choral and instrumental music.
The barbershop chorus knows that 'singing is for life' and actively seeks to reinforce the Barbershop Harmony Society's mission statement of 'Everyone In Harmony!'
The Macomb chorus meets every Monday evening at the First Presbyterian Church at 7:00 p.m. They invite any one, of any age or gender, to share in the joy of ringing chords as they prepare for the Christmas season. They'll be sharing their talents with a number of area senior care facilities during the month of December.
Tentatively, they'll be at Grand Prairie on Dec. 1; at The Lamoine and Lafayette Square on Dec. 8; at Rushville Rehab Center and Rushville Country Garden on Dec. 15; and wrap up the season at The Elms and Everly House on Dec. 22.
