Looking Back on the Holiday Sings In Alexandria Dec. 15^th and 18^th

(Thanks to Don Harrington for notes from the Sat. Dec. 15^th sing at Alexandria senior centers - YeEd.) 

A hearty group of 22 Harmonizers gathered at The Fountains at Washington House, 5100 Fillmore Ave., Alexandria, at 12:30 PM Saturday, December 15, for warm up led by Brain Ammerman.  Under the direction of Joe Cerutti, the Harmonizers shared the gift of holiday music and good cheer with residents, guests and staff at The Fountains and at three other Alexandria retirement and care centers during the afternoon (Woodbine Nursing Home, Sunrise of Alexandria and The Hermitage).  As in previous years, everyone enjoyed singing along to their Christmas favorites in halls and stairways beautifully decorated for the season.  Special thanks to Clyde Crusenberry for planning and organizing the day, which went off without a hitch in spite of the rain.

                                                                                    

Joe was in his prime, telling jokes and getting the audiences engaged.  Each time he introduced “Chipmunk Christmas,” he would turn to a different Harmonizer in the front row and introduce him as the one who was supposed to do the hula routine, but he forgot his hula hoop, but that he would do his best without it.   Lucky performers were Dave Welter, Stan Quick, Chuck Powell, and Aaron Simoneau for impromptu performances of the hula hoop routine in Chipmunk Christmas. 

The following report was prepared by YeEd: Then Tuesday nite Dec. 18^th was our annual Carol Crawl in Old Towne Alexandria According to Mark Klostermeyer, this was our 11^th crawl. We assembled at Market Square before stepping off to sing at restaurants and bars in the area.  Audiences were really having fun with us.

Joe Cerutti Sr. and Mark Klostermeyer helped organize the visits with the local proprietors. Along the way we met several folks who have always found us on the Tues. nite in Dec. when were having our Carol Crawl. Joe Sr. was Santa Claus for the nite and helped greet kids of all ages!! Many men wore Santa hats and other holiday gear.

Joe Jr. kept each performance rolling along – quick opening on “Caroling, Caroling,” then he would announce “we are the Alexandria Harmonizers strolling down King Street to bring holiday greetings to all.”  Then we sang “Let It Show” and “Chipmunk Christmas” and exited on “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”  Joe had fun with audiences when Kellen Hertz sang out alone on the phrase - “I Still Want My Hula Hoop” Each time the crowd cheered and Joe would retort that “he is for sale for two glasses of Scotch” or “you will love him but he bites!”

According to Dean Rust there were 49 singers present for this fun nite including three guests – Carter White, Chuck Botts, and Matt Odell. Several family members traveled with us on the crawl. New member Frank Shipp got his name badge tonite too.

One extra event was the mini-concert for the nice sized crowd that gathered at the entrance to the Torpedo Factory on Union and King Streets.  We sang some songs that are not the best for restaurants and bars such as “Hallelujah Chorus,” “Gloria” and “Mary Did You Know.” The crowd grew and grew and was very receptive to finding this impromptu concert on a crisp holiday winter’s nite. We did some recruiting for singers at this stop.

YeEd thinks we sang at nine restaurants or bars from Gadsby’s Tavern all the way down King Street to Union Street. At the end of the nite we stayed at Chadwicks for an afterglow in a special area just for us.  Most everyone stayed for some chow and lots of visiting.

Until next time – editorjack!
(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record of the great things going on each week during the 70^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd