(Thanks
to Don Harrington for notes from the
Sat. Dec. 15th 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. 18th
was our annual Carol Crawl in Old Towne Alexandria According to Mark Klostermeyer, this was our 11th
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 70th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd
