A few weeks back, unbeknownst to me, the wife signed us up to be chaperones for an all day event for the Kokomo Children’s Choir. The event lasted from 9 am until 4 pm but did entail about an hour’s drive each way making this into a 9 hour commitment. The event was hosted by The Bach Chorale Singers and culminated in an hour long concert. There were several other children’s choirs that were invited including a choir from Anderson (which had the longer trip between us and them).
We met at 7:30 at a church close to our house and though we could fit 4 more in the van, only one child needed a ride. In all, 18 kids attended from our choir. I know it was 18 as I spent the better part of my day as a chaperone counting to 18 to make sure we did not lose anybody. Only 2 of the 18 were boys and they were solely my responsibility. The kids practiced the songs they were going to perform as a large group (all the choirs combined) from 9 until 10. Then from 10 to 11 they had a combination snack time and rehearsal time (when they could rehearse the songs that they would do only with their local choir). From 11 to 12 they got to learn some dances from various cultures like Russia and Israel. That seemed to be the most fun part and I wish I could have joined in. The daughter looked like she was having a great time.
One thing that was available to the choir directors, their staff and to us chaperones was the hospitality room that had goodies from Panera Bread in the morning including bagels, cream cheese, coffee, juice, fruit and some donuts (not from Panera). One donut caught my eye…
Sorry for the blurry picture. Evidently the camera wanted to focus on a different donut. This is a normal donut with Bavarian cream in the middle, chocolate icing and then topped with chocolate (M&M like) candies. I don’t even think it is legal to serve M&M’s on donuts in Howard country so I grabbed the 1/2 that was left of this one and enjoyed it.
At 12 we broke for lunch. The kids all brought a sack lunch and due to the nice weather we were able to head outside to eat. The hospitality room had sandwiches so the wife and I grabbed one and some chips and water and headed out with the kids. I was so concerned about counting to 18 that I did not see that some parents dropped off a new kid (evidently he had a ball game that morning). So imagine my dismay when my count and recount totaled 19 instead of 18. It is one thing to lose a kid (my fear) but to gain one, that did not enter my mind. Fortunately for me, the extra kid was a boy and I was able to figure out why it was not all adding up.
From 1 to 2:30 it was back to group practice and the choir director released us from our duties for an hour or so. The wife and I walked outside the school and found a local mini-mart and bought a coke and just hung out. At 3 the concert was set to begin and our group was on 3rd.
I did not get a chance to go into the packed audience (seating I would estimate at 600 – 800 seats) so this is from the sidelines. Once the other choirs all performed it was time for all the kids to sing…
Can you see my daughter? No? Well neither could I. The director was great with the kids during rehearsals and you could tell he really knew how to get the most out of them. He was just the right combination of quirky and serious.
We were not needed to drive any of the kids home as most of their parent came for the concert even though our group made up the smallest percentage of kids. I got to hang out with the wife all day, had a free lunch and an awesome donut and (the best part) earn serious husband / father brownie points. All in all, not a bad day.
Jon
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