June is another busy month...

Updated: 06-17-19  Thanks to Darryl Criss for his solo effort getting out the email newsletter before the regular 2nd Sunday Singing in the Shiloh Meeting Hall. Sometimes life just gets in the way of doing the things we want to do. But in the meantime, we'll reprint his June message for the archive and add a few reports from other events:

Old Washington United Methodist Church

Hello All! 

I hope this email finds you all well. I haven't heard of any of our friends or members who were affected by the storms and flooding of the last few weeks , but our prayers go out to you if you were.

Along with this crazy weather. this year has gone along a seemingly break neck pace and we already find ourselves in June. The second Sunday is upon us and our regular monthly singing we be held at the Meeting Hall of the Shiloh Museum from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm. The hall located one block north of the Shiloh Museum's barn.

Cory Winters leads a new composition.

Both old and new singers are welcome to join the "singers table" at AQ Chicken at noon on the 2nd Sunday Singing in Springdale.

Also, don't forget the 4th Sunday Singing at the West Fork Library  Meeting Hall from 1:30 to 3:30.

The only calendar item I have, at this time, is the Annual Shape Note Singing School and Gathering with an All Day Singing on Saturday, Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, AR  July 11th - 13th.

Finally, a few weeks ago, Dan, Corey and myself attended the All-Day Singing in Washington, AR.  It was a great time with wonderful singing, fellowship and food. I have shared a few pictures below.  

Hope everyone has a good Saturday and hope to see you on Sunday. 

God bless

Darryl 

***

If you'd like to get on the Shiloh Singers mailing list, Darryl's email address is listed in the sidebar on the right side of this webpage. Just send him a note as ask him to add you to the list.

The second week in June was also the week for the FASOLA Summer camp for adults held in Alabama each year.  Dan Brittain, (on right) director, composer and our local version of "The Music Man" and Syd Caldwell, our designated good-will singing ambassador to the rest of the world was also at the camp. Both of them paused just long enough to take a picture with their FASOLA T-shirts, but they both look like they were having a good time. Syd reported that he and Dan enjoyed all the singing and seeing so many friends from other groups who attended.

I'll try to follow-up with more of the latest info on the annual Shape Note Gathering and Singing School at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View in a few days. 

And finally, please don't forget the 4th Sunday Singing which provides more practice for new singers to become better singers and informal singing school for any new singers who just want to learn more about singing the songs that our ancestors knew and likely sang on their way west. We appreciate the West Fork Library and dedicated singers who helped and want to make it a success. 

Thanks to Darryl and Syd for the pictures. Sing on....

Early Summer Singings

Our next 2nd Sunday singing will be June 10th from 1:30 to 4 at the Shiloh Museum. As per usual, those interested can meet at AQ Chicken at noon for lunch.

The Shiloh Museum is quickly finishing construction on the Odd Fellow's Hall, and plan a dedication on Saturday June 30th , likely at 10am, but the time is not set in stone. Allyn Lord, the museum's director, has suggested that we might sing at the dedication, so we'll take a head count of those who think they can attend at our meeting on June 10th, and firm up any details.

Soon after, July 5-7, will be the Annual Shape Note Singing in Mountain View, AR. This will be a weekend full of shape note singing, including singing and teaching sessions with Dan Brittain and Gaylon Powell, and singing from both four-shape and seven-shape books. Follow the links above and below for more information. Mountain View Maps to the Ozark Folk Center Gathering and Saturday, July 7th Schedule.

We had a wonderful time at our NWA Shiloh Singing Convention on May 5th at St. John's Episcopal Church. Over the course of the day, we had around 25 singers total in attendance. Donations were raised to cover the cost of the minutes books and the use of the St. Johns's Kitchen; we agreed the remainder would go to St. John's efforts toward reconstructing their daycare into a landing place for women and families facing domestic abuse.

Our regular singing on May 12th, Mother's day, was also quite lively. Thank you all for your kindness to my grandmother when she visited; she really enjoyed hearing our music and meeting some of the folks I sing with. It was a wonderful Mother's Day for us!

At both meetings, we announced the transition from B.R. managing the website and newsletter to Darryl and Margaux covering the jobs between them; Darryl will send out the newsletter and Margaux will manage the website.  I think we'll all miss B.R.'s warm style, but he's ready for a rest, and so he's passed the torch to Darryl and I.  Thank you, B.R., for your work all these years, and for your training these last months. And we thank all of you in advance for your patience.

July Shape-Note Gathering in Mountain View and Shiloh Singers Monthly Singing in Springdale

It's time for the 2017 Shape-Note Gathering! Starting with an orientation on Thursday evening, July 6, then continued on Friday, July 7, with singing seminars conducted by nationally respected instructors, and concluding with a traditional all-day singing on Saturday, July 8, in the former Mountain View High School Auditorium. 

For those who want a short version from the Ozark Folk Center website:

Venues Ozark Folk Center- Music Auditorium and White Oak Theater, Stone Co. Historical Society

Admission/Registration No admission fees or preregistration required. Participants will enter thru the front doors at the Large Auditorium Friday morning and will be given badges there to allow movement thru the park on Friday ONLY. All participants should check in and enter via the front doors at the Large Auditorium. 

Introduction to Shape-Note Singing concert/discussion Thursday Eve- 6 PM - 6:45 PM - White Oak Auditorium (Administration Building), Ozark Folk Center, this is an open event, no admission charge. 

Friday Singing and Teaching Seminar Dan Brittain and Gaylon Powell will lead singing and teaching sessions on the stage of the main auditorium at the Ozark Folk Center.  The morning session will run from 9 AM to 11:30 and the afternoon session from 1:30 PM until 4.  Those attending the shape-note sessions only can enter free of charge at the front entrance of the auditorium.  Crafts ground visitors may come and go to the shape-note session via the rear entrance of the auditorium. Participants in the singing will be featured as part of the performance at the Ozark Folk Center’s nightly concert. 

Saturday Singing A traditional singing, using both four-shape and seven-shape books will be held in the old Mountain View High School auditorium on School Avenue, one block south of East Main (the turn is between Best Drug Store and Conoco) in Mountain View.  The morning session will run from 9 AM until noon and the afternoon session from 1:30 AM until 4 PM.

The Saturday all-day singing is a chance for the seminar students to put what they've learned into practice and is open to anyone - young, old, new or experienced singers. Whoever wants to sit in and enjoy shape-note singing from a variety of song books is welcome. Loaner books will be available. 

Thanks to the Ozark Folk Center and the Stone County Historical Society for the use of their facilities. There are no admission or registration fees for the instruction. No pot luck lunch is planned for Friday or Saturday. A variety of restaurants are available in Mountain View. Several are listed on the map linked below or use your favorite search engine for more selections. If you still need motel reservations, don't wait too long.

PDF Map to Ozark Folk Center and Old Mountain View High School

Finally, I should repeat the reminder that the Shiloh Singers of NWA will be back at the General Store on Sunday, July 9th at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History General Store with singing from 1:30 until 4:00 PM. If you arrive early, singers and visitors are welcome to join us at AQ Chicken House on Bus. 71, just a couple of blocks north of the museum about noon for lunch and fellowship.

With all the singing going on next weekend, I certainly hope you can get to a singing somewhere. I'll hope to see you there!

Sunday Singing at the Shiloh Museum on August 9th

This has been one of those weeks when neither my schedule, the Greek financial bailout, nor the famous Italian trains would have run "on time." The best thing I can say about this week is that the Shiloh Singers will be meeting and singing in the General Store on the grounds of the Shiloh Museum in Springdale on Sunday afternoon, Aug. 9th, at 1:30 and we'll all get to sing in the company of friends. That's always a good way to end a busy week.

We also need to discuss and start planning for the October NW Arkansas Sacred Harp Fall Singing Convention and Singing School on October 23rd and 24th. Thanks to Syd Caldwell and the always helpful staff at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History, Much of the planning framework has already been sketched out.

Syd has arranged for Robert Vaughn, a 5th generation Sacred Harp singer, author, composer and ordained Baptist minister from Mount Enterprise, TX to conduct the convention's annual singing school on Oct. 23rd, the evening before the all day singing on Saturday. In fact, this weekend, Robert will be leading and singing at the 148th East Texas Convention in Henderson, TX.

Photo: Robert Vaughn leading the singers at Historic Washington (AR) United Methodist Church on March 22, 2015.

What we think we know about the schedule and enough to start marking your calendar if it's not already added to your October page:

Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 - 6:30 P.M. until 8:30 P.M. - NWA Fall Sacred Harp Convention Singing School
Location: Shiloh Museum General Store, 118 W. Johnson Avenue, Springdale, AR 72764
Instructor: Robert L. Vaughn, Mount Enterprise, TX
Beginner class for those new to sacred harp singing or who want to learn more about the fundamentals of 4-note shape note singing.

Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015 - 9:30 A.M. until 3:30 P.M. - NWA Fall Sacred Harp Convention
Location: 1st Security Bank Community Room, 110 North Main Street (south of drive-in bank), Springdale, AR 72764.
All day singing with pot luck lunch at noon. Singing will be from The Sacred Harp (Denson Book), Missouri Harmony, and B. F. White Sacred Harp (Cooper Book, 2006 Ed.). Loaner books are available. Visitors, new singers and their children welcome.

For those of you who instantly recognized that on Saturday, Oct. 24th, the University of Arkansas Razorbacks will play the Auburn Tigers in Fayetteville. Unless there is a late October hurricane or an early winter snow storm, there's an excellent chance that most hotels and motels will approach their capacity on Friday and Saturday nights. While there are at least 20 hotels and motels listed by Google in the Springdale area, if you plan to stay overnight in the Fayetteville/Springdale area on a Razorback football weekend, please consider making your room reservations earlier than normal this year. To help that process, Syd has reserved two small blocks of rooms in Springdale in his name with premium or budget rates for the event, but the convention rates are only good for a limited time: the HOTEL RESERVATION DEADLINE IS AUGUST 21, 2015. After that, the block of rooms will be released and regular room rates will be in effect based on the market and availability.
Comfort Suites, 1099 Rieff St. Springdale, Phone: 479-725-1777 - 4 stars - $149.00/night
Heritage Inn Springdale, 1394 W. Sunset Ave. Springdale Phone: 479-751-3100 - 2 stars - $69.00/night

Singers who earn points with a favorite hotel or motel chain or use their favorite hotel booking agent like Expedia or Trivago can use their own system to search for competitive rates on their own, but please start early!

As we get closer to the actual singing convention dates, I'm sure there will be additional information and I'll post the usual maps and a flyer you can download, print and share on the Shiloh Singers website. And if the schedule works better next week, I may actually get a chance to post some of the other items I had planned for this month's edition of the newsletter. Watch this space.

Photo: Dan Brittain teaching the next generation of shape note singers at the July 11th Ozark Folk Center Shape Note Gathering.

One more thing: For those who plan to attend the Aug. 9th singing and can get to the AQ Chicken House in Springdale around noon or a little later, there's an open table of Shiloh Singers usually in the back enjoying one of AQ's many fine dishes before the singing and catching up with friends and fellow singers. There's also coffee and ice cream at Denny's after the singing. Both events are open to all singers and we can usually add chairs or bump more tables together if we need more space. You are invited.

Hope to see you in Springdale on Sunday...

July Sacred Harp Events make a busy schedule...

July is shape note singing month in the Ozarks. Everyone has the opportunity to get involved in the shape note singing tradition with the Ozark Folk Center hosting their annual Shape Note Gathering on July 9-11, 2015 in Mountain View. According to the latest schedule I've seen, minor adjustments were made to the schedule and maps added for the Thursday through Saturday events:

July 9, Thursday
A short introductory singing and discussion at 6:00 until 6:45 P.M. to introduce the event in the small White Oak Auditorium located in the Administration Building.  Folks can go to the main show in the theater and buses will be available afterwards to take attendees directly to the main auditorium for the evening program.

July 10, Friday - On the stage of the Folk Center Auditorium, a presentation of all the oblong shape note books in use today. We will have samples from each to sing from.
9:00 A.M. - 11:30 A.M. - Morning session
11:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. - Lunch
1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. - Afternoon session
4:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M. - Dinner
7:00 P.M. - The singers will sing as part of the regular Friday evening show.

July 11, Saturday- An exciting new event for the Folk Center as part of the weekend gathering. There will be an All-Day singing at the Stone County Historical Society in the Old High School Building at 204 School Ave., just off of Main Street in Mountain View.
10:00 A.M. - 11:35 A.M. - Morning session
11:35 A.M. - 1:00 P.M. - Lunch (Click the map thumbnail for nearby restaurants.)
1:00 P.M. - 3:30 P.M. - Afternoon session      
Just a reminder to plan on a Dutch treat for lunch. We called it "foraging" on your own when I was in the Army. Of course, we will try to update the Shiloh website if updates become available. The original Ozark Folk Center Announcement is at: http://www.ozarkfolkcenter.com/events/?isofc=1&id=2325

Then on Sunday, July 12th, knowing that not everyone can get to Mountain View on Saturday, we still plan on having our regular monthly singing in Springdale in the General Store from 1:30 until 4:00 P.M. following the normal Sunday schedule. The normal lunch group will be at AQ's Chicken House around noon for lunch and we'll see who might be available for post-singing pie and coffee at Denny's near the Interstate afterwards. This really sounds like a good four days of singing and I certainly hope you can sing at one or more of the events. We'll also bring an extra fan or two to keep things as cool as we can.

Photo: Cory Winters leading the Shiloh Singers on June 14th in Springdale at the Shiloh Museum's General Store. 

In Other News - The Shiloh Singers get-together on Sunday, June 14th, enjoyed a good turnout with 20 singers. The fans kept things fairly cool. Thanks to all who attended.

Shut-ins - Holly Childs, one of our faithful tenors, has spent several days in the hospital after surgery and her daughter, Lisa, has reported positive results and a good prognosis for getting back home in the next few days. Prayers for her speedy full recovery will be appreciated, I'm sure. Holly, we'll miss you this Sunday, but hope you'll feel better by our August singing. Please let us know if there are others that need to be added to the prayer list for the Sunday singing.

That's about all the news I know to print. We hope we'll see you in Mountain View or Springdale this long singing weekend.

Ozark Folk Center schedules Shape-Note Singing and Singing School July 11 and 12

Ozarks Folk Center

Thanks to Dan Brittain for passing along the following announcement from Gaylon Powell in Jarrell, Texas on the Shape-Note Singing and Singing School to be held at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View in July:

Shape-note singers will convene on the stage of the large auditorium at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas, on Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12.  A continuous singing/singing school will be led by Gaylon Powell and Dan Brittain, both well known in the nationwide (and beyond) Sacred Harp and shape-note world.   Holly Ruth Gale and Charley Sandage will assist. These sessions will run each morning and afternoon on both days from 9am to 12 Noon and from 1pm to 4pm on each day. Participating singers will be invited to join in the evening musical performance in the auditorium on Friday night.

If you plan to come to the Ozark Folk Center on those days for singing only, you can come in at no cost at the front entrance of the auditorium.  If you're visiting the craft area and want to drop in and sing or just to listen and learn, you can enter directly from the grounds through the back entrance of the auditorium.  Someone will be on hand to welcome you in traditional "all day singing" fashion.

 Additional details will be added as they become available.

Traditional Shape-Note Singing/School at Ozark Folk Center State Park on July 12 and13

Ozark Folk Ctr.

The Ozark Folk Center State Park at Mountain View will host their traditional shape-note school and singing on Friday, July 12 and Saturday, July 13. Participating singers will be part of the Friday evening program in the Ozark Folk Center State Park Auditorium. Admission to the classes is free. Call the front desk to register. Parking is available at in the main parking lot and shuttles will be running to the auditorium. Regular park fees apply for admission to the park's Craft Village. More detailed information is available at: http://www.ozarkfolkcenter.com/events/?isofc=1&id=1796