December's Christmas Singing and Other Reminders...

by Darryl Criss, Newsletter Editor

Hello Everyone. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

The Shiloh Singers Dec, singing will be Sunday Dec. 8th, at 1:30 at the Meeting Hall of The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History.

This will be our Christmas singing, as we will enjoy several Christmas related selections from the Sacred Harp songbook along with our regular fare.

We also encourage any who are inclined to bring snacks for our fellowship time to celebrate the season.

As always, all are welcome to meet for Lunch at AQ chicken beforehand. We gather around noon.

Also, a few other events of note:
Sunday night after the singing Dan Brittain. our Director of Music, will be in a concert in Rogers at the First Nazarene Church. The concert starts at 6:00 P.M. Several of our members plan on attending the concert after our singing.

And on Monday. our friend, Norma Dickerson, will be singing in the Cross Church Christmas program at the Pinnacle location at 7 p.m.

Lots going on at this wonderful time. Hope to see everyone Sunday.

P.S. Brings snacks! LOL
(That sounds suspiciously like a B.R. note!)

Back to a normal schedule for November!

Hello friends and neighbors.

Hope November is treating you well. I am told that our Fall All Day Sing was a great success. We over 25 singers from several states. Even though, due to illness, funerals and a trip to Alaska, our Bass section was a little thin, a wonderful time was had by all and I’m so sorry I had to miss this year.

Our next singing will be Sunday Nov. 10, at 1:30 at the Meeting Hall of The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. Visitors are always welcome to the singing as well as the before singing gathering at AQ Chicken in Springdale at noon for lunch. 

The 4th Sunday Singing at the West Fork Library Meeting Hall 
restarts this month from 1:30 to 3:30 on November 24th. 

Update: The December schedule looks like we can have both our singings early in the month before it gets too close to Christmas. Please let us know if we need to make any adjustments for events that may not already be on everyone's calendar. 

Thanks to Darryl for getting the newsletter out this month and starting the text for this short post on the web site. We'll try to add pictures from the Fall singing and any updates as time permits. 

October is a good month for traditional singing opportunities...

Shiloh Meeting Hall, Shiloh Museum of Ozark History

We hope you enjoy singing in historic buildings that now meet modern standards and are wonderful places to sing. We're really looking forward to hosting the 2019 Northwest Arkansas Fall Singing, on October 26th.  There will be three events:

Sunday, October 13th from 1:30 P.M. until 4:00 P.M. - The regular October Singing in the Shiloh Meeting Hall for singers, guests and visitors who are invited to sing along with us on any 2nd Sunday of the month except March when the group declares a recess for singers to sing with the Missouri Singing Convention in an 1870's church north of Washington, Missouri. There will likely be a short planning session for any last minute details for the 2019 Northwest Arkansas Fall Singing and Friday night Singing School.

Friday evening, October 25th from 6:30 P. M. until 8:00 P.M. - The Northwest Arkansas Fall Singing School starts off the schedule at the Shiloh Meeting Hall with an open-to-all singing class for those who are interested in learning more about Sacred Harp music as it was traditionally sung in the 1800's. We are honored to have a very accomplished Sacred Harp singer and musician, Mr. Cory Winter as our class instructor.  Regular singers will also be present to help new singers learn the basics.

Shiloh Singers, Alexis Walker, Cory Winter and Margaux
Burleson lead Missouri State Singing Convention

Saturday, October 26th from 9:30 A.M. until 3:30 P.M. - The Big Event is the Northwest Arkansas Fall Singing, all-day singing and dinner on the grounds at the Shiloh Meeting Hall. The singers will break around noon and enjoy a pot-luck lunch. Singers who attend are invited to bring their best dish and a small cooler if the dish needs refrigeration. The original kitchen was removed to make more room in the hall, but a supporting pillar was preserved on which one of the church cooks made a note that plates were borrowed for another event. That was long before "sticky notes" were invented.

We're hoping to introduce the historic building to visiting singers all around the area who will be using the Shiloh Meeting Hall for the first time. The Shiloh Museum of Ozark History has every reason to be proud of their efforts to preserve this historic building and allow its use for other events in the Springdale area such as weddings, board meetings, programs, etc.

There is one trade-off involved. After singing on Friday night and all day on Saturday, several of the West Fork singing group, which also sings in a refurbished church building, suggested we recess the West Fork monthly event in October to allow our vocal cords to rest and recover a little before the following work week. The group approved in September and the next West Fork Singing will be on November 24th. Be sure to check the "Important Dates" section of the web page each month for new announcements.

The Shiloh Singers of NWA really enjoy singing in the refurbished Shiloh Meeting Hall which continues to see improvements to the building and grounds. The original building served the congregations of several Springdale churches, and as meeting hall for two fraternal organizations. The historic building continues that tradition of over a century.