Last March, Valley Echoes applied for a free booth at the Canada Women’s Expo in Abbotsford. We followed that up with another application in June and multiple emails. When we still didn’t receive a reply by the end of September we thought it wasn’t going to happen as the Expo dates were Oct. 18-20. Unexpectedly, on Sunday Oct. 13,  we were notified that we had been given a booth. YIKES – that’s only a few days away! Did we want to do this on such short notice? Could we, such a small chorus, have enough people to man the booth? We have no banners or advertising materials can we get them done in time? Oct 15, at chorus, we took it to the members and yes, we decided we would do it!  Wednesday night a quick Zoom meeting to distribute tasks and off we go.  - Shift sign up & scheduling ✓ - Banner created & printed ✓ - Brochures created & printed ✓ - Draw forms created & printed  ✓ .. oh wait we need a carpet for the booth, okay got it ✓. And on the list went. Thursday evening was initial setup and Friday the Expo started. Whew! We made it.

13 members of Valley Echoes were able to man the booth. 13 members! There were 3 scheduled to be there at all times but often there were many more.  We sang chorus songs (when all parts were present). Jazz It Up! sang some songs when they were all present. When there were not all parts present we sang rounds and even some vocal work and arpeggios when people were interested and wanted to try some singing. One woman came up and asked if she could sing “You are my Sunshine” with us because it’s the only song she knows in English  - so of course we sang it with her and she absolutely performed it!.   

We were repeatedly asked “How many sign-ups have you had” and we explained we were not necessarily there to get sign ups but to get women singing. Our opening to passersby was “Hi! Where do you do your singing?” The most frequent responses were “in the shower” or “in the car where nobody can hear me” followed by “You don’t want to hear me sing!” It was sad how many people have been told, at some point in their lives, that they shouldn’t sing. We talked about the health benefits of singing in a group and encouraged every single person we spoke with to sing. We gave out our phone numbers and email addresses and encouraged people to contact us and we would put them in touch with a chorus near them. It is wonderful how many people have done just that and we have pointed them to Lions Gate, Westcoast and Peace Arch locally as well as to other choruses in the region including Kelowna and Red Deer!  Saturday was World Singing Day – what a perfect opportunity to promote singing - and if even one person began singing because of our booth we consider the entire weekend a success!

We represented ourselves, Region 26 and SAI with great pride and joy and we are determined to continue asking those we meet “Where do you do your singing!

Valley Echoes Chorus