2006 Atlantic Tour
2006 Atlantic Tour
Saengerfest Men's Chorus in rehearsal
Thursday, June 8th, 2006 saw 70 VWMC choristers plus spouses and friends head to Boston for the start of a two week concert tour. Our hosts, the Saengerfest Men's Chorus greeted us with a fabulous lobster lunch before sharing the stage at our first concert, on Friday evening, June 9th at Brookline High School. The next day both choirs performed again at an afternoon concert in Malden's First Baptist Church-a benefit for handicapped children.
A long bus ride on Sunday, June 11th, took us to Moncton, New Brunswick, with a stop in Portland, Maine to visit Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's family home. After such an exhausting journey (10 hours on the bus), we were grateful to have a the next day devoted exclusively to sightseeing-even if we were transported by bus. The tide in the Bay of Fundy was low enough for us to spend a wonderful couple of hours at Hopewell Rocks before heading to St. John for dinner overlooking the famous Reversing Falls.
Hopewell Rocks, Bay of Fundy (Don Blake photo)
Tuesday, June 13th was a working day, with a concert at St. Mary's Church in Miramichi, New Brunswick, sponsored by St. Mary's and the 49th Miramichi Folk Festival. A superb local group, the Malaika Choir, performed a set as well.
Wednesday was a travel day, with the choir and entourage heading to Summerside, PEI over the Confederation Bridge, after a stop at Fort Beausejour National Historic Site. This was the first trip over this amazing span for many of us. What would a visit to the island province be without a trip to Green Gables? After checking into our hotel, we did the "tourist thing", following up a stroll through Green Gables with another lobster feast. Armies are not the only groups that travel on their stomachs.
Lobster dinner, Cavendish, PEI (Don Blake photo)
Thursday, June 15th, after a visit to the historic Founders' Hall in Charlottetown, we performed our fourth concert, with the Summerside Community Choir at Trinity United Church.
The next morning we took the sea route back to the mainland, crossing the Northumberland Strait from Wood Island to Nova Scotia. After a stop for lunch and a visit to the Stellarton Mining Museum, we continued on to Baddeck on Cape Breton Island for a three night stay at the Inverary Resort.
Much needed R&R was temporarily suspended for another choral highlight. Saturday evening ( June 17th) we performed with the renowned miners' choir, the Men of the Deeps at the Lady of Fatima Church in Sydney River, The audience was undoubtedly the most enthusiastic we have ever performed before. They responded to virtually every song with a standing ovation!
WMC founding members Dave Gilder & Gwyn Evans
flank Men of the Deeps founding member Bobby Roper
(Don Blake photo)
Sunday was tourist time again, at least for those who could tear themselves away from the pleasures of Inverary Resort. Those who could face the thought of another day on a bus were treated to a grand tour of the Cabot Trail. It's difficult to keep the VWMC from singing so it was no surprise that our trip included a stop at historic St. Peter's Church in Chéticamp for an impromptu set (a.k.a. guerilla concert) heard only by the church staff.
On Monday we hit the road for our final stop-the beautiful city of Halifax. The next day, to avoid overwhelming the various attractions with a large group, we split up with some taking in the Annapolis Valley and the remainder exploring the Halifax Citadel before paying a visit to Pier 21, the last standing immigration shed in Canada and the main port of entry into Canada (from 1928 to 1970) for thousands of immigrants, including several choir members or their parents.
Peggy's Cove (Ron Tucker graphic)
Where did the time go? Day 14, Wednesday, June 21st, was our last opportunity for sightseeing. We were blessed once more with fabulous weather as we took in Mahone Bay, Peggy's Cove and Lunenberg. At 6:30 pm it was time to set off for our final concert-with Nova Voce male voice choir at First Baptist Church, Halifax. Like all the others, this concert was sold out, providing a fitting climax to a fantastic two week tour--six concerts, hundreds of satisfied concert-goers and countless memories.
VWMC & Nova Voce in farewell concert
