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– by Louise Jarvis
We are compassionate, caring volunteers, singing to those at end of life and their families. We offer comfort with our voices.
The Owen Sound Serenity Singers have been practicing together for six years. In my search for the exact date, I found an email from 2017 which explains how we began:
My own inspiration comes from a short talk I heard in Victoria, BC, in 2013, about their Threshold Choir and a book called On Breath of Song, by the Hallowell Singers in Vermont. I think it's required reading for this group. It's a wonderful book, full of stories and suggestions and a very easy read.
Our first meeting was on April 25, 2017. We all read that book, and learned three songs which we recently sang at a bedside in the Owen Sound hospital.
They are still among our favourites:
Holy Angels (Sara Thomsen)
How Could Anyone Ever Tell You (Libby Roderick)
Until March 2020, we practiced and sang weekly in Chapman House, but when Covid set in, we moved our practices online.
Amazing how it helped us keep our spirits up through those housebound years, and we began to dedicate our practices to those we knew who were suffering. More and more, our singing felt like a blessing to ourselves and others.
Finally, we met in person in Ruth's beautiful condo overlooking the harbour in the fall of 2022 (thank you Ruth!) but have now moved our practices to the Tone Yoga Studio. Many thanks to Kathryn Braul for opening her doors to us.
After three years of quietly singing together, it's time to let the wider community know who we are and what we do.
Recently, we made a presentation to the VON volunteers at their appreciation luncheon in the Tara Legion hall. We sang a few of our songs and spoke about what it means to sing this kind of music.
On Sunday, June 11, we will offer an Open House in St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Sanctuary from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. We invite you to join us to learn more about the service we offer the community.
Please visit our Facebook page for more information.
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media release, Serenity Singers of Owen Sound
