(December 2023)
Jake Spitzack
Staff Writer
After 57 years of spreading cheer in the community through lively vocal performances, the South St. Paul Choralettes have made the hard decision to disband at the end of the year. The nonprofit women’s singing ensemble typically performed eight times in the fall and six times in the spring, and occasionally presented a formal spring concert. In recent years, however, circumstances have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, increased expenses and the group’s safety concerns regarding COVID and winter travel. Members range in age from 45 to 87, and the longest standing member, Naomi Dorau, has been with the Choralettes for 53 years.
In December, the group will perform five times at assisted living facilities and once at the Town Square Television studio. The latter will be their final performance. It will be recorded and aired on channel 14 the entire month of December.
Founded in 1966 by nine women, the group was originally funded by the City of South St. Paul as singing ambassadors and performed at major city events such as Kaposia Days, veterans’ Memorial Day services, and Christmas in South St. Paul, last held in 2010. The city stopped funding the Choralettes about 20 years ago, forcing the group to fundraise through bake sales, a bingo event during Kaposia Days, working concessions at the Xcel Energy Center, and other sources. A grant from the State of Minnesota kept them humming along for several years and when those funds ran out they kept going thanks to donations from the South St. Paul Lion’s Club.
Mary George, the group’s second longest member at 44 years, has many fond memories of the group, which had 25 members at its height and now has 13. She recounted one year when she asked the director to join her on a trip to Iowa and sing at her mother’s nursing home on Mother’s Day. Apparently the other Choralettes overheard, and before she knew it nine members were eagerly piling into a 15-passenger van to make the trip with her.
“It still touches my heart,” she said. “That’s the type of caring ladies that are part of this group, and a shining example of the lifelong friendships that we’ve created.”
The group is well versed in many genres of music including Christmas, classical, show tunes, patriotic, religious and folk. People in nursing homes particularly adore oldies from the 1940s like “Sentimental Journey” and “String of Pearls,” and George said the Choralettes have been happy to bring the music to them rather than simply hold concerts like many other choral groups in the state.
A recent letter from George and another group member, Stephanie Stockton, thanked the organizations, people and places that helped keep the group active all these years, including Luther Memorial Church in South St. Paul, where the group rehearses, and Bethesda Lutheran Church in Inver Grove Heights, their original rehearsal space. The letter read, in part: “A special thank you to the very talented directors and accompanists that we have had the honor of working with throughout the years and all of the amazing women who have volunteered their time and talents to make the South St. Paul Choralettes a very special group of singers. A huge thank you to all the people that we have shared our joy of singing with throughout the Twin Cities metro area and beyond. You’ve motivated us with your laughter, smiles, tears and applause and we are so very grateful for each and every one of you. We will truly miss all of you. Remember to always keep music in your life, for it will set your spirit free.”
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