A Final Tribute to England

On Saturday October 6th at 7:00 PM the Tour Choir from the England Tour will gather at St. Peters Erindale to sing a selection of music from the tour and present a multi-media slide show to accompany this musical adventure. The Choir will welcome James Mooney-Dutton and Miss Hannah Allchin from the UK for this performance.



This is a free concert, free-will dontations can be made at the end of the performance to the St. Peters Music Ministry.

Precious memories can never be stolen from us.

My dear friends, I hope that in the days ahead as we all reflect on our life changing 2007 choir tour; I pray that each of us can take time to share some thoughts of the trip on this blog. To Chantal and I those memories are treasures that simply cannot be stolen.

I choose the title of this entry carefully, as many of you know our Camera disappeared from our lives during our day trip to Windsor. Many of the photos you all enjoy on this site were taken with that camera and thanks to Don we all can enjoy many of the images from it.

What you may not know is that this camera was a wedding gift that we purchased for each other, the year we got married. It has allowed us to remember such treasured memories over the past few years. It continued to do so during this tour, at least until it departed from our lives. All good things must come to an end I guess.

Or will it? You see my friend’s that is the beauty of memories. Especially, the memories captured in the photos and videos that we all have taken but specially, those moments in our hearts and minds, they are apart of us now and as we sang together in Lincoln, Windsor and Southwark we certainly made a difference in many of the lives of those who heard us.

So I say to you this Sunday morning August 26th 2007, post choir tour. All is not lost, as long as we share those moments with each other, in the stories we tell and write down and keep near our hearts.

God Bless you all my dear friends and thank you for the memories.

Highlights and Landmarks

Singing at Southwark, recalling the view from the choir stalls, recognising the familiar sights and smells, conjuring memories of pranks in secret places from long ago. Performing Howells ... flawlessly. The look on Don's face as he uttered those immortal words ... "You are now a Cathedral Choir." The organ loft at Lincoln, witnessing a master organist at work. The Chapel, prior to the service, wandering around savouring the history and grandeur. The privilege. Lincoln lit by night, the ancient stone aglow. The exhileration of aching calves following a brisk walk up Steep Hill ... followed by the final scaling of the spiral stairs to the choir school. The "moments" ... one voice drifting away into the very fabric of the building. Mr. Precentor singing along to Don's special anthem in the Chapter House. The sense of belonging ... being part of an unbroken history. Cementing the Canadian reputation for good food and copious drink. The camaraderie. The sense of achievement, and of a job well done. Richard

I just had to write....

It's our (Tina and Don) last Saturday in England and guess what! I'm going to get to wear my shorts today! Yes the sun is out and it's going to be warm. We are going boating on the Thames today with our friends Kim and Dave and their son Alex. We'll cruise from Reading down to Windsor for a picnic and then back. Should be a wonderful day.

We'll be back in Canada tomorrow and looking forward to seeing the kids.

From Reading England.
Don

Home Sweet Home

Well, the first load of choristers are home from our journey to the UK. The flight was good, longer than on the way over and a bit of turbulance, but pretty good. I was thinking we would get back home in time to see Veronica before her bedtime, since we made it through customs fairly quickly....but that hope was dashed when the luggage carousel broke down as it was bringing out bags out.

There was some confusion to what carousel to switch to, but we eventually got our bags and got home around 9pm.

It seems strange, but also good to be at home. Looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight (no dorm room and walking down the hall to the toilet, and no sinking into the middle of the bed!).

My favourite part of the trip I think was our time in Lincoln. I felt part of the church as we got used to the space and got to know the people there. Windsor was great - amazing to sing in the chapel where kings and queens have walked before us - not so great in terms of our camera though. London was lots of fun too, but we could have used an extra week or two to see all that the city has to offer. We'll just have to go back.....................

Safe jouney back!!

Hi everyone!

I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past 2 weeks and thank all of you for such an amazing time! It has been great getting to know you all, and to be able to sing with you. As some of you know I've taken some time off from Church singing (at least on a regular basis) while I persue other career paths, and it has been great to come back to. I couldn't have found a better and more dedicated group of people to spend my time with and sing with.

James told me that you guys knew how to party, and you certainly lived up to expectations and beyond. I've been wanting to come to Canada for some time.... Now I know I have no choice!! :) I'm excited already.

I hope everyone has safe journeys home, whenever you may be leaving...

See you very soon!

Hannah x

Thursday Morning - Travel Day

This will be my last Blog Entry. I will now leave this to the choir members to complete their memories here.

Each and every choir member should be extremely proud of their singing while in England. Last nights gathering was of mixed feelings, joy and sadness, pride and strength.

The bus will carry many of the choir to Heathrow this morning for a 3:15 flight home. They will all rest in their beds tonight.

Here are some pictures from yesterdays adventures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/stpeterschoiruktour/England2007Day12

Safe journey home my friends.
Don