NSCF History – We Need Your Input!
Dear NSCF members and friends,
We need your help. Not money or physical labour, or billeting, or return of overdue music, or
concert dates, or volunteer tasks – or any of the things we usually ask you for. This won’t hurt
and you’ll probably find it fun.
We are currently compiling a Nova Scotia Choral Federation history document. The decision to
do this was sparked by Tim’s retirement announcement. He has certainly earned some free
time and peace for his next adventures. But we don’t want to lose decades of institutional
memory when he hands over the Executive Director’s position in June.
A lot has happened in the Choral Federation’s 47 years. The history is all here but it’s in many
files and documents – and in Tim’s head.
This project will not result in a dull weighty book. Our goal is a living document where future
staff and volunteers can find concise, clear information they need from the past and can add to
it in the future.
The sifting and sorting and collecting and summarizing is in hand. That work will give us the
‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, and ‘how’ of our past. But it will not give a full picture of why it all
mattered. This is where you come in.
We want this living document to capture the energy and warm, vibrant soul of the organization.
Why did so many of Nova Scotia’s young people start out as JCCers and keep coming to our
programs through their teens? Did choral singing influence a career decision for someone in
your family? Why does a particular oratorio chorus or Here’s to Song evoke a powerful memory
for you? Did you drive home from Berwick surrounded by dirty clothes and bedding with your
child enthusing about Cabin Fever? Or maybe your passenger was a quiet teenager fingering a
bracelet of threads made on a very special evening. What Hollywood Night skit will you never
forget? Were you ever part of the ‘scotch tape and eraser brigade’ for a music mending work
session, or a Sobeys grocery tape counting party? Was there a special guest conductor or
counsellor or gopher whose name still makes you smile?
Please send us your memories – hilarious, tender, profound, embarrassing (just don’t
embarrass other people without their blessing, please!) – we want them all. There’s no
maximum word length but short and sweet is always good.
Email to paddymuir@gmail.com Or if a handwritten note by snail mail works best for you,
that’s fine too. The office will collect and make sure they get to the right place. And please pass
this message along to anyone you know who may have been involved with NSCF in the past but
now lives elsewhere.
If we could have your contributions by the end of January that would be terrific. Thank you!
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