By Erv Skaar
July, 2010
Last Sunday, our pastor asked the church membership, "What is your story?" Of course he had a story to tell and ended up asking us some questions. It got me thinking: What is my story?
My thoughts went back to my college days and activities such as theater in the round put on by the "Punchinello" Players. And the Lutheran Student Association (LSA) had a choir that toured the state on weekends or between quarters. The St. Paul Campus Chorus and my life partner to-be sang a solo "Silent Night" in German at a Christmas program in the early '50s. The LSA choir had a musical arrangement of St. Francis of Assisi that had a narration part that I tried out for, and I was selected to be the narrator. It was the only solo in the program. The choir visited all the home town churches of the members during the year between quarters. We visited Almelund, Zumbrota, Thief River Falls, Ada, and many towns in between.
Since my college days, my wife and I had sung in the church choir and several community choirs until her hearing deteriorated to the point she needed surgery. That helped but didn't help enough to make her want to continue singing. The Cambridge Swedish Festival Male Chorus and the senior choir at church continue to be part of my volunteer activities.
[Note from Cart to Cupboard: Thanks to Erv for sharing his story with us!]
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