13th Annual Watermelon Chorus

13th Annual Watermelon Chorus
By Sister Hazel Nutt Budder

This year we celebrated the arrival of the Christmas Season with our traditional Community Chorus singing the regionally famous “Watermelon Chorus”.  Readers may remember that two years ago it was moved from the assembly room of the Beloved Carnegie Library to the big meeting room at the Pappy Yokum Masonic Lodge #149.

The crowd was even larger than ever with over 487 attending.  In spite of the unfortunate flu bug that nearly ruined the first community chorus event, this writer has put her chin up, swallowed a great deal of pride and given the community what it asked for...the “Watermelon Chorus” in place of the Hallelujah Chorus.  There is, of course, no accounting for taste in some communities.  In spite of this writer’s objections, the vote of the committee was magnanimous, so this writer went along, knowing there will be stars in my crown for the suffering I do here on this earth.

The ladies of the community did a fine job making choir robes out of flour sacks we have saved for the last twelve years just for this event.  It would have been nice if the little flower prints had matched on each flour sack, but it was lovely all the same.  Several of the larger men, Rancey Sams in particular will have to wait till next year to have a back to their robe pieced and sewn.  It wasn’t obvious unless Rancey turned around.

Many thanks to all the chorus members, Miss Hazel Mosely for playing the organ and Mrs. Myrtle Collins for doing a bang up job on the piano.