Chatham Cultural Center Choir holding 40th reunion celebration

A reunion to celebrate the Chatham Cultural Center Chorale will provide an opportunity for more than 300 people to share in the joy of singing.

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The celebration to mark the 40th year since the choir began is being held Sept. 8 and organizers are calling on past members, their families as well as those who enjoyed the performances to take part.

The choir was founded by Alma Carter, who had led a choir class at St. Clair College for the University of Windsor in the early 1980s.

Carter said the women participating in the course were not interested in earning a credit, they just wanted to sing. She added when the university dropped the course, the women questioned why they couldn’t just continue somewhere else.

She recalled discussing how she was going to miss the class with a neighbor who was the manager of the Chatham Cultural Center at the time.

Carter was offered a rehearsal room at the cultural center and “that’s how we became the Chatham Cultural Center Chorale.”

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They decided to open the choir to men and put an advertisement in the newspaper to invite people to join, she said. In September 1984, 34 people showed up to audition and they put on a Christmas concert that year.

“We had so little time to really get up and running we shared the program with the Chatham Concert Band,” Carter said.

In 2003, Carter asked Cindy Waddick to take over leading the choir.

Although Waddick recalls telling Carter she was very busy and it wasn’t a good time, she took on the role anyway.

“It ended up being an amazing experience with a great group of people,” she said.

Waddick said the membership evolved but they always maintained a good group.

There were up to 70 members at the choir’s peak and more than 300 people have gone through the choir, Carter said.

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“One of the wonderful things was the community the group had,” Waddick said. “We had a lot of fun.”

The choir hasn’t functioned since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but Carter and Waddick wanted to recognize the 40 years since it began.

Carter said they have no idea how many people will show up.

“It’s open to anyone who would like to come.”

The reunion celebration is being held at the Chatham Capitol Theater lounge, which is wheelchair accessible, from 2 pm to 4 pm on Sept. 8. To attend, RSVP to [email protected].

Carter and Waddick said they plan to hand out a few songs and have fun singing them. There will also be an in memoriam area for the more than 50 past choir members who have passed away.

[email protected]

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