Cleveland Music Club President Easter Frady greeted members and several of their guests at the Museum Center at Five Points for the club’s monthly meeting on May 6. She thanked Ken Tucker for welcoming the club back to the Museum Center and for his personal assistance with preparations for the meeting.
Highlight of the business session was the official installation of new officers who will begin their two-year term in September when the club resumes meetings after summer recess. The ceremony was preceded by other announcements and agenda items.
Secretary Dortha Townsend conducted the roll call and read the minutes of the April meeting and Terry Barger, treasurer, presented his financial report.
Pat Meagher, who had chaired the scholarship committee, announced that the committee had chosen Adam Williams as the recipient of the club’s 2010 music scholarship award. Williams, a senior at Walker Valley High School, had impressed the committee with his baritone saxophone presentations at auditions held on April 18.
Frady, retiring from her term as the club’s president, thanked all members, in particular those who had served as officers and on committees, for their hard work and support. In exchange, everybody present thanked Frady with long-lasting applause for her tireless and unselfish efforts to lead the club through two exciting and successful years.
Special thanks to Frady were expressed by Helen Louise Stout who then proceeded with the “changing of the guard” ceremony installing the new officers in an eloquent fashion that will long be remembered. She introduced each new officer individually and presented him/her with a unique floral arrangement. She then explained to each of them the specific duties attached to the role each was assuming as an officer and requested of each new officer a pledge of willingness to execute those assigned responsibilities.
Installed were Maurine Olin, president; Martha Lessig, first vice president; Aggie Scott, second vice president; Dortha Townsend, secretary; Terry Barger, treasurer; Pat Henley, historian; Debbie Huebschman, parliamentarian; and Easter Frady, past president.
Stout closed the ceremony citing words by Edward Everett Hale, author of “The Man Without a Country,” who wrote: “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
The evening continued with “Musical Smorgasbord II,” a program directed by Pat Meagher. Participating members presented a variety of their instrumental and vocal favorites ranging from popular and folk music to classical compositions.
Martha Lessig played on the piano “As Time Goes By,” composed by Herman Hupfeld. The Cleveland Woodwind Trio with April Itson (flute), Sandy Donegan (oboe) and George Olin (clarinet) presented “Opus 87 – 1st Movement,” by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Commemorating the year of Robert Schumann’s 200th birthday, Margaret Ann Randolph played his challenging piano solo “Äusserst Bewegt,” the first of eight Movements of Kreisleriana. She then introduced two of her students as guest performers and continued to accompany both of them on the piano.
Bethany Holtsclaw (a former music scholarship winner) sang “Oh! Mio babbino caro,” from Puccini’s opera Gianni Schicchi followed by “Gretchen am Spinnrade” by Franz Schubert.
Eli Beard’s first song was “Vaga luna, che inargenti,” by Vincenzo Bellini. Next he sang “Roving Gambler,” arranged by John Jacob Niles.
The Cleveland Woodwind Trio returned with Beethoven’s “Opus 87 – 3rd Movement.” The next performer was Tim Daughtery. He played on the piano, “Let There Be Peace On Earth,” by Sid Miller.
Nancy Paul talked about her fond memories of the 40s and 50s and songs she enjoyed listening to on the radio during that period in her life. She concluded the musical program with a colorful piano medley of familiar tunes from those days.
Program director Meagher tested members’ memory with a trivia quiz about events in 1956 only to find out how quickly we forget. She topped off her own recollections of the good old days with a Hula Hoop demonstration before thanking all participating performers, Tucker and the Museum Center, and particularly the hospitality committee, chaired by Jeannie Sawyer, who, together with Nancy Paul and Easter Frady, had prepared a delicious smorgasbord of delicacies that caused members to linger for quite some time.
