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Choir Auxiliary – FREE Tuesday Noon Hour Concerts & Sunday Afternoon Jazz Concerts

It’s no secret that we live in one of the most supportive communities in Ontario.  Because of this, word of our Free Concerts has spread such that our audiences have rebounded back to pre-covid levels. We want to especially thank the following individuals for their support: Luisa D’Amato at the Record and Marshall Ward at the Waterloo Chronicle for featuring both our Tuesday Noon Hour Concert Series and our New Jazz Series in their articles; John Tutt of the Princess Cinemas for offering free advertising on his screens; Lawrence McNaught of the Registry Theatre for inserting our flyers into a recent concert program, and  several local businesses for displaying the flyers to their patrons.

On Tuesday January 24th, we celebrated our 45th Anniversary featuring the amazing Larry Larson, Mary Jay and Paul Seguin on trumpets to an audience of 354 people, several of whom were attending for the very first time. The automatic standing ovation was not unexpected!  Paul Mitchell’s Jazz Trio on Jan. 31 and the Stillwater Trio on Feb. 7th did not disappoint either with their exquisite performances, each trio attracting over 240 delighted audience members.

Of course, we couldn’t continue without the dedication of our volunteers: Jean Hoffmann and Barb Blain (lunch conveners), Judy Berthin, Alice Bieman, Adele Blain, Trudy Buss, Edith Coyle, Julie Dietrich, Jana Heemskerk, June Logan, Lynda McDowell, Audrey Nicholls, Shirley Schweitzer and Pauline Williams (lunch team), Shirley Irish (treasurer), Joe Hipperson (usher) and Matt Savage (technician). Special thanks to Matt for redesigning our flyers to meet the specifications required for the Princess Cinema Screens. 

Tuesday Lunch Menu: (note that the dessert choices have changed)

Sandwiches on whole wheat - egg, ham, salmon, or tuna ($6 for whole, $3 for half)

Desserts - Nanaimo square, butter tart, date square ($2 each)

Beverages - tea or coffee ($2), Water - free

Lunches can be picked up in Hilliard Hall from 11:30 and the concerts will start at 12:15.

Remember to preorder your lunch requests by NOON every Friday at firstunitedconcerts@gmail.com  CASH ONLY

 

NEW – FREE Sunday Afternoon Jazz Series

Last November, Paul Mitchell President of the Local Musicians’ Union offered us 100% sponsorship for 4 concerts to take place between January and April 2023.  As it turned out, Jazz Ensembles were the first to confirm and so a Sunday afternoon Jazz Series was born! We are very grateful for Paul’s offer and for Harold Arnett’s technical expertise which guarantees the livestreaming across Canada and the US.  Several of us ladies baked delectable pies, slices to be sold along with coffee or tea as a fundraiser for $8. With only 40 pre-orders, we expected about 50 - 60 audience members, however, were thrilled when 150 guests arrived at our first Jazz Concert on Sunday Feb. 5th! Please note that the doors open at 1:15 since the concerts start at 2:00 sharp. Remember to pre-order a slice of pie, coffee or tea by NOON on Friday at firstunitedconcerts@gmail.com  CASH ONLY

You can find both concert schedules on the church’s website under EVENTS while hard copies are available in the Narthex. If you haven’t yet attended one of our concerts, as Rev. Fred said, “COME AND SEE”!       

Sharon Gowland, Concert Coordinator