Sweet Adelines International 75th Jubilee Commemorative Album

25 Years or…? As the 1970s rolled in, confusion swirled as to whether 1970 or 1972 was our 25th Anniversary year. Founder Edna Mae Anderson first met with interested women in her kitchen in 1945, and the official charter for Sweet Adelines in America, Inc. was issued November 9 of that year. So why was 1972 designated, “The Year of the Silver Note?” The first national convention, including 14 quartets registered to compete, and hosted by the Atomaton Chapter (later renamed Tulsa No. 1) opened on October 3, 1947 at the Hotel Tulsa. Confusion was added by the Sweet Adelines publication, 30 Years of Harmony: 1947–1977. We celebrated our 50th Anniversary in 1995, and our 75th year in 2020. And we look forward to marking 100 years of fun, friendship, and the love of barbershop harmony in 2045! The Building Fund Surprise At the 1970 Annual Membership Meeting in the Grand Ballroom of the Sheraton- Boston, Building Fund Chairman Carol Porter began to report on progress toward the goal of burning our mortgage by 1972. Sweet Adelines began to leave their seats and come forward with “love gifts” of checks, bills, and coins in hand. Mary LaMaster earmarked her gift for a piano at International Headquarters. Hats were passed (women still wore them). The result: $3,500 USD toward the mortgage and $314.76 USD for the piano. “Sweet Adelines have great heart and great spirit, besides talent, warmth, good dispositions, and all those sugar and spice things. I still haven’t calmed down,” said Carol, writing in the Winter 1971 issue of The Pitch Pipe, “and I never finished reading my report.”

1970 Champion Quartet, The Rarities of Racine, Wisconsin (USA). From left, Jarmela Speta (tenor) Connie Garcia Milestone (lead), Chris Huesbschen (baritone) and Carol Schoening (bass) I have sung all of my life but first heard about Sweet Adelines in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada in 1959 and sang with a prospective chorus there for a few months. I was away for 10 years but found Sweet Adelines again in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1969. I moved to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1972 and sang with the Gateway Chorus until I retired in 2015. I am still a member-at-large. —Marie MacDonald, Region #26, Member since 1969 Why I Sing

1970 Position of Director of Musical Activities (DMA) established in each region by the international board. Position coordinated through the International Music Education and Craft Chairman, Sally Eggleston, after consultation with the Musical Advisory Council.

1971 Seven quartets perform United Service Organization (USO) / Sweet Adelines entertainment tours of the Far East: The Embers, The Galatones, The Bron’s Tones, The Metropolitans, The Outer Limits, The Shimmerons and The Shondells.

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