Minutes of Sacred Harp Singings

The 5th annual Shaker Meetinghouse and Francis Bliss Birthday Singing was held on Saturday before the first Sunday in June in the Winter Chapel in the Dwelling House at Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine. Barb Ames welcomed everyone to the afternoon session and brought the class to order leading 49t. Paul Blanely offered the opening prayer.

Meg Haskell and Barb Ames taught two Shaker songs to the assembled class, “As the Waves of the Mighty Ocean” and “I Will Not Be Like a Stubborn Oak”.

The following officers were appointed to serve: Chairperson—Barb Ames; Treasurer—Chris Holley; Arranging Committee/Secretaries—Edith Berger and Pleasance Crawford.

Leaders: Barb Ames 99; Bobbie Goodell 155; Chuck Micciche 34b; Ines Lüttgen 448b; Al McCready 179; Mary Jo Shafer 452; George Pomfret 515; Celia Devine 312b; Chuck Crawford 84; Earl J. Kipp 480; Pat Callahan 142; Chris Holley 313b; Elizabeth Stoddard 102; David Bliss 168; Kathe Pilibosian 472; Francis Bliss 66; Edith Berger 270; Robert Stoddard 385t; Pleasance Crawford 172; Barb Ames 147b; Bobbie Goodell 64 (in memory of Danya Klie); Chuck Micciche 384; Ines Lüttgen 58; Al McCready 339; Chris Holley 337.

RECESS

Earl J. Kipp called the class to order by leading 153. Leaders: Mary Jo Shafer 82t; John Engle and Chris Holley 68b; Debby Bliss 401; George Pomfret 183; Celia Devine 198; Chuck Crawford 39t; Earl J. Kipp 181; Pat Callahan 530; Corrone Bryant 524; Corrone Bryant 34b (in honor of Francis Bliss’s 93rd birthday and John Van Sorosin’s 76th birthday); Elizabeth Stoddard 309; Chris Holley 34t; David Bliss 474; Kathe Pilibosian 564; Francis Bliss 300; Edith Berger 178; Pleasance Crawford and Maggie Robinson 282; Robert Stoddard 389; Chuck Micciche 269; Bobbie Goodell 47b (in memory of Doc Watson); Ines Lüttgen 406; Al McCready 276; Mary Jo Shafer 225t (in memory of Lonnie Rogers); Debby Bliss 93; George Pomfret 163b; Celia Devine 479 (for Poppy Gregory). Announcements were made. Chris Holley reported that expenses had been met.

Leaders: Pat Callahan 299; Corrone Bryant 523; Francis Bliss 193. Meg Haskell and Barb Ames led the class in singing another Shaker song, “We Will All Go Home with You”. Barb Ames thanked the Sabbathday Lake Shaker community for their hospitality, and everyone for helping to make the singing a success. Singers (53 in all) came from Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Ontario, Canada. Twenty-three leaders led sixty songs.

Barb Ames led 347 as the closing song. Corrone Bryant offered the closing prayer, and the class was dismissed. In the adjacent Music Room, Brother Arnold Hadd introduced the elders and eldresses in the portraits on the walls. Then, in the Dining Room downstairs, Sister Frances, Meg Haskell, and Barb Ames led “All at Home” as the grace on the evening meal.

SUPPER

Chuck Micciche welcomed the class to the evening session, held a few miles away in the 1893 Maine State Building at the Poland Springs Inn in Poland Springs, Maine, and led 86. Leaders: Chuck Micciche 269; Robert Stoddard, Earl J. Kipp, and Pleasance Crawford 550, 490, 33t, 389, 182; Karen Keller, Elizabeth Stoddard, Pat Callahan, and Chris Holley 341; Kathe Pilibosian and Corrone Bryant 452; Mary Jo Shafer and Bobbie Goodell 174. Elizabeth Stoddard led 45b as the closing song.

Chairperson—Barb Ames; Secretary—Pleasance Crawford