Western Massachusetts Sacred Harp Community

PVAD location switched to Deerfield, Mass. 16 Memorial Street, Deerfield

Pioneer Valley All Day singing will be INDOORS AT THE DEERFIELD COMMUNITY CENTER, 16 Memorial St. Deerfield, due to air quality.

CONVENTION COVID UPDATE

Counting my own positive COVID test this morning, we're now at 17 reported cases since the convention. Given that we had about 300 people in attendance at some point over the weekend, I still think this is a pretty good track record, and while I can't speak for anyone else, I'm still very much glad that I was there.

This will likely be my last COVID update, since we're now 5 days out from Sunday, and from here on out it would be hard to say whether someone who tests positive caught it at the convention.

I appreciate everyone's flexibility and understanding, and want to thank you all again for making this year's convention such a magical experience!

CONVENTION COVID UPDATE

We've now heard from 7 singers who have tested positive for COVID since Sunday. While it's not clear when or where any of them caught it, it's safe to assume that all of us who were at the convention were exposed to some degree.

For exposure over the weekend, most cases will start showing positive test results today or tomorrow, so we encourage everyone to take a test if you can. Please email [email protected] if you do test positive, so we can continue to track numbers.

Thank you again for a great convention, and for helping to keep one another safe!

THANK YOU, COVID UPDATES, LOST & FOUND

Thank you to everyone who came to this year's convention and made for an incredible, delicious, music-filled, heart-bursting weekend! Thank you especially to everyone who cooked, cleaned, set up, keyed, arranged, and did all the many other tasks, small and large, that went into making the convention a success.

COVID Updates
We have heard from two people who were at the convention and tested positive for COVID today. Given the number of people in attendance and the current rates of community transmission, this is neither surprising nor concerning, but we do ask that anyone else who tests positive in the next few days please write to [email protected].

Lost & Found
We have a (remarkably) few items that were left behind at the Center for the Arts. Please take a look at the list linked below, and write to [email protected] if any of them are yours. Also let us know if you find you are missing anything.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12Jsm59jcyyP7JyU7SFhooNHoLjdqrn-ZhD6ApQxSKFY/edit?usp=sharing

Recordings are in a playlist (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRFqnjwFVt69n1F17dupSadduKAPscp4c) on the Sacred Harp Publishing Company's YouTube channel and include many singings in Alabama and Georgia, but also listed are some recordings Bill made at the Western MA and New England Conventions.

Bill Windom Video Recordings | The Sacred Harp Publishing Company The Sacred Harp community lost a beloved member in July, 2020, with the passing of Bill Windom of Ider, Alabama. Although Bill wasn’t a singer, he was a huge supporter of Sacred Harp. He and his wife, Reba Dell, travelled … Continue reading →

Hi friends! We miss you very much and hope you will consider joining us for the Pioneer Valley All-Day Singing on July 2nd for:

An All-Day Singing with Potluck Dinner on the Grounds
The singing begins at 10:00 a.m.

Please bring a dish and chairs to share! The Pavilion only has picnic tables.

Singing will be from the 1991 edition of The Sacred Harp.

The singing will be held at the Sunderland Town Park and Pavilion, which is only about a mile from our customary indoor PVADS venue.
For GPS directions, use this address: 42 Park Road, Sunderland. This is the last house right before the Sign located at the entrance into the Park.

We are requiring that everyone who attends over the age of 5 be vaccinated for Covid-19 and take a home test within 24 hours of the event. Please bring:

Your vaccination card or picture thereof to show at registration
A picture of your negative Covid test, taken within previous day

The park is not open to the general public so we will have it for our private use. The pavilion provides a large covered area, bathrooms, kitchen facilities, and ample parking.

We have the park until 8 p.m., so we can continue to hang out at the Park after the singing.

Hope to sing with you soon!
*Please be advised that there may be young, unvaccinated children present.

The WMSHC website now has a calendar giving the dates of singings, including location and whether it is an "A" or "B" singing according to our COVID-19 guidelines. This calendar will be updated as decisions are made about locations, and will also include community meetings and board meetings as they are scheduled.

Please visit https://wmshc.org/ to see the calendar and (if you like) to add it to your own Google Calendar!

Western Mass Sacred Harp Community Join the WMSHC Announcements email list for updates! If you would like to stay up to date about Sacred Harp singing in Western Massachusetts, including the process of resuming singings after our long pause due to COVID-19, please enter your email address in the wmshc-announcements list sign-up form,...

The location of our outdoor singings will be changing later this month! Please sign up for the mailing list at https://wmshc.org/ for the very latest news.

Western Mass Sacred Harp Community Join the WMSHC Announcements email list for updates! If you would like to stay up to date about Sacred Harp singing in Western Massachusetts, including the process of resuming singings after our long pause due to COVID-19, please enter your email address in the wmshc-announcements list sign-up form,...

On Sunday, September 12, we will be singing at Historic Northampton (NOT at Park Hill) from 2 to 4 PM. Please join the wmshc-announcements email group for the most up-to-date information about singings!

In a normal year many of us would be singing at Laura's right now in the midst of multiple days of singing. As I'm missing being able to sing with everyone, I'm enjoying singing along with 2017 us thanks to this playlist Tristan posted on YouTube. Posting for those who aren't on the email list. - Rosie

Harp of Ages at Laura's (2017) - YouTube July 3, 2017 - Leyden, MA

Did you all see this virtual hollow square 146?
If you're wishing you could have participated, the next call is 236, Easter Anthem. Submissions due by 9AM, Monday April 6th. There's an associated FB event page with more info which has been added to the WMSHC page events. But to get the details on how to participate you can go directly to the webpage with instructions here: https://sites.google.com/sageanalytica.com/quarantine-chorus-236/home

The Sacred Harp Quarantine Chorus - pg. 146 Hallelujah While self-isolating to halt spread of covid 19 shape-note singers from around the world participated in this virtual singing of page 146 in The Sacred Harp....

Dear singers,

Our weekly Tuesday singings at Helen Hills HIlls Chapel are canceled until further notice.

The board was about to announce this on our own initiative when we learned that Smith College will limit access to all of its buildings to protect the students, faculty, and staff, some of whom will remain on campus.

This is something we all need to do to protect ourselves and each other.

With affection,

Janet

Tim just posted the following to the email list regarding the Amherst sing today and in April:
Hi everyone. I am sorry to say the singing has been moved to the Amherst College octagon today, and next month as well. There was some confusion in the booking. Anyway, come along to the octagon. We will be there until 430