This week’s announcements include OV social media presence being revitalized, upcoming Music Committee and Board meetings, next week’s sectionals, an invitation for Pub Caroling, and a note about Soul Food. Read more below.

Administrative

1. NEXT BOARD MEETING     (Diana Hopkins-Rosseel)
   • Next Board meeting is Monday, December 15, 2025, 6:30-8:30 p.m.; 6 Miles Ave., Kingston. Please let Linda Williams know if you are interested lindadorowilliams@gmail.com

2. NEXT WEEK’S SECTIONALS, NOV 26
   • Sopranos and Basses have sectionals next week, 6:00 pm in the Friendship Room and Kitchen

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Committees

3. MUSIC COMMITTEE     (Diana Hopkins-Rosseel)
   • Meeting coming up Wed., Dec. 10th @ 6:00 p.m.

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Volunteers 

4. CLEAN UP CREW     (Diana Hopkins-Rosseel)
   • Reminder to clean-up crew to go outside and bring in the ‘traffic’ pylons from the parking lot & put them in the storage room. There is a wheeled dolly by the parking lot door for your use. Please leave the dolly back in the storage room when you are done.

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Communications

5. SOCIAL MEDIA     (Shauna Peart)
   • We’re excited to let you know that we’ll be refreshing and revitalizing our choir’s social media presence: we currently have an Open Voices Page on Facebook, which is open to the public, and are going to pair this with an Open Voices Instagram page. To help showcase the choir and promote our concerts, a small team of us will occasionally be taking photos during rehearsals to use in social media posts.
     
   • If you prefer not to have your photo appear on our social media or promotional materials, please let Shauna know.  We want everyone to feel comfortable, and we’ll make sure your preference is fully respected. Shauna will remind everyone in next week’s Rehearsal notes email, in case anyone is absent tonight, as well as checking again next week at rehearsal. 
     
   • The Social Media committee (who will act as Administrators of the Facebook and Instagram sites) includes Shauna Peart, Mary Gauthier, Kim Sutherland and Liam – you are welcome to connect with any of us should you have any questions. If anyone is interested in supporting by taking photos during rehearsals from time to time, please let one of us know.
     
   • For new members, if you are interested, there is a private Open Voices Facebook group, where current and former members post positive, inspirational and humorous content…typically related to music and choral singing: this group is run by members for members, not by the Board, and is not used for any formal choir communication.
     
   • Here is the information about the current Facebook sites (we will let you know when the Instagram page is up and running):
     Facebook Page: Open Voices Community Choir https://www.facebook.com/OpenVoicesChoir/
     Facebook Group: OV Choir Members Group (you will need to make a request to join and Shauna, Mary, Kim, or Liam will accept your request)

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Other

6. PUB CAROLING     (Phil Ibbotson)
   • An invitation was extended to join in Pub Caroling, an annual community singing event. The events will celebrate traditional English carols, and will occur over the next few weeks. More information is found in the lobby.

7. SOUL FOOD     (Linda Williams)
   • Soul Food is intended to be an opportunity at the start of choir rehearsals  to be intentional about bringing everyone together, with a poem, song, or message. Linda acknowledged that the piece that she shared last week about Feed the Hungry was out of line and an inappropriate use of Soul Food because it solicited donations and effort. She is grateful for those who have stepped up to point this out.
   • Linda pointed out that Phil’s announcement was appropriate because 1) it was about a singing opportunity in the community, which is what the OV mandate is about, and 2) he requested permission from the Board.