Local ladies choir Just for Fun provides unique, life-changing opportunities for its members and heart-warming entertainment for the community.
The most important thing, however, according to director Angela Sommer, is that the singers have the time of their lives.
Just for Fun began about five years ago when several moms with children in Sommer’s children’s choir, who thought they couldn’t sing, approached the local music teacher from Angelkeys Music Studio and asked if she could do something with them.
“We started meeting on Thursdays and just singing together; it wasn’t long before we were asked to sing at an event and we had a hoot,” she explained.
“I opened it up to anyone who wanted to sing and it grew from there.”
With approximately 60 singers on the roster, Just for Fun is sponsored by the Women’s Contact Society. It’s free to sing, it’s fun and everyone’s welcome, Sommer said.
“I’ve always believed that music is built into us, and it doesn’t matter if someone in our past has said we can’t sing.
“I’ve been part of too many groups where you have to audition, and be really good to join, and it cuts too many people out.
“When I started this, it was for those who say, ‘Maybe I can.’
“I think a real turning point was when we were practicing Scarborough Fair, and I spread them all around the church where we practice, and told them to sing their own parts,” she explained. “They were in awe that they sounded so good.”
The first time Just for Fun entered the Cariboo Festival; they won the choir high point award, as well as the community choir award presented by the adjudicator.
“The adjudicator got what I was doing, and thought the group was phenomenal: singing together without the formality of a choir. We were stunned,” she said.
“The response from the crowd was amazing, and when we went to practice next week, they were a changed group.”
Li Vaughan has been with the group from the beginning.
“I grew up around music: my mom and I sang all the time. I lost her just after my second child was born, and now music is something I share with my daughters. It’s also memories of my mom, at Christmas especially.
“I’ve learned so much from Angela. She gives us tips on how to improve our singing, so we enjoy it even more. We choose the songs and the arrangements together. You don’t have to be able to read music to sing,” Vaughan said.
“If you can sing with the radio you can sing with us.”
Just for Fun is a very social experience; a lot of support grows out of the group for members.
“We did a fundraiser one year for a member who needed a winter coat. It’s a great place to make friends; it’s a mom support group. People become more confident; it’s so rewarding to watch them walk out of here three feet off the ground.
“Many of these women have gone through tough times in their lives, and singing just makes them feel better,” Vaughan added. “That makes it all worthwhile for me.”
Sommer said the leveler is that it’s free, and that everyone is welcome.
“It’s the people who make it: I just make the space,” Sommer said. “That’s the thing about singing: you make the opportunity and the rest happens by itself.”
She also directs a youth choir called CODA! for children ages 10-16, and the Angelkeys Children’s Choir ages four to nine.
During the 2016 holiday season, Just for Fun sang at Winter Lights, carolling throughout town, the Christmas Wish breakfast and performed with the community band at their Christmas concert at city hall.
New this year, Sommer directed a group of homeschool students, through School District 27. They put together a half hour concert for the Nature Kindergarten group Scout Island, and for students attending the GROW program.
Just for Fun has performed for International Women’s Day, Performances in the Park, Relay for Life, Tuba John Christmas, a Telus carolling event, at Deni House and the Williams Lake Seniors Village.
“Last year I brought the three choirs together for the first time at the Cariboo Festival of the Arts,” Sommer said. “I’d like to do that again.”
She said the goal for her children’s choir is to create an affordable place for kids to explore music.
“I want them to learn that music is fun,” Sommer said.
“And for the youth choir, it’s confidence. They already know how to have fun; they’re there because they like to sing, and this gives them confidence to get up in front of people, sing, and live to tell about it!
“What I want most for the ladies is just to have fun,” she said. “Make a joyful noise and don’t let anyone talk you out of doing something you want to do, like sing.”
For more information on Just for Fun visit www.angelkeys.ca or call 250-305-4784.