Prepare for an afternoon of heartwarming song at the 2012 Parade of Choirs at Cariboo Bethel Church this Sunday, Feb. 26 starting at 2 p.m.
The Cariboo Men’s Choir directed by Carl Johnson and accompanied by Jerry Tickner on piano will sing Hunker Down, Hold Me Rock Me, Down to the River to Pray and Sixteen Tons.
Quintet Plus directed by Debbie Browning and accompanied by Michelle Erlandson on piano will sing Every Time I Feel the Spirit, Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee; and Medley From Joseph and the Technicolour Dream Coat.
The trio Willow with Sharon Hoffman, Sandi Alaric, and Johanne LeBrun will sing Ah Robin, Gentle Robin and Scarborough Fair.
The Angelkeys Children’s Choir directed by Angela Sommer will sing Mahalo, Sam the Slithering Snake, and We are the Dinosaurs.
The Cariboo Seniors’ Choir directed by Georgina Lazzarotto and accompanied by Marlene DiMarco on piano and flautist Catelyn Zhou will sing Come Follow Me, The Clouds, and Flying Free.
Eclectica from 100 Mile House will also be joining the parade but their song list was not available at press time.
The combined choirs will sing popular old favorites Blowin’ in the Wind and Four Strong Winds.
Admission is by donation to purchase a new digital mammography unit for Cariboo Memorial Hospital.
The Parade of Choirs is the major annual fundraiser of the Hough Memorial Cancer Society which is working with the The Cariboo Foundation Hospital Trust to raise the community’s $700,000 contribution to the $1 million cost of the digital mammography unit, says Hough Memorial vice-president Jim Fraser.
The Cariboo Regional Hospital District will contribute the remaining $300,000.
Cariboo Memorial Hospital serves an area of approximately 50,000 people. On an average year 2,500 to 2,700 women are screened using the existing analog mammography unit which is outdated and difficult to find parts for if it breaks down.
Fraser says the new digital mammography unit so advanced that it can detect breast cancer in the early stages that is no bigger than a pin head.
The digital unit will also be much better than the existing analog mammography unit at detecting cancer in younger women.
The Hough Memorial Cancer Society is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Since 1972 the society’s sole purpose has been to raise funds to purchase cancer detection equipment for Cariboo Memorial Hospital
Since its inception, he says Hough Memorial has been involved in the purchase of close to $3 million in cancer detection equipment for the hospital. Over the years donations have come in from a wide variety of sources — fundraising efforts, local service clubs, businesses, industry, and concerned citizens in memory of a loved one, friends or people just donating to a worthy cause.
Hough Memorial sends a card to the family of the bereaved in the donors name.
Receipts for tax purposes are also issued on request. For more information or to help the Hough Memorial Society contact president Bob MacIntosh at 250-305-1041; vice-president Jim Fraser at 250-392-4829; secretary Verla Atchison at 250-392-2778; or treasurer Audrey Hyde at 250-398-5828.