An excellent time was had by all this afternoon at the Mary Wakefield Festival, both the singing and the listening to the other choirs were so enjoyable!! I felt, as I would, that we acquitted ourselves very well and the audience seemed to agree.
Congratulations to Arnside Choral Society, the Eversley Choir and the Lacuna Upper Voice Choir, what fantastically good sounds! 
This level of enjoyment is what being in a choir is about..........and well done Ian for leading two choirs in one afternoon and to Tracie for her hard work in helping both choirs!

Tomorrow we look forward to singing at the Mary Wakefield Festival. As well as the words and music we have been rehearsing how to process onto and off the stage in a dignified manner.....

I thought the following might be an appropriate mantra for us all, in the immortal words of the original rocker we should all:

"Walk tall, walk straight and look the world right in the eye

That's what my mama told me when I was about knee high

She said, son, be a proud man and hold your head up high

Walk tall, walk straight and look the world right in the eye"....

 The AGM went well and as always a high spot was the presentation of 100% attendance medals, in this case to the two 2016 qualifying members, John Warner and Jim Fielding, by our President, Mary Powney. Their performance was exceptional with 100% for rehearsals, concerts and other events, e.g. workshops. Well done John and Jim!!

Although it was an enjoyable event it was an evening for our, in the immortal words of Joey from Friends, "gracious loser" faces.....
Along with 80% of the finalists we were runners up. Levens Choir are the 2017 Cumbria Life Choir of the Year and we applaud them, as well as all the other finalists.
To lighten the mood and remind us of why we do what we do in the way we do it, here is a short video clip by SZLZ in Germany showing what International fun you can derive from Male Voice Choral singing. 
We do not plan to introduce this gesture of respect for the Conductor in the near future....

https://youtu.be/9szeJHJvVOU

Last night saw the first of 2017's social calendar events, our Burns Night at Kendal Golf Club.

It was well attended and included
Great music
Great food, well done Kendal Golf Club, incredible value for money!
Great ethnic drinks
Great thespian display by Steve
Great and painless despatch of the haggis by Janis
Great organisation by Norman and Steve
Great camaraderie in a very relaxed ambience

Other highlights included Ned's Chorley or Swindle raffle of a limited edition bottle of 10 year old malt whisky won by John Basnett and Pam and Jim winning a bottle of wine with top marks in the Famous Scots Quiz. Jamie's great achievement in putting on a real bow tie was applauded and was a lot more than most of us managed......

We look forward to our next meeting which is probably going to be a little bit more strenuous involving a Lakeland walk and ending, so predictably, in a friendly hostelry for topping up our fluid levels!

Photos are:Our Treasurer practicing on the bar staff, everybody, the toast to the haggis, Janis despatching the haggis and Jamie showing off his bow tie tying abilities!

I am guessing this will be the last item on our fantastically successful The King's Singers Concert of 2016. Many thanks to St John's Hospice and Jill Santanamera for letting us have this copy of an article that will soon be published on the following website http://www.thedatebook.co.uk
which features significant national charitable events.

Once again, well done everyone who was involved!

It's just been announced that K Shoes Male Voice Choir are finalists in the 'Choir of the Year' category of the Cumbria Life Culture Awards! It's a good feeling and well done all members and supporters!!!