uage choir, HandPrints. it was the last practice we had that inspired me to finally get my butt in gear and start my blog.
history: the stark county board of developmental disabilities had another sign language choir called Sounds of Silence from 1983 (the year i was born!) to 2000. they were freaking awesome and even performed for billy clinton. i have/had an aunt w down syndrome that was involved w stark mrdd during this time period, so my family would go to many of the choir's performances. maybe i shouldn't admit this but i always stared at the director and was simply in awe of her the whole time! [so funny because now i know her and she's such a sweet lady!]
2003 - 2004: i took 4 semesters of sign language in college and loved it! i'm not fluent or anything, but it sure is fun, fun, fun! jay mimics me signing in the car quite often. we laugh together!
fast forward to 2006: i have known and loved roxanne korte (missy's mom) for many, many years. we, together have a dream of starting another sign choir. we approached mrdd and got turned down.
2008: we tried again with a written proposal and a team of supporters. score!! in the fall of 2008 HandPrints Sign Choir began. we started with and remain around 20 members. initially my biggest goal for the choir was to have a cool logo (thank you jason nemeth for sharing your awesome techy skills with us) and matching shirts!!! (thank you stark dd for financially supporting us)
how it works: this [totally rad] group of adults with disabilities meets weekly for practice. we pop a cd and i teach them the signs to the lyrics of the songs. i mess up, we laugh together. i act like a lunatic most of the time, we laugh together. jay tells the whole choir that my feet stink right in the middle of a song, we all laugh together. such a good time! i haven't even mentioned the completely AWESOME group of parents and staff people that faithfully bring the choir members each week. without them, i honestly don't think i'd have the energy to do it. they are so helpful and inspiring and affirm that this choir is a true blessing straight from God himself! ok back to the how it works... so after we learn songs, pretty much by word of mouth we book performances at local nursing homes, community events, churches, etc. we go perform and they give us $$, if they want. we don't care about the $$ so much. if we get $$, we usually spend it on important things like pizza parties.
through the choir my love for roxanne has grown! she is our manager and keeps us all, including me, in line and organized. it is super cool that my brother jay is in the choir and my mom helps out every week and at every performance! such a family affair. i have met some awesome people along the way... already mentioned the parents and staff, rebecca cole (shout out!) the director of s.i.g.n. ministries, another sign choir in the area, of course the choir members themselves! and many, many more! it fills my tank to look around at the end of a performance and see the choir members bowing with pride (and usually clapping for themselves) and the audience (and roxanne 99% of the time) in tears as our little group with a smelly-footed director warms the hearts of many!
i have to believe that experiences that purify our hearts in this way can only come from God
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI would love to have the Hand Prints Choir come and lead worship at First Christian Church on a Sunday morning. May 29th to be exact. Is this a possibility?