Welcome to a new blog post! Today we resume the chronological stories of Charlie’s life. This chapter will cover Charlie’s Young Adult years from 1940-1949, starting with the topic of music, which we began in this post several weeks ago. Enjoy!
Music continued to be an important facet of Charlie’s life. On March 22, 1948 Charlie sang in the Young Artists Recital in Brantford. He passed his Grade VIII Singing exam on April 7, 1948 and obtained his Grade II Theory the same year. Many times he sang at Kiwanis Festivals, winning the Rose Bowl trophy and other awards. At the Stratford Kiwanis Festival on March 16, 1949 he took first with a mark of 85, singing “Loveliest of Trees” (Kilmer, Rasbach).
Charlie sang in the church choir, the Schubert Choir conducted by Dr. Jordan, and in the Cockshutt Male Choir. Unfortunately, whenever the choirs went on tour in a bus, Charlie would have a sick headache the next day from the cigarette smoke.
Charlie often sang solos at church services, weddings, funerals and community affairs: “I remember August 25, 1945, Enid played organ and I played violin for Isabel Taylor’s wedding to Bruce Chambers. We played for an hour!” At Archie Carnahan and Amy McCutcheon’s wedding on June 27, 1948, he sang “Through the Years” and “The Lord’s Prayer”. Often, he sang the baritone solos in the Messiah and the Crucifixion Cantatas. One year, Charlie played Santa Claus in a Christmas musical where Wilma Clark (Friend) was Mrs. Santa Claus.
There’s a scan of “Trees” in the Appendices tab if you’re interested in seeing the music.
Til next time,
xo
andrea