Trinity Newmarket Singers

Please come and join me in the Fellowship Room on Thursday, May 14th from 11:30 to 5:30.  If you didn't get your moose hide pin on Sunday, I have lots left. I think we might do this again next year, so I'll save the leftovers.  The event goes from 4 am to 6:30 pm, but we're only doing part of it together. The rest is optional and up to you. Registration is free, and I recommend you register yourself so you can access the other parts from home. Here's a link to the MHC website.  There's a Register Now button on the home page. Agenda for May 14 th Moose Hide Campaign Day 11:30 Gather in Trinity’s Fellowship Room 12:00 Toronto Rally Live Stream 1:30-2:00 relax, debrief Conversation 2:00 Sing-along café: Indigenous Theme (Singing Includes  café  regulars) 2:55-3:55  Dialogue Workshop with handouts 4:00 Safe Spaces Workshop Livestream 5:30 end: Go home in time to end fast at 6:00 with national ceremony 

 

The Moose Hide Campaign is an Indigenous-led grassroots movement that invites all Canadians to take a stand against gender-based violence by honouring, protecting, and supporting women, children, and all those along the gender continuum. Rooted in ceremony, respect, and accountability, the Campaign centres the moose hide pin as a symbol of personal commitment and a catalyst for meaningful conversations. Join Renate and members of Trinity’s Affirming & Inclusivity Team on Thursday, May 14 th   from 12:00 noon to 5:30 pm in the Fellowship Room.     We will watch the Rally in Toronto from 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm.  At 2:00, there will be singing.  Renate is registered in a workshop called Cultivating Safe Spaces at 4:00 so that's what we'll be watching until 5:30.  Then we can go home to catch the breaking of the fast ceremony at 6:30. Some of us will be fasting, but light snacks will be available. Events happen throughout the day, starting at 4:00 am a...

We celebrated two birthdays and talked about age a little bit before we started our theme of Dreams and Wishes. Sometimes we feel like a big number is scary, shocking, or even embarrassing. The extra attention is uncomfortable. But, it’s such a good thing for your friends and family to celebrate you, your existence, your presence as you ‘level up’.  Last week we were talking about how people ‘our age’ are getting sick and dying. My wish for the birthday girls is that you continue to enjoy relatively good health and the loving attention of your family and friends for many years, looking forward to the next big milestone birthday celebration, and hopefully lots off little celebrations in-between. Just like our other themes, this one is represented in songs that focus on a moment with one person, a lover or spouse, and songs that include the world, and eternity. A dream for peace and a dream for the return of a lover can both be impassioned and moving. We were moved.  We nibbled...

Earth Day was yesterday but we had another special Earth Day today singing songs on my Earth and Peace playlist. We added a few new ones, as we often do, following our hearts and inspirations in the moment. I love how we are all generous and flexible and willing to step off a path like that.  I’m glad we all love John Denver’s music. So many of his songs are tributes to nature! Listening to Annie’s Song, one can’t miss the fact that he’s measuring romantic love against the wonder and beauty of nature. We discovered a couple of his songs we hadn’t heard before, and they’re so good that they quickly became singable (sing-alongable?). Ian missed last week, so we had to do Calypso again, and we were happy to oblige. I especially love those la-las (yodels?).  We didn't want to feel despair with our Earth and Peace theme. It's easy to fall into despair on this theme. I had hoped some protest songs might help us to feel powerful and hopeful. But, I couldn't introduce my Songs of R...

Boy, did we go off theme today! We were talking about all kinds of things, including Canadian things like Mark Carney, Heated Rivalry, Wab Kinew, hockey, diversity, and painted ponies. We talked about people our ages (not old) dying, and how that makes us feel. We need to live well while we can, make a difference where we can. We worried about how it’s sometimes hard to separate art from the artist. We don’t want to support horrible people, but flawed people can create wonderful things.  We saw pieces of our conversations in all of  the songs, and it was, as always surprising and interesting. It was a lovely afternoon, spent in lovely company. My recipe for apple cake converted to muffins very nicely. As is often the case lately, we talked and sang so much that we didn't have time to do a lot of nibbling. My family will benefit from the leftover apple muffins.   Our Earth and Peace theme developed into a life cycle theme, so I guess we were more focused on the peopl...