Cranberry cupids hit the mark with singing valentines
Bruce Collister has been in a vocal quartet for 17 straight Valentine’s Days, and he said delivering more than 50 “singing valentines” in the past few days only enhanced his holiday spirit.
“You talk about falling in love ... ringing a chord is one of the best possible things,” he said. “The only problem is with my wife, since I haven’t seen her in six days. I gotta take her out for a nice dinner tomorrow night.”
The Cranberry Men’s Chorus spent its Valentine’s Day on Tuesday delivering 55 singing valentines to sweethearts all over Western Pennsylvania.
Broken into quartets, these Cranberry cupids serenaded valentines at home, at work, and even in public. Their barbershop renditions of “Happy Together,” “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” “Love Me Tender,” “Teddy Bear,” “Only You” and “My Special Angel” also came with a stuffed bear, a balloon and a personalized copy of the song’s lyrics.
A quartet sang at a Community Alliance Church seniors event Tuesday evening, to the delight of those in attendance.
Bill and Edith Gressly said they were impressed by the performance.
“I thought they were excellent; they can harmonize,” Bill said. “It added to the dinner.”
Craig Adams and his wife, Deb, especially liked how the singers enhanced the celebration dinner.
“They’re really dedicated to what they do,” Deb said. “It’s nice to see people being festive about the day.”
Craig commented on the group’s performance of “Let Me Call You Sweetheart.”
“It’s a lovely song. My grandmother used to sing it,” he said.
The group started its traveling valentines on Saturday, Feb. 11, and finished on Tuesday.
Director Ron Brooks said the endeavor was a wild success.
“The Cranberry Men’s Chorus had such fun spreading love throughout Valentine’s Day,” Brooks said. “We hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did.”
Brooks said they received positive feedback from all their musical performances.
“The nice thing about music is it connects everyone. Flowers die; chocolates get eaten. (Music) really touches people. You create a memory that lasts a lifetime,” he said.
