The folk choir was first started in the spring of 1969 by Bernard Grogan with the Rev. Harold McCabe as our pastor. There were no guitars, just the organ and an occasional tambourine, but the songs were new - they were written for folk groups, or for the young and young at heart."
     In the fall of 1969. Reverend Albert Giroux became our pastor, and changed the format of our choir. JoAnn Kaska was the new leader. Officers were elected, and each member paid minimal dues. The money collected financed Christmas parties, summer picnics and trips to St. James Parish in Cadyville and St. Joseph's Parish in Dannemora--to sing for their masses. The choir had approximately thirty members, and with the help of David Benjamin, Dale Robart, and Peter Poihemus of Our Lady of Victory Church in Plattsburgh, we were able to sing with guitar accompaniment.
     The spring of 1970 brought still more changes. We were blessed with new leaders, and our permanent guitarists were JoAnn Kaska and Mary McCaffrey. Anne McCaffrey and Cindy Bailey lent a hand, with guitar playing, during the summer months. The average age of the members ranged from eight to fourteen years old. With a lot of hard work they were able to put together arrangements for each part of the mass in harmony. Christmas of that year proved quite successful. To add to the mass by singing "The Little Drummer Boy" was soloist Jeff Pageau. Jeff was nine years old at the time.
     The next two years remained about the same. Our choir sang at the anticipated low mass on Saturday evenings, the Christmas Eve Mass, the Candle-light Easter Mass, and the Field Mass for Memorial Day. The size of the choir dwindled a bit, as some members graduated, moved, or just lost interest-but new members were always welcome.

     The present choir averages about twenty members, with five members from the original folk choir started in 1969 still singing with the group. We have three full time guitarists-JoAnn Kaska, Lori LaVigne, and Lynne Pageau. Some of the girls use their talents to sing for weddings, while others bring songs back from the Northern Adirondack Central School Chorus to teach the members new songs or new versions of old songs. Many hours of practice are spent preparing for special Masses and performances.  Such was done at Father Giroux's "going away party," and such will be done at our Centennial Celebration in August.
     However, we all feel that we belong to a part of something special in our church, and we couldn't be happier than when a visitor makes a special effort to come to us after a Mass to tell us that our singing was "A Job Well Done!"

rodbigelow@netzero.net