Awards

This probably won't mean a whole lot to many folks, but it sure meant a lot to us!!! In a nutshell, it states, as follows:

"...........BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, THE SENATE CONCURRING, That we hereby honor and commend the exceptional members of the Smoky Mountain Harmony Chorus of Sweet Adelines International and extend to them our best wishes for every future success."

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 608 was filed on 04/12/2000, with the State of Tennessee. Please read the entire document. We're pretty darn proud of it!
House Joint Resolution 608 (.pdf - April 2000)

Regional Competition 2002
After going to our very first Regional Competition in March 2000, it was off to Portland, Oregon in October 2001 to represent our 5-state wide region at the International Chorus Competition where we would be competing against all the other 1st place choruses from around the world. Being the "rookies" on the block we basically spent the week walking around in awe at all that we saw and heard.

The most impressive and moving thing that we noticed were how many of our overseas sisters in harmony joined us that year. Being only a little over a month after the 9-11 tragedy, many said that this was the most important competition for them to attend because of that event in our American lives. They all expressed how much it had affected them and that they felt they really needed to be there to show us all how much they loved and cared about us. There were choruses there from New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, and England; all showing us support. It meant a great deal to all of us that attended.

We were contestent number 20 of 30 choruses competing. Our main goal was just to make it to the stage, sing our 2 contest songs the best we could and walk off the stage without fainting! Well, we made it through that just fine and had a wonderful time the entire week there.

It was back to Knoxville and to start work on going to the next Regional Competition. We took nothing for granted and knew it would take twice the work to win a second Regional Contest. And work we did !! But through all the hard work we always manage to have fun.

It was Contest time again and off we went to Chattanooga in March 2002 with our fingers crossed that our good fortune from our 1st contest would follow us here. We took the stage and sang our 2 contest songs the best we could. At the end of the contest, The Panel Chair made the announcemnts of the chorus placements and announced that . . . "your representatives at the International Chorus Competition in 2003 in Phoenix, Arizona and your Regional Chorus Champions are Smoky Mountain Harmony." We were in shock. To have won both times we have ever competed was just overwhelming! That makes us the only undefeated chorus in our Region and we're pretty proud of that fact!

So now, it's off to Phoenix.

 

Regional Competition 2000
Smoky Mountain Harmony Show Chorus from Knoxville, Tennessee, under the direction of Nancy Shumard, is still floating on Cloud 9 since our Regional Competition the weekend of March 25th. We just cannot believe our own accomplishments and wanted to share our story with the rest of our Sweet Adelines family.

Well, we officially chartered on December 14, 1999. So it was on to Contest 2000 for our group. We had some phenomenal coaching along the way to our first contest. “Thank you” doesn’t begin to cover our gratitude to Jean Barford, Diane Porsch, Susan Martin, and Portia Little for sharing their knowledge and expertise with us.

We then competed at our first Regional Competition on March 25, 2000, with 57 members on the risers. Out of those 57 members, 30 were brand new to barbershop and Sweet Adelines and had NEVER competed before. Our goal was to go to our 1st Contest and just have a wonderful time, which we did!

We finished our Contest songs and really felt good about the package we had presented. We were contestant Number 11 out of 13 competing choruses. The wait time for the final results was not too lengthy considering our draw, but we felt like it was an eternity until the results were announced.

FINALLY, Sylvia Alsbury took the stage to make the announcements. As we all sat, clinching each other’s hands and saying some silent prayers, Sylvia began the announcements of the placements of the choruses. 3rd Place…….2nd Place……and, at last, “Your 1st Place Chorus Champions who will be representing Region 23 in 2001 in Portland, Oregon, with a score of 611 points……………..Smoky Mountain Harmony!!!!!!” To say that the screams of joy and elation that went up from our chorus was deafening would be an understatement!

When it was all said and done, we had somehow managed to bring home the blue our first time on the Contest stage!!! We also won 1st Place Mid-Size Chorus and Novice Chorus! We are still trying to absorb all that we have accomplished in such a short length of time. To have only been together for a little over one year, to have only been chartered for 3 1/2 months, to somehow have gotten 57 members – 30 of which were brand new to Sweet Adelines, and then to have won our first Contest especially with 611 points! ---- we’re truly speechless!!!!

We just voted in our 70th member and are still growing and going strong! We have several singouts coming up over the summer and are preparing for our 2nd Annual Show on October 14th. Oh, yes, and we’re also preparing for the cross-country trek to Portland to represent Region 23 at International 2001!!

We’re not sure how many other choruses have had the whirlwind first year that we’ve had, but we wanted to share our good luck story with other established Chapters and Prospective Chapters to show that with the right attitude and one GREAT group of very hard-working, talented ladies, dreams really can come true!