Home meeting re: adjusting our singing schedule and books

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Betsy Jeronen

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Dec 8, 2025, 12:28:40 AMDec 8
to Portland Sacred Harp
There has been various conversations among singers lately, expressing the need for an additional Sacred Harp singing on our monthly calendar. That would necessarily include eliminating or combining or alternating some other song books.

How we could accomplish that is a topic of conversation we need to have. I am suggesting a home business meeting/ singing. December is not an ideal time to have it, but that is where we are!

I am proposing meeting this coming Thursday night at my house at 7:00 pm. If that is impossible for many folks, we probably need to wait until January. It would be best to have as many as possible there, since it will affect everyone. If a large majority of people can come,
bring your new Sacred Harp ( I vote to refer to it as the Ivey revision!) and we hear everyone’s thoughts and opinions, make a plan, and then do some singing.

If this meeting goes forward, please give some serious thought to the possible ways of adding a Sacred Harp singing and how we can continue to use other tune books with enough attendance to warrant their inclusion. It’s not an easy task and there will be lots of opinions.

Please let me know very soon if you can or cannot come so I can decide about going forward.


Sing on!

Betsy












Mary Chaffin

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Dec 8, 2025, 1:38:06 AMDec 8
to Betsy Jeronen, Portland Sacred Harp
I will be in town and can come to the meeting on Thursday.

> On Dec 7, 2025, at 9:28 PM, Betsy Jeronen <jerone...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> There has been various conversations among singers lately, expressing the need for an additional Sacred Harp singing on our monthly calendar. That would necessarily include eliminating or combining or alternating some other song books.
> --
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Carrie Walker

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Dec 8, 2025, 1:49:58 PMDec 8
to Mary Chaffin, Betsy Jeronen, Portland Sacred Harp
I love this idea, Betsy! I can come on Thursday.
-Carrie

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/portlandsacredharp/84879DA2-EA48-4A03-B742-F12D975D2C5D%40gmail.com.

Tamara Lynne

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Dec 8, 2025, 1:55:34 PMDec 8
to Carrie Walker, Mary Chaffin, Betsy Jeronen, Portland Sacred Harp
I can be there! Thanks for coordinating this, Betsy.

Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 8, 2025, at 10:49 AM, Carrie Walker <carriew...@gmail.com> wrote:



Larisa Zimmerman

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Dec 8, 2025, 2:39:03 PMDec 8
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I'm planning to attend.
I don't know which apartment in that complex is yours, Betsy.
Thanks,
Larisa

Kate Fine

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Dec 8, 2025, 2:42:38 PMDec 8
to Betsy Jeronen, Portland Sacred Harp
Well, in theory, I would love to be there, my energy level is very unpredictable right now and I would say don’t count on me.

Gin McCollum

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Dec 8, 2025, 3:45:26 PMDec 8
to Portland Sacred Harp
We're missing our Shenandoah singing this month.  Maybe this should be Shenandoah, the part that is singing.


To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/portlandsacredharp/CAMfu-%3Dv-1A80iY%3DjLx_0wXH7_9fTrG%2BKH%3DUD3NTgu%2BqggyewNA%40mail.gmail.com.

nancy n

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Dec 8, 2025, 3:45:48 PMDec 8
to Kate Fine, Betsy Jeronen, Portland Sacred Harp
I can be there, too. Thanks, Betsy!

Nancy

On Mon, Dec 8, 2025 at 11:42 AM Kate Fine <fine...@gmail.com> wrote:
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/portlandsacredharp/CAMfu-%3Dv-1A80iY%3DjLx_0wXH7_9fTrG%2BKH%3DUD3NTgu%2BqggyewNA%40mail.gmail.com.

Nell Whitman

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Dec 8, 2025, 6:30:20 PMDec 8
to Betsy Jeronen, Portland Sacred Harp
I'll be there!

Typos? Blame the cats.
From: portlands...@googlegroups.com <portlands...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Betsy Jeronen <jerone...@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 7, 2025 9:28:26 PM
To: Portland Sacred Harp <portlands...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [PoSH] Home meeting re: adjusting our singing schedule and books
 

Emma Swartz

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Dec 8, 2025, 6:41:38 PMDec 8
to Nell Whitman, Betsy Jeronen, Portland Sacred Harp
Sadly I don't think I can be there Thursday, but I support making some changes and singing more regularly from the green book!

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/portlandsacredharp/DS0SPRMB0046D06A0CC27ED7E0A5DA8AA4A2A%40DS0SPRMB0046.namprd19.prod.outlook.com.

Betsy Jeronen

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Dec 8, 2025, 6:48:25 PMDec 8
to Emma Swartz, Nell Whitman, Portland Sacred Harp
Thom has told me he will be at the meeting. Are there NO other male singers responding? I’m curious why.


On Dec 8, 2025, at 3:41 PM, Emma Swartz <emmak...@gmail.com> wrote:



Ian Opal Kesling

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Dec 8, 2025, 7:28:30 PMDec 8
to Betsy Jeronen, Portland Sacred Harp
Hi all, Hannah and I can be there Thursday and can bring some cookies. Thank you Betsy for hosting!

On Sun, Dec 7, 2025 at 9:28 PM Betsy Jeronen <jerone...@gmail.com> wrote:

Dan Thoma

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Dec 8, 2025, 9:04:22 PMDec 8
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Hi Betsy, we guys are just so reticent. I will not be floating down from Oakridge for it. But green book yay!

Sincerely,
Dan

Betsy Jeronen

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Dec 8, 2025, 10:08:24 PMDec 8
to Dan Thoma, portlands...@googlegroups.com
Reticent to a fault!😳
Com’n guys! We need your presence!
You don’t have to be a long time singer! You just need to participate. We want to hear your opinions. 

On Dec 8, 2025, at 6:04 PM, 'Dan Thoma' via Portland Sacred Harp Discussions <portlands...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

 Hi Betsy, we guys are just so reticent. I will not be floating down from Oakridge for it. But green book yay!

Sincerely,
Dan

Chris Noren

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Dec 9, 2025, 2:12:26 PMDec 9
to Betsy Jeronen, Dan Thoma, portlands...@googlegroups.com
Hi Betsy (and all), this male singer may have “moved” but thanks to visa wrangling I will continue to be in Portland for a month (or two) every year for a bit. You’ll be seeing me soon.

I won’t be able to make your meeting, but here is my 2 cents (which may be worth exactly that).

What with all the new songs, I fully support a weeknight singing from the 2025 book, in addition to the 2nd and 4th Sunday Kennedy School singings. Not only will we be able to learn the new songs that much more quickly, but Sundays don’t work for everyone, and the 2025 book is THE book in most of the world. Speaking personally I LOVE the new songs, and typical singings in the UK are around half new songs. Dan T’s song MOREL has been widely enjoyed here.

As for the other books:

Keep 1st Sunday Christian Harmony. Portland hosts one of the few (only?) all-day singings in the West from that book. So that is also “our book” along with the 2025 SH.

Shenandoah Harmony came along at the perfect moment in the early 2010’s: the 1991 book had been out for awhile, Cooper was still wallowing in the illegible pre-2012 editions, and the CH was still unfamiliar to most of us, albeit in the brand new 2010 revision. So the ShH kind of “filled the gap” for those of us who enjoy sight-singing new songs. But honestly, since the 2025 book came out I haven’t sung from ShH once, and I haven’t missed it. There are maybe 30 or so songs in there that I really like, and I suspect other Portland singers have a similar number of favorites.

The Cooper Sacred Harp is about 70% identical with the 2025 book, albeit with different alto parts for some of the songs in common. Again, most of us might count around 30-50 favorites uniquely from that book. Including Kate’s fave “Rose of Sharon” which doesn’t exist elsewhere now.

So my suggestion is to make the 3rd Sunday the “alternate book” singing, including Cooper, Shenandoah, and anything else people bring. I know Nell and Steve T will want to trot out those Eclectics and Norumbegas from time to time.

Anyway that’s my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

See y’all in a month or two.
Chris N


Carrie Walker

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Dec 9, 2025, 2:50:37 PMDec 9
to Chris Noren, Betsy Jeronen, Dan Thoma, portlands...@googlegroups.com
Chris, with all due respect, you don't live in Portland anymore. 

And I'm confused why we need more input from men? It seems to me that a singer's gender is not relevant to the discussion of what books we sing out of and when.

-Carrie

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/portlandsacredharp/CAEs5yfKfbLYf01C2_Cg%3DPMpj%2BKjojNA%3D4kovBQ0NGCA6nsn9PQ%40mail.gmail.com.

John S. Berendzen

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Dec 9, 2025, 3:03:23 PMDec 9
to Portland Sacred Harp

I won’t be able to make the meeting on such short notice, as I have tickets for a rock an roll show. 


I don’t attend as much these days. I particularly enjoy Christian Harmony. The new Denson sounds great. Remember two singings a month is already more than most anyone else has. At times in PoSH’s history, it has felt like we didn’t have enough members to support singing as often as we do overall. This has led to burnout for some - even back when we had even more members than now, with our recent (delightful) increase in attendance. 


One reason for light attendance at Waverly is surely the preference of folks for one book or another. But another reason may be the sheer volume of total singings. Some people will not want to sing any one book three times a month - or any book 5x a month - and one unintended result of adding another singing could be to thin out the numbers at the existing Denson singings. More singings = fewer singers at each. So my $.02 is that anyone voting to add singings should be personally committed to attending *all* of them. 


Perhaps 5th Sunday could be utilized? Perhaps a home singing or new venue? as either:

- 4 extra Denson singings a year 

- Any dethroned books (CB, CH, or ShH) being moved to this date 


Regarding Mr. Noren’s suggestion an all-book ‘oddballs’ singing, good idea but we did have that years ago, it was poorly attended and died out.


Cheers

John




--
Sent from my limbic system

Mossy Mosquito

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Dec 9, 2025, 3:24:48 PMDec 9
to Betsy Jeronen, Portland Sacred Harp
I think we’re just slow to respond.

I plan on being there.

— Mischa



Judah Dale

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Dec 9, 2025, 4:10:18 PMDec 9
to Mossy Mosquito, Betsy Jeronen, Portland Sacred Harp
Not sure if I’d be able to make it to the meeting (I don’t own a car) but I like the idea of maybe having an occasional Denson ‘91 legacy singings for those who lament having to put them away in cupboards or boxes (or what have you) forever, perhaps on the fifth Sunday or an odd weekday in addition to the Kennedy school Sunday singings. Having the 2025 be the focus of an additional weekly singing would definitely be better in terms of learning the new songs more quickly though, in my opinion.

-Judah

Judah Dale

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Dec 10, 2025, 12:01:13 AMDec 10
to Mossy Mosquito, Betsy Jeronen, Portland Sacred Harp
Update: I can come!

Betsy Jeronen

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Dec 11, 2025, 7:32:18 PMDec 11
to Judah Dale, Mossy Mosquito, Portland Sacred Harp
To all those coming  tonight:
My place faces on Ankeny street at the far east end of the building next to the empty parking lot. 2531

Betsy

On Dec 9, 2025, at 9:01 PM, Judah Dale <master0...@gmail.com> wrote:



Nell Whitman

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Dec 11, 2025, 8:53:52 PMDec 11
to Betsy Jeronen, Judah Dale, Mossy Mosquito, Portland Sacred Harp
Betsy,are we actually meeting in your house, and not in the building's common room?

Typos? Blame the cats.
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2025 4:32:04 PM
To: Judah Dale <master0...@gmail.com>
Cc: Mossy Mosquito <mossym...@gmail.com>; Portland Sacred Harp <portlands...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [PoSH] Home meeting re: adjusting our singing schedule and books
 

Tamara Lynne

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Dec 12, 2025, 6:57:23 PMDec 12
to Nell Whitman, Betsy Jeronen, Judah Dale, Mossy Mosquito, Portland Sacred Harp
An unofficial summary of our decision yesterday and a question/suggestion below.  (correct me if needed from the minutes, Nancy):

- We will keep First Sunday as Christian Harmony (due to the need to be prepared for our May Double All Day)
-Second, Third and Fourth Sundays will now all be the Green Ivey Book (2025 Revision) because lots of singers want more Green Book singings
-Third Thursday will alternate between Cooper and Shenandoah Harmony
-Fifth Sunday continues to be an open option for someone to host a singing
-Anyone can host a singing if they want to, with whatever book they like

All locations are currently the same, though there's a strong desire to find a consistent weekly location. Folks present yesterday committed to scoping out possible locations, with a commitment to revisit this decision as well as alternate location possibilities in March.

Here's my question/proposal for Third Thursday:
-January Cooper Book
-February Shenandoah Harmony
-(no confirmed Third Thursday in March at this point)

The only reason for this is a selfish one-- that I will miss the January Third Thursday, and would love not to miss Shenandoah Harmony :) Let me know if there are objections to this order of Third Thursday singings, and I will post reminders accordingly.

Thank you,
tamara


To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/portlandsacredharp/DS0SPRMB0046FD46D709EB57675718CFA4AEA%40DS0SPRMB0046.namprd19.prod.outlook.com.

Hannah Thompson

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Dec 17, 2025, 5:16:21 PM (14 days ago) Dec 17
to Tamara Lynne, Nell Whitman, Betsy Jeronen, Judah Dale, Mossy Mosquito, Portland Sacred Harp
I know we talked about this during the meeting, but I can't recall--was there a point person for scoping out places? Should we start a spreadsheet or word document to keep track of options? I heard back from a space and I'm afraid the info will get lost in my inbox by March, when we revisit.

Best,
Hannah


To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/portlandsacredharp/CAA%2BLwJsouEju1bhjHS1%2B%3DLM%3DAXX%2BfTHYZvYQAirwNPSCgkL20A%40mail.gmail.com.

Jennifer Jones

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Dec 17, 2025, 5:32:25 PM (14 days ago) Dec 17
to Hannah Thompson, Tamara Lynne, Nell Whitman, Betsy Jeronen, Judah Dale, Mossy Mosquito, Portland Sacred Harp
I don't recall anyone being put in charge. I think we're keeping our anarchist roots in tact. If you'd like to start a Google sheet that we can all access, I think that would be great!

Any other ideas?

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/portlandsacredharp/CAFqT%3DML-U%2BygSCvpD34x2A9YzO6niATAnxZYgwTAobxUf65OPw%40mail.gmail.com.

Sarah Berry

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Dec 17, 2025, 6:58:32 PM (14 days ago) Dec 17
to Jennifer Jones, Hannah Thompson, Tamara Lynne, Nell Whitman, Betsy Jeronen, Judah Dale, Mossy Mosquito, Portland Sacred Harp
Hi all, 

In the anarchist tradition I took the liberty of making a spreadsheet using our PoSH PR Google account. It's shared with anyone who has the link with editing permission, but let me know if you have any problems sharing it with other singers.

I'm wondering if those who've been around for awhile might list some spaces that have been rejected due to acoustical or other issues. Like, I was thinking of Taborspace in the lower level, but like many churches those low acoustical ceilings can be kind of deadening. 

In any case, here's the Google sheet!

xo Sarah

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/portlandsacredharp/CAE%2B708_CD0_OJH86Mb429fDba1iyFxa-vvTn1DBnRkjo6QZ%3DTA%40mail.gmail.com.

Tamara Lynne

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Dec 17, 2025, 7:05:34 PM (14 days ago) Dec 17
to Sarah Berry, Jennifer Jones, Hannah Thompson, Nell Whitman, Betsy Jeronen, Judah Dale, Mossy Mosquito, Portland Sacred Harp
The anarchist spreadsheet tradition! ✨✨✨


Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 17, 2025, at 3:58 PM, Sarah Berry <sarah....@gmail.com> wrote:



Mossy Mosquito

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Dec 17, 2025, 8:36:32 PM (14 days ago) Dec 17
to Sarah Berry, Tamara Lynne, Sarah Berry, Jennifer Jones, Hannah Thompson, Nell Whitman, Betsy Jeronen, Judah Dale, Portland Sacred Harp
This is great!

Thank you.

— Mischa



On Wed, Dec 17, 2025 at 5:35 PM Sarah Berry <berry...@pm.me> wrote:
😍😍😍



Sent from Proton Mail for iOS.


-------- Original Message --------

Hannah Thompson

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Dec 18, 2025, 12:42:20 AM (14 days ago) Dec 18
to Mossy Mosquito, Sarah Berry, Tamara Lynne, Sarah Berry, Jennifer Jones, Nell Whitman, Betsy Jeronen, Judah Dale, Portland Sacred Harp
It was Tabor space that I reached out to. I was tempted to copy and paste their email, but it’s very long, so I’ll  just add the relevant info to the anarchist spreadsheet and whoever wants it can find it there.


Best,
Hannah

Betsy Jeronen

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Dec 18, 2025, 11:43:57 AM (13 days ago) Dec 18
to Hannah Thompson, Mossy Mosquito, Sarah Berry, Tamara Lynne, Sarah Berry, Jennifer Jones, Nell Whitman, Judah Dale, Portland Sacred Harp
Thom and I went over and looked at the Taberspace. There is a room called Day Hall that is an option.  It has an acoustic tile ceiling but wood floors. Most  rooms are
Fully carpeted.
The non profit rate would be $30 per hour.
On Dec 17, 2025, at 9:42 PM, Hannah Thompson <hjth...@gmail.com> wrote:



Linda Berkemeier

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Dec 18, 2025, 12:11:50 PM (13 days ago) Dec 18
to Betsy Jeronen, Hannah Thompson, Mossy Mosquito, Sarah Berry, Tamara Lynne, Sarah Berry, Jennifer Jones, Nell Whitman, Judah Dale, Portland Sacred Harp
I believe “Day Hall” at Taborspace is now $40.
Holds forty people.  Is it available to reserve on a weekly continuous schedule, eg every other Sunday at 4:00 on-going?
Sent from my iPhone

On Dec 18, 2025, at 8:43 AM, Betsy Jeronen <jerone...@gmail.com> wrote:



Kate Fine

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Dec 20, 2025, 10:31:06 PM (11 days ago) Dec 20
to Betsy Jeronen, Hannah Thompson, Mossy Mosquito, Sarah Berry, Tamara Lynne, Sarah Berry, Jennifer Jones, Nell Whitman, Judah Dale, Portland Sacred Harp
Is this the same room in which we had the singing school when Alison Steele gave it a couple years ago?

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