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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 22, 2017)
September 22, 2017 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 11A Bridging the cultural divide Exchange program brings Costa Rican visitors to Cannon Beach By Brenna Visser COLIN MURPHEY/EO MEDIA GROUP Members of the Cannon Beach Chorus practice under the direction of Dr. John Buehler, right, as the group prepares for upcoming performances. Community chorus still ‘healthy’ after 30 years Chorus from Page 1A Buehler, who started on as the conductor in 2010, is the former director of choral studies at Baker University in Kansas and led a variety of community and collegiate choirs for more than 40 years. He moved to Cannon Beach to be closer to his grandkids, but over the past eight years Cannon Beach has managed to stand out in the chorale de- partment, as well. “It’s amazing to be as healthy as we are at 30 years,” Buehler said. “Most commu- nity choirs in a town the size of Cannon Beach don’t grow to include members from other communities. When in this day in age our area of existence seems to be getting smaller, every person brings that sense of community (to the choir).” But what is now a robust, four-part choir was born from the humble beginnings of a dozen or so people in 1988 deciding within the walls of a local recording studio that starting a community choir could be fun. Carole Whitlock, a longtime Cannon Beach resident, was one those founding members. The original director, Danny Lawson, owned a recording studio in Sandpiper Square at the time, which served as the group’s first rehearsal space. “We worked in the same building, and we talked about how it would fun to organize a group to sing,” she said. “So we did.” Whitlock sang with the group until 2000, weathering a number of venue and direc- tor changes. Averaging only 12 to 20 members, the group struggled to maintain enough voices, but it didn’t stop them from performing all over town at venues like Cannon Beach City Park, local churches, the Coaster Theatre, and even- tually Carnegie Hall in New York City. In the beginning, most of the music the group sang leaned toward rock ’n’ roll and musical theater — a large departure from the current group’s classical bent. “There weren’t a lot of op- tions at the time for singing, so it was a special opportuni- ty,” Whitlock said. Since then, Susan Glarum, the one member of the chorus who has been involved since its founding, said she has seen the status of the chorus ebb and flow with regard to partic- ipation, quality and style. “It just keeps getting better and better,” she said. “I look forward to the camaraderie when I come to practice. I wouldn’t see all these people other than right here, working toward a common goal.” For Buehler, so many peo- ple coming from such dif- ferent backgrounds to create something together is what makes directing a community chorus special. “For a specific moment, we all focus on a product to- gether — and I don’t know how many things in life go that way,” he said. With diversity comes chal- lenges as well. With a variety of skill levels and ages, Bue- hler is faced with the chal- lenge of meeting everyone where they are at in terms of technique and musicianship. But working on those chal- lenges every Monday night is what makes this job best, he said. “Music does things to us when we do music,” he said. “In our choir we can show joy, despair, healing and hope. It makes the community feel more.” Cannon Beach Gazette There was a lot to take in during Alfredo Marin’s first trip to Oregon. Back home in Costa Rica, Marin had never seen sea lions like the ones in Astoria, and the clam chow- der challenged the stereotype American’s had bad food, he said. “In Costa Rica, you think Americans only have ham- burgers and hot dogs, but that’s definitely not the case here,” Marin said. The views of Haystack Rock were impressive, and Oregon’s scenery expansive, but what stood out to Marin about Cannon Beach after a day was the feeling of com- munity. “I live in the capital, San Jose, and we’ve lost that sense of neighborhood feel,” he said. “You can see the community building in the library, HRAP — in Costa Rica there isn’t as many pro- grams for everyone.” Marin was one of the four visitors apart of the annu- al Partners of the Americas program, a program started in the early 1960s that facil- itates cultural exchanges be- tween South American coun- tries and American states. Every state is partnered with a country, but Oregon is the only state that still provides month-long, statewide home stays and tours for Costa Ri- can visitors. The goal of the program is to facilitate that feeling of community Marin described, as well as a way to under- stand and bridge cultural bar- riers. Jeanie McLaughlin has been one of the Cannon Beach coordinators of the program for more than 20 BRENNA VISSER/CANNON BEACH GAZETTE Visitors learn the art of printmaking at Imprint Gallery. ‘In Costa Rica, you think Americans only have hamburgers and hot dogs, but that’s definitely not the case here.’ Alfredo Marin, Costa Rican visitor with Partners of the Americas program years. She has participat- ed in the exchange herself by traveling to Costa Rica twice, and said she first got involved when she heard about the program from a friend in town. A former Spanish teacher, McLaughlin found she fell in love with the chance to meet new people and broaden her horizons. “It’s a really nice pro- gram,” McLaughlin said. “Some of the Costa Ricans know Oregon better than some of us locals by the end of it.” By the end of September, those in the program will have stayed in four separate Oregon cities for a week each. In Cannon Beach, that involved potlucks, coffee shops, art gallery and na- ture tours. While the trip is focused on showcasing as much of Oregon as possible, these exchanges also provide invaluable experience for ev- eryone to exercise their En- glish and Spanish. The program has been established for more than 50 years, but the number of people apart of the program has been on the decline, pres- ident Ned Heavenrich said. The average these days for the coastal chapter sits at around 20, when ideally the group used to see numbers around 50. Heavenrich sees the de- cline due to the fact most members are retired and old- er, and the program hasn’t been attracting enough new members to make up for the natural attrition. Budget cuts from the federal government also has contributed to de- clining numbers. “You can’t get that per- sonal, cultural connection with someone without ex- changes,” Heavenrich said. “You can’t look up online and learn about a family’s passion or activities. We have a lot to learn.” And the lessons the pro- gram originally sought out to teach are still relevant today, McLaughlin said, “It’s relevant now more than ever to promote peace and understanding to coun- tries south of the border And we still need that a lot in our political climate,” she said. Marin, 38, is one of the few in the program who is not retired. His passion for exchange programs came from his mother, whom he said hosted visitors from all over the world growing up. 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