September 30, members of the Canadian Military Wives Choir Greenwood piled into the St. Mark’s Church annex and rolled up their sleeves for what would turn out to be a fantastic, pie-making weekend.
It takes a lot of money to run a choir like this and, after the success of last year’s fundraiser, members would have been foolish not to repeat the experience.
“We start checking the flyers for sales in August,” says treasurer Tara Rutherford. “We got a few orders in as soon as we put out the publicity, mostly from return customers, but the majority came after we participated in the Wing Welcome Rexpo.”
After the pre-ordering campaign, members organized the baking weekend, where they’d get down to business and hand-make each individual pie.
“We’ve gotten so many compliments on our pies – one lady who bought one last year came back and bought 10 this year! That alone tells you that they’re delicious!” says Chantal Harding, choir vice-president and pie filling expert.
“Last year, we taste-tested a few different combinations, and ended up going with the best crust from one pie, and the best filling from another. But we’re not going to share our recipes – that’d be bad for business!”
Aiming to at least equal last year’s 207 pies, the choir flew past that goal this year, with 290 pies ordered.
“You tend to get funny looks when you pull up to the cash register with 65 boxes of lard,” says Rutherford. Thankfully, the Valley is ripe with the number one ingredient: the ladies partnered with Dempsey’s Corner Orchards again this year to purchase over 600 pounds of apples.
In the spirit of the season, the choir took inspiration from one of last year’s member’s initiative (who has since sadly been posted out of the area) and implemented a donation drive directly into their order form.
“Obviously, a lot of our members aren’t from here so, when your fundraising strategy is based on sales, it’s not always easy to get friends and family support,” said choir president Isabelle Pitre. “One of our members came up with a genius alternative to get her family involved, all the way from Quebec: she offered to donate the pies they would purchase to a family in need around here. That way, she’d be able to get their support for the choir, and get that ‘feel-good, pay-it-forward’ energy.”
Last year, the choir donated 25 pies to families of deployed members through the Greenwood Military Family Resource Centre. This year, the choir branched out to include the 14 Wing Chaplains’ office and the Kingston Legion to bring a little delicious goodness to even more members of the large military community.
“With our whole organization happening just before Thanksgiving, it puts people in a generous mood – and we’re well-positioned to understand how hard the holidays can be when you have to spend them far from loved ones,” says Pitre.
This year, 58 pies were donated.
While pie-making, choir members spent time getting to know each other better outside of their typical singing setting. Less than a month after joining the choir, Brianna and Liz could be heard laughing, elbows-deep mixing dough. Natasha Ching, the choir’s musical director, spent her time at different stations.
“I took the opportunity to play some of the songs I’m planning on bringing to the choir next term, and it was a great, no-stress way to be able to see which ones people liked best,” Ching said.
“Of course, it’s hard work!” says Julie. “I had apple juice spitting in my glasses for two days, and my body was completely toast afterwards… but I’d do it again, no problem! It was so fun!”
When Pitre took over as president in January 2022, she made her mandate one of exposure.
“I want the choir to be the first group you think of when you need someone to sing at your event – whether it be wing-based, or in the community.”
For that to happen, the choir has to be in a position to say YES to opportunities.
“Our members are mothers, employees, partners, business owners – they lead busy lives, so it’s not always possible for them to commit to every event.”
With a membership double in size since Pitre started her tenure, there’s now better chances the choir will have enough singers to create those beautiful harmonies – meaning it’s able to accept opportunities it might have had to refuse in the past.
“We currently have our eyes on a very big prize – Invictus 2025 in Vancouver/ Whistler. No formal invitation has been made yet, but there are definitely talks of repeating the national effort that took place in Toronto in 2017,” says Pitre. “I would love to be able to bring as many of our members as possible to the event, obviously! But, with over 30 members, the bill will get real expensive, real quick!”
And if the Invictus initiative doesn’t pan out?
“There’s always new music to buy, better equipment, promotional material, merchandise. My very best-case scenario would be to leave the choir in a financially solid state, where we’re able to offer as much support as possible to our members – it could mean having a pool of available babysitters, or paying for travel expenses when we’re participating in events outside of the local area, or even offering some sort of scholarship for members looking to participate in musical training programs or adult choir camps.”
Coming up
November 4 – O Canada @ Wildcats game
November 11 – Remembrance Day performance at the Kingston Legion
November 18 – Combined Charities craft sale at the Community Centre, selling baked goods & handmade crafts
December 9: Combined Charities Festival of Trees at the Greenwood Mall
December 10: 14 Wing Christmas concert at the Annapolis Mess
