Our beginnings...

What better way to celebrate our 22nd year than to revisit our origins and reminisce a bit about how it all began? In the mid-1980's, not too long after moving to Rehoboth from the Washington, D.C. area, I was asked to serve on the then Sussex County Arts Council. I remember sitting at a board meeting one November and asking, "Where will the Messiah Sing-along be held?" Silence ...followed by a slightly sardonic, "I can tell you haven't been here very long."

Once I began to describe the incredible experience of the annual Messiah Sing-along at the Kennedy Center, the board, much to its credit, began to discuss such an undertaking. The first Sussex County Messiah Sing-along, complete with soloists, Delaware Symphony and ad hoc chorus, was held at Milford High School the following December to a SRO crowd!

The Sussex County Arts Council was prepared to relax, sit on its laurels, and enjoy the success. But, no, such complacency was not to be! The ad hoc chorus refused to disband! I remember people like Beth Howlett and John Ranney saying, "We had too much fun to not continue." So, the group stayed together under our first director, Dick Eckerd. In the ensuing years, we've had several rehearsal venues, many new singers, four rehearsal accompanists, and three directors. We've enjoyed several collaborative efforts with individuals and organizations - the wonderful Lee Mitchell, the Delaware Choral Society, the Chesapeake Brass Band, the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Laurel Elementary School, guest musicians and soloists, as well as partnerships with schools, both public and private.

And through it all, we've received incredible support from the Division of the Arts, the Sussex County Council, the City of Lewes and the many businesses and individuals whose names you see in our concert booklets. And most of all, we've been witness to a cultural revolution here in Sussex County. The demand for theater, art and music has never been greater and, while the Sussex County Arts Council no longer exists, it has spawned a rich legacy in organizations such as ours. And, in some respects, we have come full circle.

Beth Hochholzer,
Executive Director