| Glen Newton and Dick Gray accompanied the choir. | |
|
The choir had four basses. Bruce Lewis is at the left. The three at the right—Glen Newton, George Dunn, and John King—also performed as a folk trio that won the Optimists Club talent contest in 1964. |
When Mrs. Barbara Halstead took over as vocal music teacher at Big Rapids High School (BRHS), she tapped the great reserve of vocal talent in the band by forming an extracurricular choir that met during the noontime activity period. She named it the A Capella Choir.
Despite its name, the group usually performed with piano accompaniment. Dick Gray and Glen Newton were the choir's accompanists.
One of the most thrilling episodes for the choir was the trip to Cadillac, Michigan, to sing on live television during the Christmas season. Glen accompanied Darlene Thorstenson, a BRHS alumna, on guitar and also played piano for a flute trio to play "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" as the music for a little girl's ballet dance.