After 5: Sweet Sounds: Ozark Showcase Sweet Adelines

McLaughlin’s Ob-Gyn office is transformed this late December afternoon into a small concert hall with the sounds of Ozark Showcase Sweet Adelines. Office personnel and patients take notice and gather around.

McLaughlin’s staff ordered the singing surprise as a gift for his retirement party.

The Ozark Showcase Sweet Adelines are used to turning heads with their harmonies. For more than 50 years, area women, many of whom are professionals, have performed barbershop-style songs in offices, homes, elder care facilities and on stage in front of large audiences. They sang the national anthem before the Dec. 30 Missouri State University Lady Bears basketball game, Christmas carols for Battlefield Mall shoppers and lively tunes during the Gillioz Theatre’s grand reopening.

The current crop of about 30 ladies practices for three hours each Tuesday beginning at 6:30 p.m. at The Montclair. The retirement community gives the singers the space for free so that residents can enjoy the music.

Members are diverse in their professions and backgrounds – small-business owners, teachers, nurses and students among them. Each seemingly has her own story for getting involved.

“They call me a barbershop brat,” says vocalist Cindy Griot, who followed in her mother’s footsteps when she joined the not-for-profit group in 1999. Interestingly, Griot worked for McLaughlin 30 years ago and was among the four who sang for his recent retirement surprise.

Family heritage is a theme among many members, starting at the top. Director Jeff Veteto, a City Utilities engineer, is a fourth-generation barbershop choir director.

“(Jeff) lives it and breathes it,” says Modena Hostetler, who has sung under all four Vetetos.

Hostetler is Ozark Showcase Sweet Adelines’ treasurer and membership chair, a job she performs unabashedly.

“There’s room for more on the risers,” says Hostetler, constantly recruiting. “We want to preserve this art form of women’s barbershop. It’s a wonderful hobby for businesspeople. It’s a wonderful way to get your focus off of work … and chores of home.”

Brenda Mings, vice president/office manager for Springfield Trust Co., was recruited by some friends more than 10 years ago. She now sings lead harmony and serves as the group’s vice president.

While the activities work as a stress reliever, “it can create some stress,” says Mings, the 2003 chorus member of the year. The Adelines memorize all their lyrics and harmony parts.

Janeise Davis, a vision therapist for optometrists Carol Scott and David Pierce, admits that rehearsals can be draining. But the mother of three says she looks forward to them after a day of work and caring for her family.

“You’re being a wife, you’re being a mother – and that’s my little time,” says Davis, who started a little more than a year ago. Davis’ grandfather sang in a barbershop quartet, and her mother was a Sweet Adeline in the 1970s, when the group was called Ozark Belles.

Now, Ozark Showcase is preparing for its annual competition in Dallas. The show, in March this year, is the biggest for the ladies, followed by the fall show in Springfield, its main fund-raiser.[[In-content Ad]]