European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 2, 1968, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 16 the stars and stripes Rhein main s skylarks Little fun Little Fame by Mary Ann Reese staff writer from the kitchens and laundry rooms of the Frankfurt area they come for a sanity break every Friday morning and in the process they have won a modest Fame for themselves. They Are the skylarks a group of housewives most of them military de Pendents who sing in concert anything from Bach to Folk show tunes to religious and even a Little country and West Ern. Since they first collected in the Home of mrs. Mickey Mosler in Decem Ber 1964, the women have been asked to open the musical season at Wiesbaden s Kuxhaus where they shared the Stag with several German men s choruses appeared in concert at the in Frankfurt i Hoechst performed in Berlin and entertained at the fare Well dinner for Gen. Andrew p. O Meara last summer. Top officers from the British French and american forces gave them a standing ovation and mrs. O Meara personally thanked each member for the performance. But usually the skylarks sponsored by the Rhein main officers wives club perform for wives club luncheons with none Day s travelling distance. And they have a Ball. It s been a fabulous experience said mrs. Ted toy Jensen who directed the group until her rotation Date Drew near and she turned the Job Over to mrs. Cecil p. Rose often in the air Force you go to a lot of social functions where there ares Many people and there s simply no Chance to form close relationships with other people. This has Given us a great Chance to meet some wonderful gals. We Are very close and it s a healthy Chance to be creative and express ourselves. It provides so Many things housewives need above and beyond the vacuum cleaner dust mop and kids said who left her musical studies j3 years ago when she married. Recently the skylarks sort orbit the big Lime when an invited them to record a network wide mothers Day performance. We really shocked them laughed mrs. Robert so cock who s been with the group three years. They were expecting quartet or a very Small group. When we All got in the studio and belted out hey look me Over the Guys in the control room were visibly shocked their Mouths flew open. We recorded for four but their most rewarding experience to Date afro agree was a recent visit at the orthopaedic Ward at 97th Genera Hospital in Frankfurt. When we walked in wearing Kir Black dresses be men thought we the skylarks gof standing ovation at retirement party for Gen. O Mearo look an by pleasant Surprise mrs. Robert Swenck of show we took off our shoes and Fri. Keith Starr looks Forward to weekly sanity mrs. Ted Jensen director for two years says it s been a fabulous is photos by red Grandy were a religious group. We were scheduled to sing 15 minutes. But after we Sang that much the men would t Letus go said mrs. Swenck. We took off our shoes and Sang to our hearts Content an hour and a half every thing we knew and a few things weddin t. It was really a heart warming average performance will include show tunes like Maria tonight Medley from the sound of music humor songs like would t it be loverly Folk tunes like Black is the color of my True love s hair and even country and Western such As "lookin1 for ii try also have done a special arrangement of Daniel prepared for them by Jim Bratcher a civilian with the Rhein Mali Chapel. Chief to Bob mrs. Ben Kroone. Previously she just Sang in the bunion former Usan band Leader i Wiesbaden also has done arrangements for them. We have a problem getting mus cover Here sometimes explained mrs. Swenck. It takes u Long time to get stand sometimes companies Don t have what we l Backi sounds of us women numbering Between 30 to 40 at a time Range from members who have Sung with the mormon Tabernacle choir to women like mrs. Ben Kroone i Don t sing at All confessed to Jensen who studied Bassoon and piano when she was a music major at the in. Cecil p. Julian new director for skylarks. University of Iowa. But if you know music there s no More to directing voices than instruments. I just had to loll the directions could t show them. 1 have a Lousy voice usually the women limit their l pea Rances to 10 or 12 per would have to drop out if we got too tied up in said mrs Swenck. After nil our husbands Ami children Are our main is Welcome and som the women hold sing along i club input in. To recruit new they take Pride in sounding professional but mostly they re concerned with having a Good time und a break from household chores. As the Only Canadian member mrs. Bruce we Man put it of weekly sing sessions give us courage to the rest of the
