A Super Spaghetti Supper
On a beautiful autumn evening last Saturday, September 27, the South Shore Saints (aka Chorale A Cappella South Shore) held their first and only Spaghetti Supper of the year.
Post-pandemic, we have held this fundraising event biannually, once in the spring and again in the fall, to cover registration fees for members participating in the spring regional and fall district conventions, respectively.
This year, however, the chorus decided not to attend the spring regional convention in Lake George, NY, in large part because more than a few members were hesitant to travel across the border due to tensions with our neighbours to the south. And because attending the fall district convention is contingent on having qualified in the spring (which we had done for the past 3 years running, returning with the most improved chorus award each time), we had suddenly lost our justification for holding our cherished Spaghetti Suppers.
Yet every seemingly unfortunate event usually comes with a silver lining. In terms of opportunity costs, individual chorus members in general, and more specifically those in quartets, have had more time to work on their songs than usual. This has proved important, given that for our 65th anniversary show this year on November 22, 2025, we decided to take on the challenge of showing how barbershop singing has evolved since the earliest days of our founding in 1960. It was to this end that we decided to hold our first and only Spaghetti Supper this year, to invite Morgan Hayes LaCroix, baritone of Roulette (last year's Harmony Inc. 2024 Champions, and guest quartet for our show) and a coach we count on regularly, to improve our song interpretations.
Independent of the decision to forgo the spring regional convention, we were also fortunate earlier this year to host a Harmony Explosion Camp (HeX) (sponsored annually by the Barbershop Harmony Society's Northeastern District) at Saint-Lambert High School on March 29, 2025. This marked the first time that the camp was held in Quebec, ever since the chorus began sending young singers from the Greater Montreal region in 2013 to attend HeX camps held at Northeast US sites. Owing to the success on that day, with 37 students singing and performing on stage after a full day of coaching by 7 professional instructors, we have been selected again to host the next HeX Camp again on March 28, 2026 !
For me, this year’s event turned out to be one of the most relaxing and comfortable among all the Spaghetti Suppers I have participated in. (In previous years, I had been rather uptight, especially when it came to performing in a quartet in the singing session.) Granted, I still had worries. On Saturday afternoon, I overcooked a spaghetti squash. Shortly afterwards, I learned that a member of our quartet, Brian Macnab, would be unable to perform due to a condition that only affected only his voice—perhaps related to a virus that caused several other expected guests to stay at home.
Luckily, we were able to recruit Jay-Lee Busque-Blackburn, who has lately grown into an expert tag-master, to stand in for our lead. What an impression he made when we kicked off the singing session first! The energy we brought seemed to influence our two other quartets as well, and when our most experienced foursome, Recyled Parts, sang Billy Joel’s Lullaby, I found myself nearly bawling as I tried to record a clip of their stirring performance.
As for the spaghetti squash I had prepared, it turned out to be enough for those with a preference for a low carbohydrate diet. Lastly, I was able to find a seat with Angus, our eldest member and quintessential gentleman, and Mario’s relative, Pierrette, a most ebullient and genteel spirit, and enjoy a relaxing conversation with each of them, all the while realizing for the first time how amazingly good the spaghetti was.
It was truly an evening filled with soulful food and music.
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