Area Arts

Chris Ferguson (front) sings lead with the Sweet Adelines quartet, "Celebrate!" which recently won first place in New England competition. The other quartet members are her sister, Lisa Rideout of Cumberland Foreside, baritone; tenor, Wendi McPike of Kennebunk; and bass, Deb Richard of Raymond. All are members of the Yarmouth-based Royal River Chorus.
The competition, held in Springfield, MA, drew a field of 25 competitors. Celebrate!'s gold-medal performance earns them the honor of representing New England at the 2004 Sweet Adelines International Competition, to be held in Indianapolis in October.

Chris Ferguson has sung lead in several championship quartets during 30 years as a Sweet Adeline in Massachusetts and Maine. For the past 11 years she has devoted much energy to directing the Royal River Chorus, which has garnered many regional and International awards under her dynamic leadership. Now she is in the catbird seat with her first quartet blue ribbon in 13 years and a first place mid-size division medal for the, chorus, with scores that qualify them for International Competition in New Orleans in 2005.

Deb Richard was recognized during the competition weekend by the North Atlantic Region of Sweet Adelines for her many years of volunteer service.
She most recently served as Membership and Marketing Coordinator for the region, which is comprised of over 1200 members in 26 chapters in New England and Quebec, Canada. At the local level, further accolades were given to Deb by the Royal River Chorus Board of Directors, who presented her with an award for all the behind-the-scenes work she does to help the 60+ member chorus run smoothly.