Setting The Tone: Local singing group celebrates 28 years of performing with Sunday show

By MELISSA MOODY
Melissa.Moody@newsandtribune.com

May 16, 2008 11:29 am

— As soon as Mary McKercher, director of the local musical group the Silvertoners, instructed the members gathered at Central Christian Church in New Albany to stand up for a rendition of the “Hokey Pokey,” laughter began in the men’s section of the church pews.
Member Randall Kennedy got so tickled, he laughed throughout the song — when he put his hands in and when he took them out. And especially when he had to shake it all about. It wasn’t Kennedy’s first “Hokey Pokey” either; he has been a member of the Silvertoners for 24 years.
“I wasn’t doing enough and I wanted to do more, and I like to sing,” he said.
And, much to the relief of those who can get a case of the giggles doing the “Hokey Pokey,” the group sings more than interactive children’s songs. The Silvertoners splits its programs into classic standards for the first act and religious hymns, such as “Take Off Your Shoes,” for the second act.
The singing group plays about 60 shows a year around Southern Indiana, from children’s shows to retirement homes to Light Up New Albany. December is the busiest time of year, with a many as 12 shows in that month alone.
The Silvertoners’ Wednesday rehearsal was in preparation for a 28th anniversary performance scheduled for Sunday at Central Christian.
McKercher started the group in 1980, with just six other members from the church.
“At the time I started, choir directors thought people with white hair couldn’t sing,” she said. “All we ask is you enjoy singing — you can be a monotone because it all blends.”
The Silvertoners have grown to include more than 60 members from different churches and different denominations in Floyd, Clark and Harrison counties.
The only rule to join is you must be 55 or older, though nobody checks identification, McKercher said, laughing.
The members are all friends — they help each other remember the music, and the moves to the “Hokey Pokey.” McKercher jokes that only one marriage has come out of the group in its 28 years, she and her husband, Bruce’s, marriage.
He sits in the first pew for practice, a music stand in front of him and his cane leaning to the side. He uses a portable magnifying glass to read the music. And he sings right along with his wife’s direction.
They live in New Albany and attend Central Christian. Kennedy lives in Jeffersonville and attends Maple Street Baptist Church. Margie Phillips, the oldest member at 91, also lives in Jeffersonville and attends Park Place United Methodist Church.
Members come from Sellersburg, Borden, New Albany, Georgetown and “every little town around,” Phillips said.
“I’m an old musician,I teach piano and I sing in the choir. “It’s been music, music, music all my life.”
Phillips’ sister, Earline Cunningham, sings in the Silvertoners too, but she knew the “Hokey Pokey” before she joined the group.
Cunningham learned that song and dance after teaching first grade at Galena Elementary School for 30 years.
“I learned the ‘Hokey Pokey’ with the kids,” she said.
For McKercher the same as Phillips, it has been music, music, music all her life. McKercher began singing under Professor Bertram C. Heckel, who is being honored Sunday for his lifetime of service in music.
“I was there one year before (Heckel) gave me a solo,” she said. “And I was wondering when he was going to give me one.”
Now, McKercher stands in front of the Silvertoners singing higher than anyone can and moving her arms in slow arcs informing the others of the correct timing with the music. She leads a group of her own, and a group of her own making.

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