Rise & Shine for Free Pineapple!

Every once in awhile you just gotta do something silly and I guess last Sat. qualifies. Feb. 6 was the grand opening of a Sweetbay grocery store about 5 min. up the road. Paul and Anne were planning to be there before the 7am opening because the first 1,000 customers would get a free pineapple and they asked if we wanted to go. Yep, you guessed it, the 4 of us piled in their car at 6:30am! There was a good size crowd but nowhere near 1,000 so we felt assured we’d get our free pineapples. Shortly after we arrived, the ribbon cutting was done, and all the “suits” lined up to greet everyone coming in and to hand out those pineapples. As we entered, there was a huge strawberry display and another “suit” holding an enormous bowl of strawberries for sampling. Most people veered to the right, but Russ and I took off to the left. The only thing we had seen in the grand opening ad that we were interested in was the 12-packs of Coke products...4/$10. They were on an end cap close to the registers, and Russ thought that maybe they’d be giving something to the first person to check out so hurriedly put the soda into the cart so I could immediately head to check out. I was either the 1st or 2nd person (definitely would have been 1st but had a problem with the credit card reader), but it doesn’t appear that anything was given for being 1st since no announcement or hoopla commenced. On the way out the first 500 customers were given a reusable tote bag stocked with a large box of cereal, a box of vanilla wafers, a box of spaghetti, and a 64 oz. bottle of apple juice! Russ and I each got one so we took the soda and our bags out to the car and then went back inside to catch up with Paul and Anne. This time we veered to the right where they were giving away free coffee, cookies, carnations, and ham samples. The mood was very festive with a guy playing island music at the back of the store. On our way home we stopped at Denny’s for breakfast. Crazy way to start a day, eh?

The next day Scott and I went to the annual show of the Sound of Sunshine Show Chorus called “ab-SALUTE-ly Music 2009”. (Russ opted not to go with us.) This local Sweet Adelines chorus (http://www.soundofsunshine.com/), directed by Master Director Nancy Lewis, put on quite a show. This group of about 60 women entertained with classic uptunes and ballads from across the musical spectrum. Nancy was also the emcee, telling some corny jokes between songs, and a couple chorus quartets were showcased as well. Just before intermission one of their guest men’s quartets were introduced, The Humdingers. They are actually part of the group of men who regularly perform on Main Street at the Magic Kingdom known as the Dapper Dans. You may recall that I actually got to sing with the Dapper Dans last year, but these were different guys than that (though I have seen this group perform there). It turns out that this foursome performs shows all across the country as The Humdingers (http://www.humdingers.org/). Their 20 minute performance of singing, soft shoe, and comedy kept the audience thoroughly entertained.

When they were done, a couple stagehands placed a white sheet on the floor, brought out a long table, 4 chairs, and some other stuff we couldn't really see on the table, and I thought perhaps they were just setting up for the raffle after intermission. Well, one of the ladies came out on stage and announced that we were going to get a sneak preview of the guest quartet, Lunch Break (http://www.lunchbreakquartet.com/), who would be performing later in the show. Slowly, one by one, each guy made his way onstage dressed in pajamas, t-shirts, robe, flip-flops or slippers. They were moving very slowly as though they were hungover, with one of them even rolling out from under the curtain! The audience couldn’t help but laugh. They made their way to the table, a couple with head in hand, and each began moaning on a different tone (evidently tuning up for the pitch), and then very softly began singing. It was a parody of the song Summertime (When the Living is Easy), but they were singing Morningtime (and My Stomach is Queasy)…what a hoot!! When they finished (to thunderous applause), they broke into a song about Lucky Charms cereal, eating while they sang! These guys began singing together in the summer of 2007 just for fun during their lunch break (hence the name), and won their District contest of the men’s Barbershop Harmony Society that same year! Does that give you any idea of their talent?? These guys were well worth the price of admission all on their own!

After intermission we were treated to the Glazer Family Trio. These three kids aged 11, 13, and 15 have been playing piano since they were infants! Together they play classic music as a string trio, a piano quartet with mom Elaine (who is a member of the chorus), and all kinds of chamber music with their dad, Benoit, who is the musical director of Orlando’s Cirque Du Soleil “La Nouba”. The also play jazz as a quartet with their dad on trumpet. Each kid plays 3 different instruments, but for this show they played two classical pieces with two on violin, the youngest on cello, and mom on keyboard. Truly a delightful addition to the program to showcase such a wonderfully talented family.

Once again it was time for the return of Lunch Break, who performed another 20 minutes. Dressed in yellow and black bowling shirts, they had a great mix of comedic and serious songs, entertaining the entire time. One of the best was sung by the tenor, Shane Scott. Do you remember that beautiful song from Oliver called “Where Is Love?” Well, Shane’s version is called “Where is Lunch?” I was laughing so hard, tears were rolling down my face, but he does have a gorgeous tenor voice and sang it very tenderly and straight-faced with the other guys as his backup. If you read the bios on their website, you’ll see that he writes most of the parodies they perform. They ended their portion of the show with a seriously beautiful gospel song, Vic'try Road. If you ever get a chance to see these guys perform, don’t pass it up! The chorus returned for one more song, bringing all the performers onstage, and another successful show was complete. Afterwards Scott treated me to dinner at Colorado House of Beef, a nice ending to a delightful day.

As for the rest of the week, Russ had his stitches removed, and the doc informed us that the biopsy results showed he had gotten all the cancer. Yay!! I started a new pill regimen to reduce the inflammation in my intestine from the Crohn’s, and I started attending the weekly line dancing class. Even though I had learned about 7 line dances last year at Sunset King, wouldn’t you know they haven’t done any of them here! But the fun part is getting to learn some new ones. We’re gearing up to perform some at the resorts Valentine’s Dinner/Dance this weekend. So until then, stay warm and stay safe!