House assistants come and they go…like waves on the ocean, the backwards and forwards motions. They arrive and stay with us for two, three, four…up to six months, then they leave and others take their places.

When they go of course, they leave behind a small part of themselves, a memory for those still there and they take in return a small part of each and everyone there at Pax Lodge, wrapped up in the memories.

Senior staff members do stay longer…and luckily for me we did have some senior staff around at the time of rehearsals who could sing and who smiled when I pulled them into …the "Pax Lodge Choir!"

"Ah ha!" I said, "You're in the choir!"

"The Pax Lodge Choir?" You may call out in wonder!

"Yes!" say I.

Now…to say that this was "A day in the life of the choir" would not be true! It was more like 5 days in all. There were the rehearsal days and there was the special evening celebrating the Pax Lodge 10^th Anniversary. We sang live that evening to our audience, our visitors all celebrating that lovely occasion.

Then, of course, there was the actual recording day in the studio. The day we met up with our packed lunches and went off to Morden in Surrey! After a train journey, we all packed into my car and were very cheery indeed! Could we all fit in to my car? That was the question! We did. Just about! I remember that Vanessa had her knees tucked under her chin!

It was a sunny day and during the breaks some of us played in the garden with 'Billy Boy' the dog belonging to Graeme, the Studio owner and engineer.

One of the sad things was the fact that some of the House Assistants who had rehearsed and performed at the Anniversary evening had then left, had already gone home before we had recorded the choir onto the single. But as I mentioned at the start of this letter, "Like waves flowing back and forth"…so our dear House Assistants come and they go. It is the way!

Well… we acquired new choir members and we rehearsed again and finally got to the studio.

"And…what song is this?" I hear you ask!

"Why, it's the new World Centres' Song called: "Hands Of Friendship" my friend!"

The singers who took part at the live concert and the recording session were: Meganne Stubbs from Canada, Vanessa Padoani from Canada, Shannon Mulvihill from…yes, well you guessed…Canada! Together with: Sarah Brown from the U.K. Susanne Kofod from Denmark, Rebecca Lalican from Norway, Johanna Hunder from Germany, Maria Ercharte from Argentina and Kristina Ornicane from Latvia.

I would like to thank each and everyone for their time and for the fun and the dedication we had doing it. We enjoyed the singing, the company and the preparations.

Although Pax Lodge was the base for the recording of the song, it was in fact sung by Guides and Scouts from around the world. As a song, it is an International representation celebrating the life of Guiding and Scouting, past, present and future, celebrating the World Centres.

You will see some of the photographs that were taken on both occasions. This includes a photo with John Whittaker and myself playing for the choir.  John is the bass player from the 'Aldbrickham Band'. I sing with this Band often. One of the photos is of Graeme Taylor and myself. As you know…Graeme is the owner of 'Billy Boy' the studio dog, and of course, a fine musician and recording engineer. I have worked with Graeme a lot over the years both in recording studios and in live concert work.

Clare Taylor kindly played violin on the recording of this song. Having a real violin playing alongside the computer strings is a lovely sound. There is a difference you know, having the actual rosin on the bow!

The choir had to repeat their vocals many times. We call this, 'over-dubbing'. This gives us the effect of many voices.

On the evening of the 'Pax Lodge Anniversary' we sang a number of songs. Including "Hands Of Friendship" they were: "Kumbaya", "Sailing", "From a Distance" and "The Pax Lodge Song".

Singing and playing music is an important part of the expression of life. It brings us together in groups; it can fill us with good memories. It is a wonderful way to express ourselves.

Now, as you very well know, the House Assistants come and they go…yes, I'm sure you have heard me mention this once or twice in this letter! So…at the moment the 'Pax Lodge Choir' no longer exists! They have gone! But of course, they are on the recording! I am sure that when I will call out for  "help" on the next recordings of Guide and Scout songs (which are planned this year) I will see a potential choir amongst the staff and volunteers form all over the world at Pax Lodge. And I will say…"Hey! You're in the choir!"

We hope you enjoy the CD of the song.

Thank you to everyone who helped.


Marianne.