COMMUNITY EVENT America Sings! festival to come to Sharon stadium

Community service is a big part of the festival atmosphere.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
SHARON, Pa. -- An anticipated 1,700 singers from at least a half-dozen states will converge on Sharon High School for the first small-venue America Sings! festival Saturday.
America Sings!, a nonprofit musical festival and special-event producer based in Alexandria, Va., normally sponsors three major, two-day national musical festivals in major cities across the country each year.
This is the first time a small-venue location such as Sharon has been organized, said Vic Ellenberger, the Sharon teacher who is coordinating the local event.
Sharon's festival will be a one-day affair with activities centering on a stage to be erected in Tiger Stadium.
Community service projects
Local festival participants from Sharon, Farrell, Hermitage, West Middlesex and Greenville school districts will be doing community service projects in their communities Friday, and all 1,700 singers are expected to meet at the stadium at 9:30 a.m. Saturday for a one-hour dress rehearsal of the song and dance numbers they will perform as a single unit.
John Jacobson, founder and volunteer president of America Sings!, will conduct the rehearsal and lead the group in its 7 p.m. public performance.
In addition to the joint performance, groups have been invited to offer their own musical numbers on the big stage, and 30 groups have signed up to perform throughout the day Saturday.
After the morning rehearsal, the groups will be offered entertainment by outside musical groups as well as a variety of workshops covering topics such as job auditions, barbershop-style singing and a voice clinic.
Helping others
Festival participants also will be invited to help make at least 1,000 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to be donated to local shelters in Sharon, New Castle and Youngstown.
They also will make toiletry kits for kids faced with emergency dislocation from their homes.
All performances at the stadium are free and open to the public. Festival organizers have predicted the event could draw up to 10,000 listeners.
The performers pay a registration fee of $30 or $35, depending upon when their registration was made, with those proceeds going to pay festival costs and to help local charities.