Wheaton choral festival pays tribute to anniversary
With Wheaton officially turning 150 years old on Tuesday, organizers of the yearlong sesquicentennial celebration didn't want the moment to pass without a party.
So they planned two.
In addition to a sold-out 150th Birthday Gala on Saturday night at Arrowhead Golf Club, the Wheaton Citywide Choir and Family Heritage Festival is set for Sunday at Wheaton College's Edman Chapel.
"The gala is the birthday party," said Michelle Senatore, president of the West Suburban Foundation for Disabled Veterans, which is hosting the black-tie event. "This is our gift back to Wheaton."
Money raised during the event will be donated to 15 local charities "to celebrate Wheaton's great tradition of giving back," Senatore said.
But while the gala is sold out, tickets still are available for the all-city choral festival.
"We wanted to do something for all the people who couldn't go to the gala," said Cathy Hetrick, community relations chairwoman for the sesquicentennial.
As part of Sunday's event, choirs from Wheaton Academy, Wheaton Warrenville South, Wheaton North and St. Francis high schools will perform individually and as a group. The Wheaton College Men's Glee Club and Women's Chorale and choirs from nine Wheaton churches also will participate.
"The idea was to have the high school choirs in the area sing as one," Hetrick said. "We also wanted to have as many church choirs in the area come together and sing."
In addition to featuring selections by the combined high school choirs, the Wheaton College choirs and a mass church choir, organizers said, the festival will debut a special composition prepared for the sesquicentennial by Tony Payne, Wheaton College's Conservatory of Music director.
In addition, the city's Center for History is going to do a short presentation honoring families that have lived Wheaton for more than 100 years.
Tickets are $10, and all the proceeds will help pay for a planned renovation of the Robert J. Martin Memorial Plaza at Front and Main streets.
Members of the Wheaton Sesquicentennial Committee recently unveiled plans that include seating for 112 people, three single-basin fountains, park benches, planters, a curving brick path and an overarching railroad theme appropriate for the park's location next to the tracks.
The goal is to pay for all of the work, estimated at $537,000, through donations and fundraising.
Sunday's festival could raise as much as $23,000, if all the tickets sell out.
Tickets are available at the Center for History, the Wheaton Park District Community Center, Arrowhead Golf Club and the Wheaton College ticket office. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door.
Future sesquicentennial activities include a kite-flying event in April and a Poetry in the Park event in June. The yearlong celebration will conclude with the Fourth of July parade.
<p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p> <p class="News"><b>What:</b> Wheaton Citywide Family Heritage and Choir Festival</p> <p class="News"><b>When:</b> 3 p.m. Sunday</p> <p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Wheaton College's Edman Chapel, 401 Franklin St., Wheaton</p> <p class="News"><b>Cost:</b> $10</p> <p class="News"><b>Info:</b> <a href="http://www.wheaton.il.us/150" target="new">wheaton.il.us/150</a></p>