Visitors
August 2003
This month’s illustrious “Queen of Harmony River” is none other than our own Susan Willis, former lead and now bass-extraordinaire.
Susan came to us through the urging of Becky Worthington, for which we will be forever indebted. She’d been singing in her church choir for 2 ˝ years when Becky was finally able to persuade her to come to a guest night.
She was hooked.
And now, after only a brief leave of absence, she’s been with us for 2 ˝ years.
Susan was initially a timid lead who blossomed under Stacy’s tutelage and was a definite asset to the lead section.
Then she found her other calling.
She was adopted by the bass section and has enjoyed it thoroughly (as have the other basses). I may be wrong, but I have a feeling the leads have lost her for good.
Susan and her husband Brian have two children: Haley (going in 4th grade) and Justin (He's starting Kindergarten this year). She has been a stay-at-home mom for many years, but has recently started working for the Department of the Navy helping sailors with their travel claims after returning from deployment. She is proficient in Arabic and has worked as a Middle Eastern Cryptologic Linguist Specialist (A.K.A. an Arabic Linguist). She’s worked in several local coffee shops as a Barista (like a bartender only for Cappuccinos and lattes and such). She’s worked at Barnes and Nobles (cafe) twice and at Abbi's Coffee Mill and Roastery. In Susan’s own words: “I guess you could say I'm a ‘coffee snob’. I made it my goal in life to educate the world, one person at a time, the difference between a cappuccino and a latte, and the true definition of Espresso.”
For fun she likes to sing (naturally!), TALK, cook and have fun just being myself.
Susan played trombone in both marching and concert band all through high school so she has music in her blood. She loves singing bass because it’s a change of pace for her voice. The songs from our chorus that she enjoys singing most are Original Dixieland One-Step, Carolina in the Morning, Battle Hymn (in lead), and Lion Sleeps Tonight.
When asked what she enjoys most about Sweet Adelines, she responded “The Singing, the fellowship, AND how rehearsals and performances can pick me up after a stressful day.”