“One snowy night, one of our members was in the back row pressed up against the window of an Astor Street apartment building whose ground floor windowsill was approximately at chin level. One woman gave a Dredger a dollar bill and great thanks, following carols in Goudy Square, and an early chronicler named his favorite story. Grandchildren of another Dredger, surely the most popular at final children’s performances, attach Hershey’s Kisses to his hat, which the appreciative audiences dive for at the end.Ī Gold Coast neighborhood tour following the last performance has often provided amusing encounters. One Dredger doffs his top hat and dons light-up Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer nose for Lurie Children’s Hospital performances. Top hats, which many Dredgers or their families decorate with ribbons, stuffed animals or other holiday signs, are often handed down through talbum-he generations. “Names such as Bulley, Bross, Downey, Earle, Fairbank, Haffner, Hunt, Kimball, McCutcheon, Notz, Podesta, Stephan, Sudler and Winterbotham, to name a few, echo through The Dredge rosters.”īrothers-in-law Louis Sudler and Ked Fairbank “The remarkable coherence of The Dredge over the decades is no doubt due in part to the felicitous consequences of ‘benign nepotism,’” Wittebort stated. David Earle’s father-in-law, architect John Cromelin, had been one of The Dredge’s nine founders. In addition to welcoming new singers into the fold, the tradition since the early days of welcoming brothers, sons and sons-in-law has continued. Each concert begins with their signature song, “Let No Man Come.” “Bless This House” remains one of the favorites at a variety of venues. For several years, they have performed for the Neighbors in Need dinner for the homeless held at St. At the Admiral, residents rejoice in singing along. At Children’s, their music is piped into every room. At the Rehabilitation Institute, they perform on several floors, passing out sleigh bells for patients to accompany them. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, The Admiral at the Lake and Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago will sparkle with the special sounds the 50 singers will bring. “There is less of that now with all the high-rises.”Īnn & Robert H. “There used to be more walking through the neighborhoods, and people left candles burning in the window as a sign to invite us in to sing,” Earle reminisced. “The Dredge has matched the breadth of its repertoire choices with the variety of its performance venues, singing in hushed churches, bustling hospital wards, retirement homes, intimate living rooms, comfortable clubs and on frigid windswept streets banked with snow,” Wittebort stated. Among the fine voices are several former Yale Whiffenpoof a cappella members. Learning new music keeps the group challenged during rehearsals, and four or five new singers join The Dredge each year, following a tryout with Robinson. In addition, Dredger Julian Harvey has composed pieces for the Society and accompanist Roger Stanley is a master at new medleys.
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