Steventon Choral Society
	45 years ago...
	As remembered by Jack Jarvis

"There were four of us - Frank Bunce, Roly Cox, George Stevens and myself. We were members of a male voice choir in the then United Reform Church, next to Barclays Bank in the Square in Abingdon (the building is still there).

On Monday evenings we caught the bus from Steventon. This was in 1957/58 and none of us had a car. On about four occasions, Roly Cox suggested that we could find enough people in the village to form a choir - but that was as far as it went.

At a meeting of the Parochial Church Council, we were trying to think of ways to encourage more people to attend the annual parish meeting. I suggested we could form a small choir to sing at the meeting, which might encourage people along. The vicar, the Reverend W Boker, said ‘that I should see what I could do.’ (Make a suggestion and you’re landed with it.)

After the meeting, I spoke to Jim Hobson and my father, Tom, and we agreed to get together to talk about the idea. We met at my home in Castle Street and agreed we would each approach different people and invite them to come along to a meeting. This we did and on 27th February 1959, Steventon Choral Society was born. We never did sing at the Church annual parish meeting."

Steventon Choral Society has been going strong ever since. Tom Jarvis became the first chairman of the choral society and Jim Hobson the secretary. Geoffrey Harding was the first musical director and Violet Hobson the first pianist. Jack took over from his father as chairman in September 1964, serving until February 1971. In 2000, he stood down after a three-year spell as choir treasurer! But still sings in the tenor section of the choir.

Choir celebrates its 45th birthday

© Steventon Choral Society 2000-2008
Last updated 31 December 2007