Tenby Male Choir once again performed a concert outside of Tenby, last Thursday, when they sang at the Regency Hall, Saundersfoot, for hall funds.

The fund-raising committee have ambitious plans for extending the facilities at the hall and plans were on show that evening.

Chairman of the Regency Hall trustees and committee, Brian Tilley, when introducing the choir, invited the audience to view the plans and was pleased to announce that in terms of the fund-raising targets, the committee were 'nearly there!'.

'On the door' were other members of the committee and in the kitchen, preparing a very nice buffet for the choir, were the 'ladies group'.

The audience were in buoyant mood and gave the choir a warm reception.

David Blackmore, choir compère, introduced MD Ian and accompanist Jill and the choir, though down to 27 in number because of illness etc, gave an excellent rendering of their first four numbers.

Paul Varallo, as choir soloist, was known to many in the audience because of his work with the Saundersfoot 'Footlights' company, and he began his sets with two songs from Rogers and Hammerstein. These were much enjoyed.

The choir returned to sing three very different items: 'What would I do without my music?', 'She', and 'Anthem' from 'Chess'.

Next there was a short interval and the raffle took place. The chairman was delighted to tell the audience that first prize was a £50 voucher from 'Redwing Travel', second was a £20 voucher from the Spar Stores, third was a voucher for a free one-month membership for a family at Swallow Tree Gardens Health Club. These were all excellent prizes from local companies. There was also a fourth prize, a very pretty jewellery box.

After the raffle, the chairman reminded everyone of the next fund-raising event on Saturday, October 24, at the Hall. There will be stalls, refreshments and a raffle from 10 am to 4 pm.

In the second half of the concert, the choir opened with 'O Gymru', which was followed by three other items, including the beautifully arranged 'Bring him home', and then Paul returned to sing in Welsh and English 'Aderyn Pur', and in Italian, 'Ideale'. The choir remained on stage for Paul's solos.

Immediately afterwards, David was pleased to announce that the chairman of the choir was to present Paul with a £1,000 cheque in sponsorship and support of his fund-raising marathon run in New York on November 1. This huge sum had been mostly raised in bucket collections at the door of many concerts throughout the season when Paul's fund-raising for Alzheimers Research had been mentioned to concert-goers. To raise as much as possible for his chosen charity, Paul has set up a website: justgiving.com/paulvarallo and he would be delighted to receive any further donations. Paul can be contacted on 01834 871589, if anyone would like to talk to him about his run, or his aims.

Paul thanked all those people who had contributed to his collection and in particular, he gave a special thank you to Tenby Male Choir for supporting him and for when 'rounding up' the collection.

The choir began their last four items, David reminded any choristers of other choirs who were in the audience, that they would be welcome to join in the last song 'American Trilogy'. There was one man who took up the invitation and sang very well.

As the concert came to a close, Brian gave his sincere thanks and many compliments to the choir, to Paul, Jill and Ian.

He was also able to say that £450 had been raised that evening for hall funds, a goodly sum.

The concert ended with the singing of the two National Anthems, and following this, the choir enjoyed a delicious buffet of home-made cakes and sandwiches.

The next concert on the programme for Tenby Male Choir will be on Sunday, November 22, for St. Cecilia's Festival, at St. Mary's Church, Tenby.

M.N.