The Delray Summer Sing Experience camp runs each week through July 21 at Church of the Palms.
Photo provided
By Janis Fontaine
The Delray Summer Sing Experience is a summer music camp for kids that introduces a variety of styles from the music of stage and screen to folk songs to hymns and religious music.
Campers experience ensemble singing, learn voice techniques, choreography, breathing techniques, ear training, rhythmic and melody recognition, and performance techniques. Each week, camp concludes with a brief performance at 2:30 p.m. on Friday in the chancel at Church of the Palms.
Traci Rane is the camp coordinator and instructor. “Each week we learn new music, so it’s like a new camp each week,” she said.
Youngsters range in age from 6 to 16, and the camp limits the number of children to 22 to make sure everyone gets one-on-one attention. “We have a lot of staff, so kids get a lot of instruction,” Rane said. Campers can even take private lessons for a fee of $30 for a half-hour lesson.
Fans of Palm Beach Opera or the Delray Beach Chorale may recognize Rane from her performances with those groups. She also performed with Sarah Brightman and Josh Groban on the “La Luna” tour. She has been teaching voice and piano in Palm Beach County for more than a dozen years. Rane works alongside accompanist Edward Krynicki, and the program’s artistic director is Eric Keiper, who is the music director at St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic School and Church.
The camp, in its seventh year, meets from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday through July 21. (No meeting on July 4.) The camp is $200 per week. Discounts are offered for multiple weeks and for siblings attending together, and scholarships are available, Rane said.
The camp is hosted by and meets at the Church of the Palms, 1960 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Call 389-7024 or 276-6347 or visit www.delraysummersing.org.
St. Mark’s family picnic
The annual parish picnic takes place after the noon mass on July 16. On the menu? Hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, salads and desserts. Games for the kids, music and a cash bar are part of the fun.
Tickets: $15 adults, $7.50 for children 6-10, and free for 5 and younger. Call 734-9330 or visit www.stmarkboynton.com.
Help feed people in need
CROS Ministries is hosting a lunch and learn program on July 26 to tell people more about the organization. It feeds hungry people in Palm Beach and Martin counties, and its programs include seven food pantries and the Caring Kitchen, a hot meal program in Delray Beach.
CROS Gleaning is a food recovery program harvesting fresh produce that would otherwise go to waste, from farmers’ fields, culling sites and Solid Waste Authority’s Mango Grove.
These programs are possible only with the help of community volunteers, and there are dozens of opportunities available for folks who want to be a part of the solution of feeding in need.
This session begins at 1 p.m. at the CROS Administrative Offices, 3677 23rd Ave. S., B-101, in Lake Worth. Guests then travel to Delray Beach, where lunch will be served. To RSVP, call 699-5113 or email the Rev. Juanita Bryant Goode at jgoode@crosministries.org.
Break Spot offers free meals
For most kids, summer vacation means more. More time to play, more time to grow, more time to dream. But for children who depend on school lunch (and breakfast) for their basic nutrition needs, summer is a time of less. The summer Break Spot fills that gap with locations that offer meals for people 18 and younger. You don’t have to be a student or even a resident.
If you know local children who are “food insecure,” let them know they can find a location where meals are served at www.summerfoodflorida.org.
Back-to-school supplies
Unity of Delray Beach Church is collecting backpacks and school supplies for local children in need. Bring donations to the lobby on Sundays through Aug. 13, or drop donations off at the church office from 10 a.m. to noon and 2 to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Supplies needed include backpacks with pencils, ruler, sticky notes, three-ring binders, spiral notebooks, composition notebooks, pens (blue, black, red), colored pencils, washable felt markers, glue sticks, pink erasers, pencil cases, lined paper, plain paper and crayons.
Unity of Delray Beach is at NW 22nd Street and Swinton Avenue. Call 276-5796 or visit www.unityofdelraybeach.org.
Summer Singers wanted
Cason United Methodist Church has a summer program for people who love to sing. You don’t need choir experience or the ability to read music. You don’t have to audition. But you do have to enjoy singing with others. The Summer Singers meet at 7 p.m. Tuesdays at the music studio of Diane Gwynn McWhorter, 7570 Federal Highway, Hypoluxo. Doug Carter leads the choir on Sundays, when it is part of the worship service. Call 276-5302 if you have questions.
Pennies add up to $27,000
Think pennies aren’t worth a red cent? Think again.
In 2012, First Presbyterian Church of Delray Beach asked parishioners to collect a few cents from each family member at dinner each night. At the end of the month, parishioners brought the pennies in and those funds were earmarked to feed hungry people, recalling Jesus’ command “You give them something to eat.”
Since the program started in 2012, the church has collected and distributed nearly $27,000 that went directly to people who needed it.
First Presbyterian of Delray is at 33 Gleason St. Call 276-6338 or visit www.firstdelray.com.
Meetings in July
Pub Theology: Beer, Conversation & God meets at 7 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at the Biergarten, 309 Via de Palmas, No. 90, Boca Raton, and 7 p.m. the third Thursday at Barrel of Monks, 1141 S. Rogers Circle, No. 5, Boca Raton. Conversation, fellowship, open discussion. 395-1244; www.fumcbocaraton.org.
The Interfaith Café meets from 7 to 9 p.m. July 20 at South County Civic Center, 16700 Jog Road, Delray Beach. Guest speaker Dr. Janet Sopcheck will speak about the challenges family members face at end-of-life situations. Light refreshments are served.
The meeting is free, but donations are appreciated. The Interfaith Café meets the third Thursday of the month, and volunteers are needed to assist with a variety of duties to keep this program going. For information or to volunteer, email Jane@Aurorasvoice.org.
Janis Fontaine writes about people of faith, their congregations, causes and community events. Contact her at janisfontaine@outlook.com.
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