For the fans of vocal music in Weyburn, the Senior Spring Music Concert on Monday evening was both a wonderful and a sad occasion, as long-time choir director extraordinaire Colleen Weimer led her choir groups for the last time.
She is retiring this year after 37 years as a teacher, and 36 of those years were here in Weyburn.
Even on her last night, leading the STARS Show Choir, the Grade 10 Choir, and the Senior Choir, you could see her boundless energy and infectious enthusiasm, which is something she’s brought to the Comp School for many, many years.
She has also taught music at Assiniboia Park School, and at other elementary schools over the years prior to that, so that literally generations of students have grown up gaining a new love of music and of singing through her.
I have a personal memory of meeting her early on in our time here in Weyburn, as I’m sure most everyone who’s met her also has. In my case, this goes way back to when Elgin School was still open (in its final year, as it turned out).
Our family had just moved to Weyburn, and I was holding hands with my shy little girl Elizabeth going up to Elgin to attend kindergarten. At that time, she was painfully shy, and was afraid to go into a strange school — and Colleen came along.
I quickly explained how she was new and was extremely shy, and Colleen was so warm and friendly, Elizabeth took her hand and went in with her to her class, and was all right after that. I don’t know if Colleen would even remember that, but as a grateful parent, I’ve never forgotten it.
Today, Elizabeth (my oldest of four kids) is 29 and is living in Regina with her sister Deborah, and has just finished her first year of a two-year graphic arts program at SIAST.
Of my four kids, the youngest, Johanna, loved singing the most, and loved being in a choir led by Colleen.
The funny thing I found was, there were songs she had heard me listen to and wasn’t necessarily a fan of — but once she sang those songs under Colleen’s direction, she loved them. One example was “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel, and another was “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, both of which she enjoyed singing.
At the final concert on Monday, there was a special moment by the STARS Show Choir, as they sang a “secret” song they had rehearsed without her knowledge. They let in a large group of former students who came in and stood in front of the stage, all former members of the STARS choir — and appropriately, the song they performed was “Thank You for the Music”.
The song very aptly expressed what many of us in the community have felt for a long time, and will for a long time to come, that Colleen brought a love for music to many, many students and families, and she will be sorely missed.
