A Brief History of the Cedar Lake Seven

At Christmas of 1994, a few men of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church got together to sing a few choral arrangements of Christmas hymns to our congregation (which largely consisted of our wives [it was a very small church!]) The guys had been getting together once a month to go a movie and have some fellowship. One of our crew, Greg Snow, had received a Vocal Music Degree from Indiana University, and encouraged us to try it out. Well, it was so much fun that we decided to keep practicing every week after the regular choir met.

Fortuitously, in late 1994 there was a release of a 2 CD set with Elvis' gospel hits called "Amazing Grace". Greg borrowed arrangements from the King, and taught the Men's Chorus the parts. Within the year we discovered many of the Black Gospel Quartet sources that had been Elvis' inspiration, and we were off and running.

We picked a name, the Cedar Lake Seven, from the address of our church on Cedar Lake Road, and the alliterative quality of the phrase, in spite of the fact that at the time we had 9 singers. There has been a long tradition in Gospel Music of not worrying too much about the mathematics involved. The Five Blind Boys had six singers, and The Fairfield Four had five, so we felt justified in calling ourselves The Seven.

2005
Performed: 10 times at BMPC

First Christian Residence, Minneapolis, home of Gertrude Koschig

Presbyterian Homes of Arden Hills

Fort Snelling Church, Minneapolis

Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, Vadnais Heights

Augustana Apartment, Minneapolis

Twice at the Minnesota Veterans Home

Philotectian Womens' Club Luncheon, Andover

Valley Presbyterian Church

Colonial Acres Retirement Home, Golden Valley

Jones Harrison Nursing Home, Minneapolis

Lake Harriet Bandshell, Minneapolis

Twice at the Salvation Army Adult Rehab Center, Minneapolis

The Heathers Manor Retirement Community, Crystal home of Phil Anderson

Redeemer Residence, Minneapolis

Friendship Village, Bloomington, home of Roger Clarke's mother

2004
Highlights
   Christmas 2004 marked the tenth anniversary of the formation of the group. We sang a joint concert with the Bryn Mawr Choir at Jones Harrison Nursing Home. We traveled to Madison and Bayfield, Wisconsin on two different weekend concert tours. We sang at Clearwater Forest for their annual fundraiser. And we celebrated the life of Margaret Elvin by singing at her funeral.

Surprises
   With 2 guitars, bass, keyboard, percussion and a lead singer, we've enjoyed the emergence of the "Laurel Avenue 5." LA5 has become the unofficial name of the band. It's been an exciting, new direction to explore and grow.

Notes
   Our sound system was very heavy and cumbersome to transport. In an effort to simplify our lives, we purchased a new amplification system from Bose. It is a 7' black tower with twenty four individual speaker horns on a stand that replaces a truckload of equipment. We were planning to sell the old system to offset the cost. Unfortunately, most of those items were stolen in our most recent robbery. Thankfully, all the new equipment was locked safely in our closet.

Performed:

9 times at BMPC

Jones Harrison Nursing Home, joint concert with Bryn Mawr Choir, Minneapolis, MN

Fort Snelling Church, Minneapolis, MN

Colonial Acres Retirement Home, Golden Valley, MN

Fort Snelling Civil War Roundtable, Minneapolis, MN

Stewardship Develoment Conference, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis, MN

Gethsemene Lutheran Church Benefit Concert, Hopkins, MN

Marquardt Manor Retirement Community, Watertown, WI

Independent Living Resource Center, Madison, WI

Mount Olivet Day Services Care Facility, Minneapolis, MN

Friends of Clear Day, Clearwater Forest

Bayfield Presbyterian Church, Bayfield, WI

House of Hope Presbyterian Church, St. Paul

Margaret Elvin's Funeral, BMPC

Eaglecrest Retirement Community, Roseville, MN

Twice at Oak Grove Presbyterian Church, Bloomington, MN

Valley View Real Life Coop, Eden Prairie, MN

2003
Performed:

9 times at BMPC

Boutwells Landing, Prebyterian Homes, Stillwater

North Presbyterian Church, North St. Paul

Fort Snelling Church

Winter Bluegrass Weekend, Plymouth

Arlington Hills Presbyterian, St. Paul

1st Presbyterian, South St. Paul

Friendship Village Retirement Community, Bloomington

St Annes Fundraiser, BMPC

St. Therese Nursing Home, Crystal

Central Presbyterian, St. Paul

Presbyterian Homes of Arden Hills

2002
Made it to Hungary for a week of singing in the Trans-Danubian District of the Reformed Church of Hungary
In September we spent a weekend together in Cross Lake, MN talking over our mission and goals.
Held a Fall fund-raising concert for the St. Anne's Place and mission to Bangladesh
Went with all-wireless microphones for concerts
Performed:

12 times at BMPC

Fort Snelling Church, St Paul

Hope Presbyterian Church, Richfield

Winter Bluegrass Weekend, Plymouth

Edendale Seniors, Eden Prairie

Evangelism Conference, 1st Presbyterian Church of White Bear Lake

Lake Harriet Bandshell, Mpls

Heidi Vardeman's installation, Macalister/Plymouth Church, St. Paul

Ministry Development Conference, Mpls

Cross Lake Prebyterian Church, Cross Lake

Peace Presbyterian Church

North Prebyterian Church, North St. Paul

Presbytery Mission Conference, North St. Paul

Hennepin County Home School, Minnetonka

2001
Released our CD, Take Me By The Hand
Held a great weekend retreat at Clearwater Forest
Prepared for a singing tour of churchs and schools in Hungary
After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, the Hungary tour was cancelled
Held a very successful fund-raising concert/silent auction for the relief efforts

2000
Performed at a Presbyterian Leadership Conference at Clearwater Forest
Held our own great weekend retreat at Clearwater Forest
Sharing our stories becomes a big part of our show
Appeared in three joint concerts with North Como Rejoice Worship Team

1999
Held our 1st open auditions
Visited with the Fairfield Four before their concerts
The Fairfield Four brought us on stage to sing
Began applifying all concerts and add a soundman to the roster
Produced Doug's 3rd original, "Take Me By The Hand"

1998
Participated with Gospel on the Plaza at Peavey Plaza
Repeated the Bankers' Convention
Repeated Mothers' Day concert at Old Chicago

1997
Vera Snow published a feature article for the Star Tribune
Performed at Old Chicago Pizza & Grill for Mothers' Day
Traveled to Brainerd for Minnesota Association of Bankers Convention
Met the Farfield Four
Performed on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion on November 8
Produced our own recording at Grace Trinity Church
Produced our 1st originals, "We Belong" & "Lay My Burdens Down" by Doug Neverman

1996
Influenced by the Fairfield Four
Officially became the Cedar Lake Seven
Changed to 5 part music
Our 1st paid performance at Friendship Village Retirement Community

1995
Influenced by the gospel recordings Elvis Presley
Changed to 4 part music
1st performance outside BMPC - John Ackerman's book signing party
Performed for the Bryn Mawr Neighborhood Ice Cream Social

1994
The Bryn Mawr Men's Choir held it's 1st rehearsal on December 6
We sang 3 part music because we had no tenors and no basses
Our 1st performance of O Christmas Tree was on December 18