Baseball. America’s pastime. A bat, a ball, a leather glove, and a field of dreams. Dreams that include playing in the big leagues someday. Those aspirations start when players are young, often in Minor League (kids aged five to twelve), in Little League. The next step is Major League, for those nine to twelve, with hopes of their team advancing all the way to a state championship, and a chance to play in the Little League World Series. This international event, held in South Williamsport each August, consists of twenty teams from around the world. Started in 1947, it was originally called the National Little League Tournament with teams only from the United States; it was later renamed the World Series after the Major League Baseball World Series.

This year, Wellsboro’s own Men’s Chorus will have the honor of singing the National Anthem at one of the night games. How is a group chosen for this detail? Erick Coolidge, a fifty-three-year member of the chorus, explains.

“A conversation a couple of years ago with Bob Metarko, a Vietnam veteran, resulted in my singing the National Anthem at the Little League World Series in 2022,” Erick says. “I was approached by an organizer of the LLWS earlier this year to see if the Men’s Chorus would be interested in singing the National Anthem, and I told them I would ask them. That was on a Tuesday. We met that Thursday and it was unanimous. They all wanted to participate, so I called back on Friday and told the organizer ‘yes.’”

The Wellsboro Men’s Chorus, with approximately thirty members, has been in existence since just after WWII (various records indicate 1946 and 1947) when a group of men got together and formed a quartet, sharing a love of song around a piano. They sang barbershop songs as well as hymns at community events and churches. Soon another quartet was formed, and, with more men interested in singing, it evolved into a chorus.

Patricia Davis has been the accompanist since 1972. Christina Simonis stepped up as music director when their previous director left in 2017.

“Many of the men socialize outside of men’s chorus. They’re friends as well as members,” Christina says. Bud Voorhees, a member since 1980, adds, “We sing a mix of songs from religious to pop to older numbers, and of course patriotic songs. And we’re always looking for new members, especially younger ones. They’re the future of the group.” (You’ve got to be sixteen to join—there’s no upper age limit.) The guys practice at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts on Thursdays. The first Thursday of the month they head to the Penn Wells Lounge after practice for libations and, sometimes, impromptu vocals.

The Wellsboro Men’s Chorus will board a bus from Benedict’s Bus Service on August 17, 2024, and make the trek to the Howard J. Lamade Stadium where they will open Game 16 with the National Anthem at 7:00 p.m.

“You don’t sing the Anthem, you present it,” says Erick. “It’s a feeling like no other.”

The 2024 series runs August 14 through August 25. Admission is free. Visit littleleague.org or visitlycomingcounty.com/littleleague for more information.