Committed to community

Options abound for people who want to volunteer in their communities. Some people build houses. Others volunteer at homeless shelters.

Ron Bond chooses to give back through song.

“I’m a big believer that everybody should do something for the community,” said Bond, director of the Columbia Falls Community Choir. “Whether I do it good or bad, [leading the choir] is something I’m willing to do.”

Bond has led the choir since founding it 25 years ago. The group has grown from about 40 people that first year to 95 this year.

“It’s always around 100 now,” he said.

The choir usually sees anywhere from 10 to 20 new members a year, but many singers return every year, Bond said. They come from all over the valley, from Ferndale to West Glacier to Whitefish, all sharing a love of music and singing.

“We get to be like a big, happy family,” Bond said.

Bond spent 42 years teaching music, 25 of those as choir director at Columbia Falls High School. Even with all that experience and after working with talented students, Bond said his favorite group is the community choir.

“It’s really a good choir,” he said. “And it’s a fun group.”

All the people in the choir are there because they want to be, and that makes all the difference, he added.

“The neat thing about this group is ... if it’s not fun for them, they drop out,” he said, “whereas in high school you’re obligated to go to class ... or you take it because you have a buddy in there or you don’t want to go to study hall.”

To help keep the community choir fun, Bond keeps the pressure low from the get-go.

“There are no tryouts,” he said. “If [they] can carry a tune, I let them sing in the choir.”

He also puts careful thought into what music the choir will perform each year.

“I try to figure out ... what would be good for the audience and what would be good for choir,” he said.

The latter isn’t an easy determination to make; Bond has to walk a fine line of choosing music that is simple enough for vocal novices to master and challenging enough to keep the choir’s more musically gifted members engaged.

As for what’s good for the audience, Bond focuses on choosing songs from a wide variety of genres, including jazz, pop and gospel.

“I’ve said that if you came to the concert, you might not like some of the songs, but you’ll probably find something you like,” he said. “It’s very diversified.”

This year’s concert includes religious selections, including “Ain’t-A That Good News” and “O Magnify the Lord with Me.” The men will perform “Danny Boy,” and the women will sing “A House is Not a Home.” Other selections include “You Raise Me Up” and “Rainy Days and Mondays.”

“They have to be good arrangements or I don’t want to do them,” Bond said.

Perhaps the diverse program has helped fuel the choir’s popularity. Its annual concert always draws a crowd — so much so that in recent years, Bond had to add a performance.

“Until two years ago, we used to do one big concert in the high school,” he said, adding he decided to add a show because “so many people were getting turned away at the door because they couldn’t get in.”

This year’s concerts are at 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Both are in the Columbia Falls High School Little Theatre.

The shows are free, as part of Bond’s commitment to giving back to the community.

Those who can’t make the concerts may have another opportunity to hear the choir: Bond and several singers plan on performing the following weekend at local assisted-living facilities and the Montana Veterans Home.

“We really enjoy doing that,” Bond said. “Those people don’t get to hear groups like that very often.”

For more information about the choir, call Bond at 892-5174.