Vic wins hearts, Pete wins prize

30 April: Two choir veterans with 56 years membership between them were in the spotlight this week.

Vic Wallace stole hearts when he appeared on Channel 4’s talent contest Your Song on April 27.  Vic, 90, a choir member since 1993, sang in the London section of the contest, where the winner would go through to a grand final at Hackney Empire.

Vic, winning hearts on tv

Vic was first up of the 12 contestants and showed great spirit and verve in singing the Sinatra 1950s classic Fly me to the Moon. Vic explained that was the first song he sang after suffering a stroke during Covid that left him unable to speak.  “It gave me a new challenge in life,” Vic said.   Vic threw in some dance steps for good measure.

Vic name-checked the choir, who had arrived in sizeable numbers to cheer him on, and were shown displaying the CMVC banner.  

CMVC out in force to support Vic 

After his performance, Vic said it was “exciting, wonderful amazing – I could do it again.” Although Vic did not win the contest, the judges praised him for his courage and versatility.      

Two days before Vic’s appearance, the choir held its annual dinner (previously known, in less enlightened times, as Ladies’ Night) at Shirley Park Golf Club. The dinner is the occasion when the Alan Robertshaw Shield - known as the Alan Shield -  is awarded to a choir member who has made “a significant contribution” to the choir’s activities.

This year the prize went to Peter Gillman, who joined the choir in 2005 and, as choir chair Kim Ormond told diners, has been on its committee for 20 years.  As Kim related, Peter writes and helps produce the choir’s programmes and publicity material; writes scripts for concerts, notably the First World War commemoration concert in 2018; reports on the choir for the Inside Croydon news website; and (wait for it) edits this website.

Pete with Alan Shield

Peter looked astonished when he was called up to receive the shield. After thanking Kim and the choir, Peter - a professional writer - said that he was pleased that his skills proved useful for the choir.   “It’s what I do,” he said.