December 3, 2007 - Ave D Boys Choir To Sing At Library Dec. 11

The Avenue D Boys Choir of Fort Pierce will present a holiday concert at the Fort Pierce Library on Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 6 p.m.

The choir, which started in 2004, was the vision of Pastor James H. Brown of the Miracle Prayer Temple who wanted a choir of 100 boys from Fort Pierce. Brown wanted the choir to consist of a group of boys resembling the Boys Choir of Harlem. The pastor asked Dr. Earl Hendricks and his wife, Mary Hendricks, presently director and co-executive director of the choir, to form a group of young men for the choir. The group was named the Avenue D Boys Choir because of the poor reputation of Fort Pierce's Avenue D and the desire to change that image to something positive.

The choir now consists of 30 active participants, ages 6 to 20, from all over St. Lucie County. The young men sing at civic functions, churches, parties, city commission meetings, and other venues on the Treasure Coast, with future plans to perform outside of Florida.

The goal is for the choir to be culturally diverse with 100 active participants. Mrs. Hendricks explains that the Avenue D Boys Choir grew out of a need to provide an opportunity for young boys to learn important core values, ways of coping, and making good decisions. Meetings and rehearsals last several hours after-school.  They begin with prayer and the pledge: ''We are young men of honor, pursuing excellence and leading by example.'' The boys are involved in peer-to-peer counseling and homework help and dinner is always served so the boys do not go home hungry.

The choir concert is free and reservations are not required. For more information, please call Vicki at (727) 462-2787. The Fort Pierce Library is located at 101 Melody Lane.