Spring Sing has become a Harding tradition, but 40 years ago it was merely an idea. Alumni Jeff Schlender and Linda McClurg knew of Abilene Christian University’s Sing Song and Oklahoma Christian University’s Spring Sing and began discussing the idea of Harding creating a similar variety show production. In the fall of 1973 they searched for other students willing to work on putting Spring Sing together and Steve Alexander, Jerry Palmer, Kathy McKinney Peters, Stacy Peters and others accepted the challenge.
“The first show was completely student planned, with input and guidance from faculty adviser Dr. Jack Ryan,” Spring Sing co-chairman Kathy McKinney Peters said. “All of us were young, full of dreams and confident in the Harding student body to put together a great show.”
Alexander, a host, said producing Spring Sing is one of the events in his life he is most proud of because the committee was able to create something out of nothing. He said Spring Sing also brought the campus closer together and strengthened the camaraderie in the student body.
Palmer, Spring Sing co-chairman, had the most theater and production experience in the group. He contacted Steve Holder and negotiated for his band, Soundstation, to accompany the hosts and hostesses’ songs. Dr. Warren Casey, dean of the college of arts and humanities, played saxophone in Soundstation and helped direct the band while he was a student.
The Spring Sing committee was not sure how many clubs would want to participate, so the first show focused mainly on the hosts and hostesses. They each had a solo, as well as several duets. They sang 11 songs altogether and Holder, a student at the time, wrote all of the arrangements.
“The four hosts and hostesses were great singers, all with good ranges, but were not all from a choral background,” host Stacy Peters said. “We had no one to help us with any choreography or staging. I remember Steve Alexander, the other host, and I actually sat on the edge of the stage, with our feet dangling off the side, when we did our duet. We also wrote our own introductions for the club acts, interspersed with jokes that were terrible.”
There were 10 club skits in 1974 and Sub T-16 and Ko Jo Kai’s “Sailing, Sailing” show won. OEGE, Regina, Chi Sigma Alpha, TNT, Zeta Rho, Alpha Tau and GATA also participated.
Stacy Peters and Kathy McKinney Peters are the original Spring Sing couple. They began dating after the host and hostess auditions and have been married for 37 years. Their son, Sam Peters, was also a Spring Sing host in 2004 and 2005.
“When I went to audition for Spring Sing host, I had not made arrangements for anyone to play piano for me,” Stacy Peters said. “When I walked into the room, Kathy McKinney was seated at the piano. I had not met Kathy and was unaware that she was involved in Spring Sing at the time. I introduced myself to her, and asked if she would play piano for me. She told me to pick out a piece of music from her stack. Then, she stood up and introduced herself to the group as one of the directors of Spring Sing. I was very surprised, since I had been flirting with her earlier. That night, Steve Alexander and I were chosen as hosts and the following night after hostess auditions, Kathy McKinney agreed to go out on a date with me.”
Spring Sing was very different 40 years ago. It was student-produced, had no choreography for the hosts and hostesses, lasted three hours and had live accompaniment music. Also, “United We Stand,” which has become a Spring Sing staple, was not sung at the first show.
The budget for the 1974 Spring Sing show was $1,000. In order to cut costs, Palmer, who was an art major, wrote the programs by hand. Alexander said he and Stacy Peters also drove to Little Rock to negotiate with Sir Roberts Tuxedos about providing two tuxes for free in exchange for a full-page advertisement in the program.
No matter how large of a production Spring Sing has become today, one thing remains the same: It provides students who would not get the chance to star in a musical performance the opportunity to perform on stage, Kathy McKinney Peters said.
“I think my favorite thing about that first Spring Sing, and all subsequent shows, is that all those kids in the clubs, many of whom aren’t particularly ‘talented,’ get to be up there on that stage and show their stuff,” Stacy Peters said. “When I watch the performances, I always look for those kids — the kids that are in the back or in the middle of the pack, not the ones on the front row. That’s the best part of Spring Sing.”
