Take the family of Bill Grace; they represent three generations of ACDA members. Bill has been a member since ACDA’s earliest days in 1959, his daughters Gretchen (Grace) Harrison and Andrea (Grace) Mack joined in the 1990s, and this summer his granddaughter Kellyn Harrison became an ACDA student member.
If it hadn’t been for a deck of cards, Bill Grace might have been a charter member of ACDA. According to daughter, Gretchen, “He was at the 1959 conference [in Kansas City] when ACDA’s founders offered the attendees the opportunity to join and be charter members for $10. Unfortunately, he'd played poker the night before and had lost his extra money. He joined later that year, but wasn't deemed a ‘charter member’." A high school choral director from 1958 to 1993 and a current ACDA Life Member, Bill has helped the Association in a variety of roles, including serving as site coordinator for two Southwestern Division Conferences.
Bill’s younger daughter, Andrea, is a general music education teacher and choral conductor in the school system of Camdenton, Missouri. Daughter Gretchen teaches choral music at Frontier Trail Middle School in Olathe, Kansas, and is currently the National R&S Chair for Junior High/Middle School Choirs.
The latest member of the Grace line to join ACDA is Kellyn Harrison. She joined in July of 2012 just prior to her freshman year at Kansas State University. “My mom encouraged me to join ACDA,” said Kellyn. “I was really excited to join because I have seen how useful it is as a network for choral directors.” Now active in the KSU student chapter, Kellyn has already attended numerous ACDA conferences and performed in multiple Southwestern Division honor choirs. “Right now I'm studying as a double major for choral and instrumental music education. I hope to be a choir director out in the ‘real world’."
The American Choral Directors Association . . . it’s more than just a membership card.
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