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By Robert Rosen
Hometown Weekly Staff
On Sunday, January 31, students, teachers, parents and community members came together to celebrate music and raise money for the Dover-Sherborn music program at the annual Chocolate Café.
“The Chocolate Café is a fun event dripping with chocolate and all sorts of musical talent from the D-S community,” said music teacher Tom Duprey. “This marks our 14th or 15th year for the event, and we have raised thousands of dollars for D-S music programs. Since the first Chocolate Café it was my hope to bridge the schools in the district into a district-wide and town-wide event, and it seems to have blossomed into this over the years.”
The money that has been raised over the years through the Chocolate Café has gone to a number of things, including sounds equipment, top of the line Wenger chairs, music stands and choral risers.
“For the past six years we have had a high school to middle school leadership program where DSHS students direct, rehearse and lead the sixth grade jazz band, The Jazz Eclipse,” said Duprey. “These students receive a scholarship made possible by the event—again, creating a bridge between the schools and the community.”
Duprey and fellow music teacher Geoff Herrmann stay busy before the event preparing the students for their performances, so they get a lot of help from many parents who do behind-the-scenes work, particularly from a few who organize the logistics of the entire event. In addition, Duprey credited the custodians and cafeteria support staff, who he called “top notch.”
“Finally, the students, who it’s all for, and their hard work, dedication and talents make this a truly musical variety show,” Duprey said.
Robert Rosen is an Editor at Hometown Weekly. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @roberterosen.
