Volume 20, Number 16
Serving Durham, Middlefield and Rockfall
www.TownTimes.com
Friday, August 2, 2013
Holy See praises St. Colman’s Choir Daniel Jackson
Special to Town Times
After recently performing mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, members of a Middlefield choir were complimented by members of the Holy See. In June, St. Colman’s Choir traveled to Rome to sing a series of concerts culminating in a performance for the pope. And while the choir from St. Colman’s Church in Middlefield did not get an audience with Pope Francis, choir members said the trip to the city where the leaders of their faith was headquartered was a trip to cherish. When St. Colman’s Choir performed mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Music Director Matt Campisi said it was the most nerve-wracking thing he has ever done. “For me, it wasn’t achieving musical perfection that
St. Colman’s Choir performs at St. Peter’s Basilica | (Submitted photo)
night,” he said. “It was just about the experience.” The choir was not allowed to rehearse in the most important church in catholicism. Mass started at 5:15 p.m., and the choir was told to take its place in the left side of the room at 5:13 p.m. Campisi prepared for this moment to play before cardinals, and other members of the Holy See. He directed the choir in “We Are One in Christ.” It was a simpler piece for the group, one they could have confidence singing as they adjusted to the new space, he said. Choir member Julia Orosz, senior at Coginchaug High School, said St. Peter’s was filled with gold, a room so large she felt minuscule, a place so large Campisi said 12 St. Colman Churches could fit See Choir / Page 14
Antique combs are her passion By Diana Carr
Special to Town Times
Holly Pearce Bisson loves the history behind the antique combs she collects. “I like to imagine the story behind them,” she said. “I can picture a woman dressed up in her ball gown, wearing one in her hair.” Bisson, owner of Holly Locks hair salon, in Durham, started her collection when she was in high school. “I already knew I wanted to be a hairdresser. I wanted antique combs because they have to do with hairdressing, and I just like old combs. So I started going to flea markets and antique stores to find them,” she said. Before barrettes and hairpins, women used hair combs
to keep their hair up, she said. The oldest combs are the tortoise shell combs, dating back to the 1700s. Then came combs made from ivory, followed by black combs in the early 1800s. (Queen Victoria was in mourning then, and all women wore black, thus giving rise to the popularity of the black combs.) Plastic combs arrived on the scene in the 1920s and 1930s, followed by rhinestone combs. “The rhinestone combs were glittery,” Bisson said, “and were often worn by the flapper girls.” Next came our modern metal combs. Her collection numbers about 50 combs, some of which are on display at her shop. She gets them by way of customers who give her combs that belonged to their
ancestors, a neighbor who is an antique dealer who gave her combs for her birthday and Christmas, and by going to a flea market in Cape Cod every summer. While at the Cape last year she bought a pair of antique combs from a woman who told her she lived in Middlefield. “What are the odds?” Bisson said. “I had to go all the way to Cape Cod to get combs that are probably from Middlefield.” Her collection includes combs made from tortoise shell, Ivory, celluloid (the first plastic that was invented), rhinestones, and the comb (called a peineta) used for a mantilla (a lace or silk veil or shawl worn over the head and shoulders, popular with See Combs / Page 7
Spanish women). She also has three antique hairstyling tools given to her by a customer-a metal hair crimper
(which was warmed up first on a stove), a hot comb (used to straighten hair, it was also warmed up first on a stove),
Holly Pearce Bisson with her collection of antique combs. |(Diana Carr Special to Town TImes.)