Just Us Girls to perform at state fair Sunday

A female singing group from Washington will make its third appearance at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines this weekend. ?Just Us Girls? will showcase their musical talents on the Budweiser Stage at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. The Budweiser Stage is on the west end of the fairgrounds? grand concourse.

Just Us Girls is a group of 12 women who have sung together for the past five years. Teresa Swift and Beth McBride, both of Washington, hatched the idea for an all-girl group when they were on a car ride together to Des Moines in 2006. They were on their way to see a musical, and the two of them wondered if they could start their own musical group in Washington.

They sent letters to women they thought would be interested in singing and doing a little choreography. Fifteen women responded to the letters indicating they would like to join, and Just Us Girls was born. The group performed its first act at Thursday Night Live in Central Park that year and has performed there every year since. Just Us Girls performs about 15 times a year at many different venues.

Singer Cheryl Kurtz said the group has performed at class reunions, Christmas parties and service clubs. The 12 singers are Swift, McBride, Kurtz, Nancy Salemink, Mary Carol Fish, Diana Flannery, Amy Langr, Suzy Marek, Mary Maxted, Karen Murphy, Miriam Pacha and Regina Schantz.

McBride said the group sings a wide variety of music from ?60s ?doo-wop? to country to show tunes. The girls? set includes ?The Lion Sleeps Tonight,? ?Johnny Angel,? ?Da Do Ron Ron,? ?The Shoop Shoop Song (It?s in His Kiss),? ?Your Cheatin? Heart,? ?I Fall to Pieces,? ?I Say a Little Prayer,? ?Stop in the Name of Love,? and many others.

?In the past year and a half, we?ve added some spiritual songs,? McBride said. ?In our current set, we?re doing ?River in Judea.? We?re also starting to work on ?You Raise Me Up.? We perform five or six genres of music in each set, and we do two major sets per year. We learn 15 to 20 songs in a year.?

McBride has a background in music that goes back a long time. She taught vocal music for 19 years in multiple school districts including Winfield-Mt. Union.

?My personal favorite genres are swing and jazz,? she said. ?My favorite song that we sing is probably ?Mambo Italiano.? That is an old Rosemary Clooney hit.?

McBride finds a song she likes and then pitches it to the rest of the group to see if it?s something they?d like to sing. Swift is in charge of the choreography and the props.

?We wear scarves around our necks for the ?50s and ?60s songs,? Swift said. ?We wear wild-colored vests when we sing the numbers from the ?70s. We wear cowboy hats for the country songs. We also do some dance moves. It?s just something to make the show more interesting for the audience.?

In 2008, the group applied to perform at the state fair. It sent in a sample of its work and a list of venues at which it had performed. The women received word that they were among the chosen few who would grace the grand concourse. Kurtz said the group members were thrilled to perform at the state fair. So thrilled were they that they applied the next year and were accepted once again. When the singers take the stage for the third time this Sunday they will be seasoned veterans of the state fair.

Swift said, ?It is a nice accomplishment for a group of ladies who wouldn?t otherwise be involved in music. It?s a great opportunity to showcase people who had an interest in singing and who have gotten a chance to use that talent as an adult.?

Even though the girls know the state fairgrounds well, performing in front of so many fans still makes them nervous.

?I always have a few jitters, especially if I have a solo, and I have one this year,? Swift said. ?Anytime you?re singing outside you?re subject to all kind of things such as the weather, the heat or ambient noise. Maybe someone is making a long announcement over the loudspeaker. You?ve just got to roll with the punches and have a good time.?

Just Us Girls will perform for 45 minutes at the fair. Kurtz said they will sing 12 to 15 songs, which means there is very little down time in between each number.

Salemink said the women rush to the edge of the stage to pick up the prop for their next song and then rush right back on stage.

?People get bored if they have to wait between songs,? Salemink said. ?The interesting thing for me has been watching the members grow and get more comfortable performing and interacting with the audience. When we started out, we were a little nervous. We?ve all worked past that. Now everyone has a good time.?

Salemink said she doesn?t have a favorite song or genre, although she mentioned that she enjoys the show tunes.

?We do one from the musical ?The Will Rogers Follies,?? she said. ?We sing one from ?Chicago? and one from ?All That Jazz.? Those are really fun.?

Despite its name, men do play a role in the group. Swift?s husband, Tracey, plays the bass guitar and McBride?s husband, Doug, plays the piano. Teresa said the other husbands help set up the equipment prior to the show.

?They function as roadies whenever we go somewhere,? she said.

Teresa said the group is working hard to one day purchase its own sound system. Kurtz?s husband, Dean, has helped the group in matters acoustic thus far.

Just Us Girls has held a fundraiser every spring where the girls sing and serve prime ribs. The girls also issue a $500 college scholarship to a woman interested in music. Swift said there are many excellent vocalists and instrumentalists to choose from.

?I think Washington has a good base of fine arts talent,? she said. ?The Washington Community Theatre contributes to that, as does the kids? musical involvement through the schools.?