Because 15 minutes of fame and being immortalized on the Internet are the only perks for doing this job (well, okay, they do get pretty good seats...), let's take a minute to introduce your team of crackerjack reporters for this year's convention! They're residing in Row 1, seats 31-33, so come by and say hi!

Hey! It's us! Your reporters! 
Left to right: Laurie O'Brien, Sue Middleton and Marti Lovejoy.

Marti Lovejoy: Marti's name is familiar to many of you from her ongoing reign as Queen of the Score Sheets (since 1995), as well as for being the founder of the SING egroup. Though this is her first International reporting job, she has previously covered several regional contests.

Marti joined Sweet Adelines in 1972 and is currently a Chapter-at-Large member. Other choruses she has sung with include Houston Horizon, #10, (baritone); Melody Makers, #7, (Director and Founder); St. Joseph, #7, (baritone); Merrimack Valley, #1, (baritone); North Shore, #1, (tenor); Kirkwood (now St. Louis Harmony), #5, (tenor), and St. Joseph, #7, (lead and tenor). She has sung in several quartets over the years, including a memorable ten years in a competing comedy quartet in Region 7. 

Marti says she is currently remarried to her first husband. In between, she  had a wonderful 17-year marriage with a husband who passed away in 1995. She has a total of three stepchildren. And, believe it or not, Marti says she "used to be shy"! See what being a Sweet Adeline will do to a person?!?

Sue Middleton: Sue is part of the Jet Cities Chorus (#13), whose members are heading to the 2002 Harmony Classic Contest as one of the midsize chorus contestants. Sue has been a Sweet Adeline for 12 years and during that time has sung lead and baritone, and she has recently begun to dip her toes in the deep waters of the bass section.

Formerly "quartet-phobic," Sue has just survived a debut performance on a Jet Cities show as the bass in the quartet Departure. She has been married to her husband, Bob, for 21 years, and has two teenage daughters (all that and she's STILL sane!!).

This will be Sue's first stint as a convention photographer, though she does have many years of journalism experience under her belt. Now if she can just remember to keep her fingers off the lens...

Laurie O'Brien: Laurie sings lead with the 2001 Sweet Adelines International Third Place Pacific Sound Chorus (#13), and has also sung with the Capital City Chorus in Indianapolis, IN (#4). She currently sings lead in her first "real" quartet, Music Equation. 

Laurie joined Sweet Adelines in 1994, just prior to marrying her husband, Brian, so--according to Laurie--he thinks all this is just a regular part of married life! Laurie has two young sons and teaches aquatic fitness part-time at a local YMCA.

Like the others, this will be Laurie's first stint as a Convention reporter, but what she lacks for in experience, she more than makes up for in enthusiasm. Laurie is also heading up volunteer efforts for the Young Singers Foundation that will be collecting donations during the Convention.