Cindy McElroy

Madrigal Dinner

Sault Ste. Marie, MI

The Madrigal Dinner started as a small show held in a local dining hall in Sault Ste. Marie to garner funds for the Chippewa County volunteer hospice. Dan Harris (my cousin) took over as the director of “The Madrigal” (mid 1980s) and it quickly grew into something quite magnificent and was embraced by the entire County of Chippewa. It has become the source of about one third of the operational budget of the Chippewa County Hospice.

When I moved back to Michigan from Tucson, AZ in 1986 Dan recruited me to perform as a “Roving Minstrel” in the show. That year we played in a conference room of the Ramada Inn for 20 – 30 people for one night. The dinner itself was and continues to be served in “Madrigal” style (Knives only! No forks or you’ll find yourself locked in the stocks!!) I was taken with it from the moment I started performing there. Today ( twenty some years later) the Madrigal plays 3 nights at the Kewadin Casino (They donate everything for the dinner and show) the first weekend of every December for three hundred plus attendees per night.

In the year 2000 I became a Knight of the Royal Court of the Madrigal. It is a great honor to have been bestowed with this title and I’m proud to wear my “jewels” designating my status. I have only missed two years since 1986, because this cause is so important to me personally and communally. The Chippewa County Hospice and its many volunteers are the ones who take on the job as caregivers during the final stages of so many lives. Some of those lives have been my friends and family members including my own father and my aunt (Dan’s mother).

This year the Chippewa County Hospice will use a song I wrote called “Christmas Song” as the music for their advertising campaign for the Madrigal Dinner. I will once again perform and I will perform my own song this year. I’m proud to have been a part of this incredible community service organization over the years and am happy to give back to them. As long as I am able I will continue to give in any way that I can.