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By Jim Diehl
The Standard-Journal
LEWISBURG -- What started out as a group celebrating the 150th anniversary of the First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mifflinburg is still going strong 50 years later.
What's now known as the Buffalo Valley Singers was founded in 1973 by Charles Emerich, a band leader at the Mifflinburg Area High School.
Emerich, a graduate of Westchester and Penn State universities, was asked to direct a chorus in singing for the 150th anniversary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church.
"The group started out with about 30 members," Emerich recalled. " After the 150th Lutheran church anniversary, the members of the chorus wanted to continue with the group and have their own community chorus."
At that time, the group was called the Mifflinburg Community Chorus.
The name Buffalo Valley Singers (BVS) was adopted in 1979, and the group became incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1984. The group practiced at the Mifflinburg middle or high schools and performed one spring concert a year.
"There was no community chorus in the area. Most of the members came from church choirs and this gave them a different genre to sing," said Emerich.
The biggest challenge for Emerich then was that he was an instrumentalist by teaching.
"Tom Ruhl was a student of mine at the Mifflinburg High School and he played the trombone and I did as well," said Emerich.