Talented singers will perform selections from such Broadway hits as “Grease,” “Les Miserables” and other shows Thursday night, Oct. 14, at the King Auditorium on the campus of Georgia Northwestern Technical College. Show time is 7 p.m., with Sherry Childs as master of ceremonies.

Proceeds garnered from sponsors of singers go to The Calhoun-Gordon Council for a Literate Community, which applies them to GED testing fees for deserving students, scholarship, stay-in-school programs and related events. Admission is free, although donations will be accepted.

Also featured at the event will be the presentation of a cash award to Calhoun Middle School for the academic achievement of the year (2009-2010 school year), along with a performance by the popular Calhoun High School Quartet, the Half Step Sharps.

“It’s a fun event that majors in presenting talented people who simply want to entertain,” says Wayne Minshew, executive director of the literacy council. “They’ll try to move the audience in such a way that a positive vote will be given them, but the main idea is to have a good time.”

A by-product is the awarding of The Legend of the Lost Trumpet trophy to the sponsor of the winning singer chosen by audience balloting. Singers and sponsors include:

Lisa Dunbar, St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church; Michele Taylor, The Calhoun Rotary Club; Wesley Roach, The Calhoun Kiwanis Club; Cassandra Parker, Mannington Carpets; Jewel and Wesley Cook, Georgia Northwestern Technical College; Claire Norman, OMNOVA Solutions; Walmart and OWASA Family Medicine, Anthony Johns.

Last year’s winner was Amy Stewart, a teacher at Sonoraville High whose performance typified what Lyrics for Literacy is about. She performed “Chapel of Love” during the Songs from the Fifties - themed show while dressed in a wedding gown and feigning pregnancy. When her sound system went out, fellow performers ascended the stage and performed the song with her. What better audience reaction?

Calhoun Middle School’s Technology Fair, meanwhile, is the academic achievement winner. It is a class taught by Deidra Ross and includes a state award winner. A demonstration featuring robotics will take place in the outside lobby prior to the Lyrics event. CMS beat out seven other entries to win the award claimed last year by Gordon Central High School’s Academic Bowl program. Official presenter is Georgia Bank & Trust, an annual contributor to the literacy council’s ABCs of Scholarship program.

The Calhoun High School Quartet, or the Half Step Sharps as they call themselves, is made up of Charles Waters, tenor 1, Marcello Audino, lead; Chris Sapp, baritone, and Logan Daniel, bass. Last year the group won in its district at Literary and was named state champions from all districts in state competition. The young singers have a special fondness for barbershop music and its harmonies.

The literacy council each year conducts two fund-raising events: Lyrics for Literacy and ABCs of Scholarship, with companies and individuals sponsoring letters of the alphabet in the latter promotion. Those sponsors include Alpha Delta Kappa, A; Gordon County Commissioners, C; The Dobbs Company, D; Fox Systems, F; Georgia Bank & Trust, G; Hall Realty, I; Calhoun City Schools, J (Jackets); Dr. Shireen Ku, K; North Georgia National Bank, N: OMNOVA Solutions, O; Regions Bank, R; Calhoun Times, T; Hall Realty, U; Walmart, (Value); Hall Realty, W; Phyllis Purdy, Sandra Hall, Wayne Minshew, X (X-Factor).