FOR A GOOD CAUSE -- Janet Eversmeyer

NEWPORT BEACH -- Recently, Janet Eversmeyer was half of a two-person

effort to sew 1,800 squares in the shape of a floral harp for a 90-inch,

king-size quilt for the Pacific Chorale’s upcoming fund-raiser.

What made the 71-year-old volunteer do this?

“I have been a singer all my life and I can’t imagine anyone getting

through life without music,” she said.

Eversmeyer, a Newport Beach resident, volunteers sporadic amounts of

time for the chorale’s guild as a member of its board, which is made up

entirely of volunteers.

Four times a year, at the chorale’s concerts, she sells promotional

items before and during intermission.

With the Harmony Quilt project, which took the ideas and energy of

eight people, she put in 50 hours of rather intricate and meticulous

labor.

It wasn’t unwelcome work, however. Whether it’s organizing and helping

with fund-raisers to cover the costs of the chorale’s recording or

selling tickets for upcoming drawings, Eversmeyer enjoys spending her

days furthering the cause of music, especially that of music education

for children in schools.

For this perpetual music lover, who sang with the chorale when she was

younger and still sings solos at her church, even the smallest details of

her volunteer efforts are worth fawning over.

She mentions the quilt. If you look really closely, toward the bottom,

you’ll make out a pattern of a small, theatrical mask, she said. Images

of different instruments were sewn in to create the eyes. Around it are

musical notes, little birds, bees, dragonflies and floral prints to give

it a fun, spontaneous feel.

The volunteers thought about which musical motives to portray, she

said, as well as which fabrics to use.

The quilt will be sold at a Pacific Chorale fund-raiser in May, which

also celebrates artistic director John Alexander’s 30th anniversary with

the group.

Music “has been such a joy all my life that I’d do anything to provide

that for somebody else,” Eversmeyer said.