VERONICA NOVOTNY
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Over a dozen acts were performed for an energetic crowd at the Daughters of Zion’s coffeehouse in the J.C. Williams Center Atrium starting at 9 p.m. Sunday.
Some students performed solos, others, original songs, and a few couples took the plant-decorated stage to perform duets. Enthusiastic cheers displayed the audience’s approval of the event, which also included a chance to browse the household’s crafts and creations.
Household members junior Monet Souza and sophomore Kara Avery hosted the night, introducing performers with witty puns and announcing raffle winners.
Prizes included hand-embroidered shirts, homemade pies, art and jewelry. In addition to giving away door prizes, the Daughters of Zion also sold refreshments, jewelry and handmade art prints with inspirational quotes, all created by various household sisters and intents.
In between announcing other acts, Avery performed her own original song “Abba” on the ukulele, garnering many cheers from friends and supporters, and then junior Natalie Garza shook things up with a performance of her original spoken word poetry.
With the help of a tin whistle, two guitars and an Irish bodhran drum, junior David Hahn led a quartet in a performance of traditional Irish tunes “Whiskey in the Jar,” “Tell Me Ma” and “Old Churchyard,” which were joined by much clapping and cheering from the audience.
To close out the night, 30 Daughters of Zion took the stage to perform their household song.
Originally slated to conclude at 11, the coffeehouse finally came to an end 20 minutes to midnight. Almost everything the Daughters of Zion had for sale at the beginning of the night had been sold by the end of the night, proving their fundraiser a huge success.
Tables in the audience allowed aspiring artists to try their hand at watercolors, which ranged from religious pieces to imitations of comic characters, while listening to the performances. Some students even brought laptops and camped out for the duration of the evening, “multi-tasking,” as Souza said.
Sophomore Roddy Lowder, who stayed to hear the end of the final performance, said, “It was great music — a lot of beautiful voices — and there was really good food and (even) a splash of coloring.”
The coffeehouse was sponsored by Household Life.