Much like the characters in the "Les Miz" show they didn't get to see, the Utah Valley Children's Concert Choir can tell a story of hardship and triumph about their European saga.
Hardship because the funds that were supposed to pay for lodging, chartered buses and seats for the London "Les Miserables" show were mismanaged and lost by a European contact whose credit wasn't good.Triumphant because the 202 members in the choir entourage rose above their trials and came home singing praises for their audiences, their directors - Mary Visker and Beverly Thomas - and their parents. The children's families forked over a minimum $400 apiece (above their original tour fee of $1,200) to keep them on their two-week tour.
"Once they got to work (performing for their English and Scottish audiences), it just drowned out the problems," said Don Lyster, a parent with two children in the choir.
As the children and chaperones stepped off their planes Wednesday night to cheers, banners and balloons, families cried and the emotions flowed, even though few expect to ever recover the $80,000
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to $100,000 entrusted to Robert Fitt's Camelot Encounter tour company.
"I don't believe in suing," said Shirley Gerdes, waiting for her granddaughter Bobbi Freeman. "And lawyers cost so much. If we go to court, it'll just take more money from us."
"We want to focus on the good things from this experience," said Shari Bloomfield, whose 17-year-old daughter Brandi and two adult children, Staci and Bill, were on the tour.
Some families lost more than others, especially those with two or three children in the choir. Some whole families were with the group. Many of the chaperones ended up picking up tour expenses on personal credit cards. Choir director Mary Visker raised her credit limit sky-high to float the last week's expenses - banking on trust fund money raised in the United States by the families.
John Updike, a Provo resident whose wife and daughter were on the tour, said at last count there was $76,000 in the trust fund at Zions Bank. Updike took on the task of trying to track down what happened with the money sent to Fitt through an American in Kentucky.
Updike said Fitt is being investigated by British fraud squad detectives and Fitt himself is trying to find out what happened to the money that should have paid for hotel stays, special events and buses to haul the choir from stop to stop.
"Our goal is to see everybody involved whole again," said Updike. He said 24 parents had bought trip insurance that may pay for some of the losses and he's still hoping Fitt can keep the promises he keeps making to the parents.
Meanwhile, parents who've been anxiously tracking the choir's progress through overseas calls and parent-to-parent bulletins, were just glad to see their children back home - although some were joking about foreclosures and bank accounts down to zero.
"We haven't been too anxious because we really knew it would be all right," said Lynn Durrant. She has a son, Douglas, who turned 18 on the tour. "We've been calm but anxious. He was worried about the extra money we had to spend."
Nine-year-old Amanda Hawkes prayed "a lot" for her 14-year-old brother Joseph. "I was wondering what happened over there," she said.
"I thought it was pretty fun," said Joseph, the son of Brett and Phebe Hawkes. "There wasn't really anything I didn't like."
Updike said missing "Les Miz" was one of the more bitter disappointments, especially after their seats had been promised "on credit" after the choir thought they were gone. Updike said after backup arrangements had been made, someone in the management became confused and sold the choir's tickets.
"I understand Mary Visker cried and she doesn't cry about much," said Updike.
Another frustration came when two of the flights carrying choir members were delayed two and three hours into Salt Lake International Airport.
"We'll just wait," said Gerdes. Her granddaughter's 8:26 flight wasn't coming in until after 11 p.m.
"She's had a wonderful time. The audiences have been so receptive. It's really affected the students so this doesn't matter."
"After everything they've been through," said Rebecca Smith, who said she has 150 friends coming in on the four planes, "it's kind of the final bang."