Ashfield girl to sing at events

Sonya Kitchell, a 10-year-old student at the Hilltown Cooperative Charter School in Haydenville, will perform as a singer at the Special Olympics World Games in North Carolina, starting this weekend. Her mother, Gayle Kabaker, is an illustrator who designed this year's logos for the games. JERREY ROBERTS photo

By LAURIE LOISEL, Staff Writer

Wednesday, June23, 1999 -- (HAYDENVILLE) - Sonya Kitchell, a 10-year-old aspiring jazz singer who is a fourth-grader at the Hilltown Cooperative Charter School in Haydenville will perform at the upcoming Special Olympics World Summer Games in North Carolina.

Sonya, who has been taking voice lessons for 31/2 years, says she is thrilled at the prospect of performing in three different venues at the games.

"It feels really cool because it's almost like the Olympics. It is basically the Olympics and it feels really neat to be singing in it," she said.

Her involvement in the games was sparked by her mother, Gayle Kabaker, a professional illustrator who designed this year's Special Olympics World Games logos.

Sonya was invited to perform at the games this spring after Kabaker sent the Special Olympics committee one of her daughter's demo tapes, featuring her singing "Walking After Midnight" and "Shut De Do."

Kabaker said when she mentioned to members of the Special Olympics marketing team in March that Sonya sings, she was invited to send a tape.

Two weeks later, Sonya received a letter in the mail informing her that Special Olympics officials loved her tape and invited her to sing.

"It was addressed to Ms. Kitchell, so I called him back and I said, 'You know, she's 10,' " Kabaker said with a laugh.

Sonya will perform three times, once at a media event, once for Special Olympics sponsors and again in a 2,000-seat amphitheater.

That venue will be the largest Sonya has ever performed in, and she admits to feeling "a little bit nervous" about it.

But mostly she's excited to be doing what she's wanted to do for as long as she can remember: sing jazz songs. A few of her favorites from the list she plans to perform next week are "Accentuate the Positive," "Summertime" and "It's Only a Paper Moon."

Kabaker, who lives with her son Max, daughter and husband Peter Kitchell, also an artist, in Ashfield, began working on the Special Olympics logo more than three years ago when she was working with an advertising agency in North Carolina on an unrelated project. An executive there invited her to have a try at designing the Special Olympics logo.

For the main logo she created a joyful line drawing of a figure running with its arms up in the air. Kabaker also drew icons for each of the events included in the games, such as golf, bowling, bocce, roller skating, aquatics, gymnastics and about a dozen more.

In making her design, Kabaker said she kept in mind what she knew about the games, namely that the main slogan is "It's all about the attitude."

She studied Special Olympics literature, where she learned that the main emphasis in the games is spirit and camaraderie, and that though competition is a part of it, it's not the main focus.

Though the drawings appear simple, Kabaker said they were time consuming. "I do them a million times," she said, "until I come up with something I like."

As with most of the professionals associated with the Special Olympics, Kabaker's time on the project has been virtually pro bono. She said she received what could be considered a stipend, as well as a flight to and lodging in North Carolina during the games.

Kabaker has also recently taken on another Special Olympics-related project. With Easthampton artist Daniel Kelm, who has a studio at One Cottage Street, she is creating plaques and other gifts to be given to Special Olympics sponsors.