High Point student yodels for handicapped

SUSSEX BOROUGH — Casey Seely loves a challenge, and when the challenge is of the musical sort, that's even better.

A senior at High Point Regional High School, Seely is a member of the band, chorus, chamber Singers, and frequently yodels and plays her flute for the multiply-handicapped students in the "Music Reaching Out" program.

Yodeling isn't heard much in New Jersey these days. How does someone get interested in such an unusual style of singing?

"It all started when I heard Blair Elvert sing "Wide Rolling Plains," Seely said. "And that was it. I loved the sound of it. I then decided to give it a go one day while no one was home to hear the attempt, which I thought would end up sounding like a dying cat. Turns out I was actually able to get the pattern on my first try and since then yodeling has been one of my favorite things to do."

Dori Martin, who teaches choral music at High Point Regional High School, appreciates Seely's attitude.

"It's been so much fun to watch Casey develop into an excellent yodeler," she said. "I remember her excitement the day after she discovered how to "crack" her voice, and how happy she was to master her first song. Her repertoire has grown steadily over the past two years, and she has made countless people happy as they listen in amazement.

Her determination and hard work have really paid off. She sang at the Sussex County Teen Arts Showcase in 2013, won first place at the "Sussex County's Got Talent" at the New Jesey State Fair in 2013, and received wildly enthusiastic applause as she yodeled at the Center for Prevention and Counseling 40th Anniversary Banquet last weekend."

Lately Seely has learned to play the guitar so that she can accompany herself, and her next project is to learn a German yodeling song. She plans to major in music education after studying cosmetology.