MIDDLEPORT — A singing group that’s been a fixture in the community for a decade has recorded its first CD.

The Middleport Community Choir recorded “Celebrate! A Community of Voices, Ten Years Strong” over two sessions in June at Mark Custom Recording in Clarence.

“It’s a CD that’s special to us because it’s all our favorite tunes,” said director Ric Jones, of Medina.

The disc includes 10 tracks, and features songs that have been important to the group over the years, Jones said.

One of the songs was composed by Jones and his wife, Karen. Entitled “Robert’s Song,” it was written in memory of Robert E. Maedl, a former member of the choir who passed away in January 2008.

The lyrics of the song describe Maedl perfectly, said Peggy Thomas, a nine-year choir member from Middleport. It’s a bittersweet song to sing, but its message is encouraging: “Get out there and enjoy other people,” Thomas said.

“Robert’s Song” features violinist Katie Thomas. Pianists Debby Clark and Wendy Gypson also appear on the CD.

Other songs the choir recorded include “Love Grows Here,” one the group has been singing since its inception and which has become the group’s unofficial theme song, Thomas said.

Most of the songs are sacred, and “either celebrate music, life or the Lord,” she said.

The choir, which has about 40 members, does four or five major performances a year.

The group was put together when a brass group from Lubbecke, Germany planned a visit to the area and wanted to do a performance, Jones said.

Since that initial visit in 2002, the Middleport choir has twice traveled to Germany to perform. The German group, which also visited in 2008, is scheduled to come back to Niagara County in 2011.

Choir members rehearse every Thursday night in the Middleport Methodist Church, and the group is always looking for new members, Thomas said.

“It’s pretty special to have a group like this in such a small community,” said Jones, who’s in his seventh year as the group’s director.

The new CD, which costs $10, is available through the group’s Web site,

www.middleportcommunitychoir.com

; and at Middleport Family Health Center, 81 Telegraph Road, Middleport; Pathways Christian Bookstore, 1181 Lincoln Ave., Lockport; The Book Shoppe, 519 Main St., Medina; and LynOaken Farms, 11540 Maple Ave., Lyndonville.