By Brenda Sexton-The Courier-Herald

The Plateau-area Swiss contingent that showed up at Swissfest 2008 in Portland, Ore., got a surprise.

It's not that they didn't expect to see Bonney Lake's Barbara and Greg Vesey there - they've been attending since 1987 - but they didn't know the Veseys had been secretly preparing to perform a part separate from the choir at the Portland Sängerfest celebration.

“It's a big thing,” said Enumclaw insurance agent Greg Vesey. “It's a big production. The concert is the highlight of the festival.

“It's really a festival atmosphere.”

Every three years the United Swiss Singing Societies of the Pacific Coast get together for four days of singing and yodeling. This year's festival, the 26th, titled “Concert with Theater,” began Thursday and concluded Sunday as the Jodelklub “Edelwyss” of Portland played host.

The festival's featured event is a Grand Concert with the eight active member choirs, covering the area from Vancouver, British Columbia, to San Diego, joining to form the Grand Chorus. The groups perform the traditional songs of Switzerland in the four languages of the country. In addition to the 260 singers of the Grand Chorus are solo singing and yodeling numbers from special guests.

That's where the Veseys entered.

They strolled in at the beginning of this year's performance, playing the role of American tourists traveling through Switzerland. They introduced the audience at Keller Auditorium with their dialogue to the changing locales for each song. The trek began with Greg singing the solo part of the only English language song, “The Happy Wanderer.” As the concert developed, the Veseys' interacted with waiters and performers, representing the locales of the songs at changing restaurant sets on the stage.

The adventures of the “tourists” included an Alp Chilbi, where there was dancing, singing, büchel and cow-horn music, a Kinder Chorli and a solemn Alp Säge. The Plateau tourists also travel to Appenzell to watch a parade of huge cowbells and to Moutathal to hear a wild yodeling battle of the sexes. Their last day in Switzerland was spent in Bern at the National Folk Music Festival, where they heard a grand finale of yodeling and singing accompanied by alphorns and accordions.

Featured guest performers from Switzerland included Heinz della Torre playing alphorn, büchel and cow horn, and Willi Valotti, an accomplished accordionist, who composed a song especially for sangerfest, “S Schwyzerhuus.” The Jodlerklub Chörli from Argau, Switzerland, and the Edmonton Swiss Men's Choir from Alberta, Canada, were also featured performers.

Greg Vesey sings with the Männerchor Edelwyss, or the men's choir. The Bonney Lake Swiss Club choir, which is part of the greater Swiss Sportsmen's Club of Tacoma, performed Saturday. The Enzian, the ladies' choir with Plateau are participants, also performed, providing several soloists during the Grand Concert including Annelies Caprez, Lisa Pozzi, Mary Francis, Margo Riechlin and Carol Cavett.