It wasn’t until the first mass she attended that Ms DeVaughn’s voice influenced the community when she joined in singing ‘How Great Thou Art’.

“The priest came up to me and said, ‘everybody is singing because of you!’ can you come every Sunday and sing!” Ms DeVaughn said.

This was the beginning of the long-term partnership, Ms DeVaughn sang at the church and in turn had a place to practice and teach others who wished to refine and discover their singing skills.

“Pretty soon I had my students singing with me on the fourth Sundays at morning tea and it wasn’t long after that before the choir was formed,” she said.

With the formation of the Voices of The North Choir, Ms DeVaughn essentially established singing as an integral part of the community. They travelled throughout the region teaching those wished to sing.

Ms DeVaughn’s success amounted to a large Christmas show consisting of over 80 voices and 400 spectators, all of whom had a chance to sing in their own language including the Indigenous members of the choir who sang a verse in their traditional languages.  This moment marked her greatest achievement whilst living in Port Douglas.

“There was also this one time a few choir members and I had the opportunity to perform in the Syndey Opera House. I loved that they discovered they could keep up with the other singers and understand the lingo. I had taught them well,” Ms DeVaughn said.

Apart from the choir Ms DeVaughn also acted as Musical Director for many shows held at the Clink Theatre including Priscilla Queen of The Desert which was a huge success.

Twelve years on Ms DeVaughn and her husband will be moving to Chillagoe for retirement, but the mark she has left on our region will be present for generations to come.

What began as a love for our region and a love for teaching evolved into a legacy of talented singers and the expansion of a choir community that before her arrival was almost non-existent.