The power of a bulletin

By Al Bell, immediate past president, Fullerton, California, Chapter,
Barbershop Clippin's (July 1999 issue), Dick Cote, editor

We have all thrilled at the recognition of the excellence of our own Barbershop Clippin's as the Society's top bulletin. There are many things to say about that, but I want to focus on one that could not be known to the bulletin judges. If they knew, the Clippin's would have received an additional award, not yet invented: Exemplary Achievement in Chapter Service.

As we have chronicled in other issues of the Clippin's, last year was fraught with some serious difficulties for our chapter. Most chapters experience some time in the barrel, and they either find ways out of it, or they atrophy and die. In our case, we have come out stronger than we were before. One of the key reasons is that we had such an outstanding vehicle for reminding ourselves regularly that a lot of good things were also happening. The Clippin's, through the outstanding editorship of Dick Cote and the continued positive mentality of its stalwart contributors, played a key role in preventing us from drifting into that dangerous territory where negativism is allowed to prevail.

The truth, of course, is that there were some notable successes last year, such as the record contribution we made to Youth Harmony programs and to Heartspring. What this reflects is the fact that true character may be revealed when everything is going well, and it absolutely will be evident when things are not going so well. We have demonstrated to ourselves and to fellow Barbershoppers that the Fullerton Chapter is made of sound stuff (pun intended). Thanks to the ability to document the positive aspects of our chapter life last year through the pages of the Clippin's, we have emerged into an even stronger cycle in our chapter's growth and development.

As immediate past president, I am deeply grateful for the stabilizing influence that the Clippin's had during the year it qualified for the Society's gold medal for chapter bulletins. If any of the judges in the bulletin contest read this, know that the Clippin's demonstrates beyond any shadow of a doubt how powerfully important a quality bulletin is to the health and well being of a chapter. Fullerton proves it.

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