REGINA GOLDEN HARVEST Barbershop Chorus

Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America

# Sharp Notes #

Publication of the Regina Golden Harvest Chorus

Golden Harvest Chorus meets most Monday Evenings, 7:30-10:00 at
Knox Metropolitan United Church, corner of Victoria and Lorne, Regina, Saskatchewan
Guests always welcome!

Happy Harmonious New Millenium

January 2001

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, and Happy New Millenium to those of you purists.

Welcome back for another year of music, fun and fellowship.

Singing Valentines are just around the corner so there’ll be lots of opportunity for new quartetters over the next few weeks. Our Annual Spring Show at Darke Hall is coming up fast – first week of April – and followed closely by the LOL Spring Convention in Fargo the first weekend in May. And mixed in with all of this will be some singouts.

We’ve got lots of work ahead of us for the next few months – but also lots of fun singing opportunities – and isn’t that why we all joined?

Let’s Sing.

Bruce Fish, President

Stuart Reiley – BOTY 2000

It was my honour to present the BOTY trophy and bowtie to our 2000 Barbershopper of the Year – Stuart Reiley – at our annual chapter Christmas Party.

Stuart received this award "In Recognition of Unselfish, Prolonged, Faithful and Devoted Service in the Interest and Promotion of Barber Shop Harmony".

Stuart has built show sets, painted floats, made coffee, trucked risers and shells, painted signs, arranged singouts, sold tickets, arranged for show helpers, arranged more singouts, brought cookies and donuts, hosted executive meetings, sung in Singing Valentines, participated in music schools, and a million and one other things.

Stuart has been an ongoing supporter of the chapter and barbershop harmony.

It is great pleasure to welcome Stuart to the ranks of the Regina Barbershoppers-Of-The-Year.

Barbershoppers of the Years

• 1972 – Lorn Hamilton
• 1973 – John LeBoldus
• 1974 – Gordon Gardiner
• 1975 – Mel Friesen
• 1976 – Jack Wilkes
• 1977 – Ralph Houseman
• 1978 – Bill Lovely
• 1979 – Carl Stroh
• 1980 – Merv Tole
• 1981 – Nelson Falkowsky
• 1982 – Tom Magnuson
• 1983 – Doug Richards
• 1984 – Gord Balfour
• 1985 – Boris Korpan
• 1986 – Jake Krahn
• 1987 – Bruce Pendelbury
• 1988 – Tiny Eyre
• 1989 – Bill Coulthard
• 1990 – Dave Slinn
• 1991 – Ian Harrop
• 1992 – Don Gardiner
• 1993 – not awarded
• 1994 – Brian Woodcock
• 1995 – Ken Holzer
• 1996 – Lynn Lowes
• 1997 – Wayne Keys
• 1998 – Ron Evans
• 1999 – Bruce Fish
• 2000 – Stuart Reiley

Man of Note

Last week, Lynn Lowes was presented with his 5^th Man-of-Note pin – and along with it a surprise – a snazzy case to showcase his pins with lots of room for future additions. The Man-of-Note pin is awarded by the Society to members who sponsor new members into the society. Thanks Lynn for keeping our chapter growing.

Guests

You may have noticed last week that our newest member, Mark Coulter, brought his father Graham to sing with us.

Welcome Graham – it was great to have you singing with us. We hope you had a good time and will join us again soon. Mark has already been very active in the chorus and sung solo parts in several of our Christmas performances. It’s great to have Mark in our chapter.

Men of Notes

• Jack Boan – 2
• Ron Evans – 2
• Nelson Falkowsky – 2
• Bruce Fish – 4
• Gord Gardiner – 21 – wow!
• Eltyn Hasz – 3
• Ken Holzer – 1
• Wayne Keys – 1
• Lynn Lowes – 5
• Eric Neufeld – 1
• Doug Pederson – 1
• Bill Quick – 1
• Doug Richards – 2
• Peter Vanderstelt – 2

Way-da-Go Ron

Ron Evans is the latest recipient of the chapter Way-da-go Award. Thanks for all your efforts in keeping the chapter on track musically – both in your role as Music VP and as assistant Music Director. Next time you see Ron, make sure you tell him – Way-da-Go.

Sylvester the Cat kept frozen small birds for snacking. One day he took a Tweety Bird out and put it on the counter. He then forgot about it for several hours and when he returned to the kitchen, the bird exclaimed, "I thawed, I saw a putty tat".

Bells are Ringing…

The chorus went caroling – but one of our members ended up hitched.

It all started off as a fairly normal sing-out engagement. We were planning to sing for the residents and staff at the Wascana Rehab Centre the week before Christmas.

But at the chapter meeting the week before, one of our chorus members asked if we would consider a slight alteration in our plans. So, we listened as he described his plan to sing for – and propose to – his belle Connie Lynne. After we all picked ourselves up off our chairs, and finished congratulating Darrell, we adjusted our planned singing schedules to accommodate him.

The night of the sing-out, we all gathered at the Wascana Rehab and warmed up in a corner room. We all seemed to be a little excited – Darrell especially so.

Part way through the evening, we took a detour off to one of the common rooms where quite a number of people had gathered – staff, friends, spouses, well-wishers. The chorus sang some of our Christmas repertoire and finished with My Wild Irish Rose and Let Me Call You Sweetheart. Darrell then stepped out, joined Ken Holzer, Dave Pearce and Eric Neufeld and sang Heart of My Heart to his intended then proposed while the chorus hummed in the background. They kissed (we’re assuming she said "yes") and the chorus closed with the Irish Blessing.

The chorus finished the rest of the evening caroling – but minus one lead.

Congratulations Darrell and Connie Lynn – may your days together be as harmonious as their beginnings.

Singing Valentines

Valentines Day is less than one month away – and we have lots of organizing to do between now and our annual Singing Valentines blitz.

Doug Pederson will be helping get quartets organized and get us all practicing our valentine songs starting right away. Lynn Lowes will be organizing the orders and schedules for the big day.

Valentines is on a Wednesday this year so we will likely be very busy during the day singing at schools and offices and other workplaces.

Flyers and order forms will be available shortly – $30 for two songs, a rose, chocolate and card – and wonderful memories.

Annual Show

Wayne checked his calendar, and there are only 12 practice nights between now and our Annual Spring Show. Lynn Lowes is our Show Chairman, and Bill Coulthard is writing our script. Bruce Odell’s quartet "Downstate Express" will be our headliners. The show committee will be meeting this week to work on more of the details.

Spring Convention

… and the LOL International Quartet Prelims and the Red Carpet & NorthWest Division Contests in Fargo, North Dakota follow close on the heels of our annual show – May 4/5/6 – only 3 practices in between. We’ve started making arrangements to attend, but we need to get firm commitments from members who will be attending. We have been pricing bus transportation (probably in the neighbourhood of $100 per person – less if we can get a full busload to share the cost). Convention registrations will likely be US$30 per person (junior registrations for US$15).

The weekend will likely follow this format – Friday travel to Fargo and book into hotel, grab supper and head off to the Friday night Quartet Division/Prelims Contests; Saturday Chorus Division Contest, Saturday night Quartet Finals; Sunday travel back to Regina arriving sometime late Sunday afternoon or early evening.

Remember – Every night is a Guest Night!

Chapter Christmas Party

A fun time was had by all.

We met at the Wascana Rehab centre and caroled up and down the halls, and then about 25 members and spouses retired to Houston’s Pizza on Albert St. North for refreshments, socializing, nibblies, and singing. We made a huge dent in the platters of ribs and finger foods, listened to Christmas carols, sang for our wives and puzzled over the Sharp Notes quiz. We applauded our newest member (Mark Coulter), our latest Way-da-go recipient (Ron Evans) and our year 2000 Barbershopper of the Year (Stuart Reiley).

We ate, drank, partied and sang – and wound up the year in grand style.

Thanks to Peter Vanderstelt for making all the arrangements – a fun time was had by all.

Two friends

Last week, I asked each of you to call two people who weren’t at the meeting. I’m hoping that you did – because this is one of the best ways to share our hobby with others. Our hobby remains a "secret" – and yet research shows that most members join because someone invited them. It may be your neighbour, your brother, your barber, your new son-in-law, your teacher, your garbage man, … Our members come from all walks of life, but the other common denominator that most of us share is that we wish we had been introduced to barbershopping sooner.

So do your friends a favour – tell them about the joy of music. And they can tell two friends, and they can tell …

Where Harmony Exists, and Where it is Lacking

When I put on one of my other hats, I am the A/President of the Regina Coalition for Refugees. This agency consists of representatives of churches and organizations, like Amnesty International, who are interested in the welfare of the dispossessed and downtrodden. (I became involved some ten years ago when the Presbyterian Church made me their representative. At one point I agreed to become Vice-President on condition that it did not mean automatic promotion to President at some point. Then, a couple of years ago, the President resigned!) The Coalition attempts to spread harmony by taking up cases where refugees have not been able to "have their day in court", but occasionally they go beyond the local area, and write to the Minister of Immigration, or in other cases, to officials abroad, where harmony is lacking.

A northern state of the federation of Nigeria under the control of an Islamic government seems not to know much about harmony. In that state, a teenage girl is to be flogged. She has been sentenced to 180 lashes. She is seventeen. Now it must be said that only 100 strokes of the cane are for the premarital sex; the other 80 are for falsely accusing her rapists. Experts believe that 100 strokes are more than enough to kill. Therefore, she has been sentenced to death by torture. The minister of Justice (?) is alleged to have said that there will be doctor present, and if her life is threatened, they will stop, and begin again when she has become well enough. It is generally believed that she was raped by three associates of her father and became pregnant. It is thought that it was the pregnancy that revealed the indiscretion. She delivered the baby in jail. The authorities have been waiting until she is well enough to withstand the caning. Witnesses who could corroborate her version of what happened declined to testify (out of fear?). The Coalition’s letters to Nigerian officials have been mailed, adding to the hundreds that have been sent from around the world. Time is running out. January the 27th is the day this monstrous sentence is to begin.

Contrast that scene with the program our Society used to have, when once a year we presented an Award of Harmony to some resident of the city noted for bringing harmony in some way. Doug Lee, who used to be an executive at CKTV was a recipient. He reminded me of that, when I saw him at the TubaXmas concert at the Golden Mile, on Dec. 16, 2000.

Another recipient was our Anne Luke, for her work in establishing and running the Early Learning Centre. Both of those recipients spread harmony in the community by their work, on and off the job.

Is there anything one can do to bring Harmony to Nigeria? At this stage it is pretty late to write letters. A prayer, then? Think about it.

Think about how fortunate we are to have as much harmony as we have and be glad. Show your appreciation in four parts – as often as circumstances permit, and in other appropriate ways as opportunities arise.

Jack Boan,
Community Relations/Services & Brotherhood

Executive Meeting

The Executive met at Stuart & Jeanne Reiley’s for our first meeting of the new year with 5 executive members in attendance. Business items discussed:

• need to announce a general membership meeting to formally request a financial review, request an audit, or to dispense with both .
• Rod to prepare a rough-draft budget for initial review; target to bring a final version to the February meeting for adoption.
• Singing Valentines – Lynn will look after administration and Doug Pederson will look after getting quartets going; shortage of tenors may limit the number of quartets we can put together; price remains $30 for 2 songs, rose, chocolate & card
• Lynn will call a show committee meeting for this week; Lynn has contract for Downstate Express;
• Stuart has prices for a bus to Spring convention in Fargo; will likely work out to $100 per person; need to get confirmation from membership once we know costs (registration and hotel info should be in the next PitchPiper)
• Sample business cards were distributed (some from Dave P., some from Bruce); Bruce will get some done on golden paper and bring to next meeting.
• Lynn will check with CBC to see if they would be interested in a copy of our Chorus or district quartets on CD.
• No Bingo’s currently scheduled until March; will try to have one scheduled for February so as to have fewer later on in the spring.

Our next Executive meeting will be Sunday February 18 at Wayne Keys’.

PR Director on Jeopardy

If you were watching Jeopardy this past week, you may have recognized Brian Lynch, PR Director for the Society as one of the show contestants.

Brian acquitted himself very well in the contest and managed a plug for the Society during the interview portion of the show.

"Brian Lynch is a PR expert from Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Brian, you have a lot of letters on this card. I'm not even sure I'll say them all right, so you can tell us."

"Well, Alex, those letters are SPEBSQSA, and you really did know that they stand for the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing In America, Inc.. We're 34,000 guys who love to sing."

"Ah yes..."

"In fact, Alex, I thought you might like to sing, too, so I came prepared" And I lift the pitch pipe to my lips and blow a Bb. "Whattaya think...."

"You don't want to hear me sing."

"Don't sell yourself short."

Brian answered most of the questions correctly and accumulated enough money to win the contest if he would have picked up on a rather obvious clue in Final Jeopardy. When you use the word Sherpa, it almost always refers to climbing the Himalayan Mountains because that's what they are famous for.

He finished second and won a trip to Mexico.

You can read Brian’s fascinating story at http://members.aol.com/bbshopbass/jeopardy.

Lynn & Carol’s Escapades

We left Regina Oct. 29th at 11 A.M. and drove to Bismark, N. Dakota. We hit rain in Minot and the rain continued through North & South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Our first timeshare condo was in Bridgeport, Texas (about an hour from Dallas/Fort Worth). Texas was having a drought before we got there and the lake we were staying at was down three and a half feet, but it came up a bit while we were there!! I never went golfing all week; it was too wet and cool. My planned highlight was to go into Dallas on Thursday and practice with the ‘Vocal Majority" – 8 time International Chorus Champs. But when we went to their rehearsal hall, no one showed up! I found out when I got home, that the Chorus was taping their new Christmas album that night.

Our second timeshare week was in Canyon Lake (approx. 45 miles north of San Antonio). The weather was nicer and we went golfing twice. We went into New Brunfels for their "Bratfest" (a local fall fair) and I got to sing with "Tuxedo Junction" a quartet from Austin. They wandered around singing throughout the area and have been invited back 7 times.

When we left Friday, it rained (poured) all the way into New Orleans and in New Orleans it rained three inches Friday, Sat. & Sunday. They got 9 inches in three days!!. Our timeshare was right in the French Quarter, so we ventured out every day, despite the rain. I think we walked every street in the Quarter taking in some live Jazz, lots of street performers, and the food was marvelous!! I personally recommend Jimmy Buffet’s "Margaritaville"- The catfish was just great! We took a paddlewheel up the Mississippi to the Audubon Zoo, strolled down Bourbon Street, Basin Street, (Basin St Blues) and even spent a few hours at Harrah’s Casino. The only negative about New Orleans was that on the first day, some drug addict broke into our van by smashing the sliding door window, but he didn’t take anything. I guess the alarm scared him off, but it was expensive to fix.

We spent our fourth week just traveling through Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. We started out in Natchez, then on to Jackson, Selma Alabama (where Martin Luther King began his protest march), Macon, Georgia and Savannah, Georgia (which Carol just loved) She took a city tour one-day while I explored Tybee Island.

Our fifth week was in Sebring, Florida where our own timeshare is located. We golfed a few times, went to Cypress Gardens and ate lots of fruit. (The trees were just loaded).

Our sixth week was in Kissimmee, Florida, where Disney World is located. The weather in Florida was around 80° Fahrenheit all the time we were there, so we were out taking in the sights. Disney’s Animal Kingdom is well worth seeing as is the Cirque De Soleil, and Splendid China. We golfed some more and even went gambling off the coast of Cape Canaveral. Since gambling is illegal in Florida, they take you out three miles into International waters!!

We left for home on Saturday, Dec 16th. With an early start we drove for 10 hours, and stopped because the wind was getting strong and was against us. We checked into our hotel just south of Birmingham, and found out that the county we were in, along with five others, was under a Tornado alert. The county next to ours got hit and 12 people were killed!! The next morning it was snowing lightly as we started out and although it wasn’t bad at first, it began to adhere to the road and build up about 20 miles west of Birmingham. There was about 100 miles of ice-covered roads (up to 1 inch thick in places) and we made about 95 miles. As we came around a curve, the van slid sideways and we ended up in the ditch. I injured my back but miraculously the Van was drivable with no serious damage ($1500.00 according to SGI ) We continued on after a checkup at the Winfield Hospital and Carol drove to Little Rock, Ark.

The next day we drove to Tulsa, Oklahoma to look at a boat that our son Kelly had found on the Internet. It was a beautiful boat, so we had a hitch installed on the van and headed for home, with boat in tow. We made it to Sioux City, Iowa (via Kansas City) the first day and everything was going smooth. (Although we got some funny looks towing a boat in December and going north) It was only supposed to be a five hour trip the next day to reach Fargo, but we ran into a blizzard (with visibility down to zero at times) and when a big Semi went by, I got on his tail and followed him into Fargo (8 1/2 hours later), where we spent the night.

Despite the blizzard still blowing, we headed out the next morning and approx. 25 miles out of Fargo, it just cleared up and we had clear sailing all the way to the border. (We spent an hour or so declaring our boat and paying the GST.)

It was quite a trip -- 13,400 kilometres in total and we hit every weather condition possible but we made it home for Christmas and are now back in the routine. We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

Lynn Lowes

BOTY 2000

I was caught totally by surprise at being chosen as recipient of the Bow Tie award for the year 2000. The honour is very much appreciated. Thank You.

Stuart Reiley

A happily married man had only one complaint, his wife was always nursing sick birds back to health. One November evening, he came home to find a raven with a splint on its beak sitting in his favourite chair. On the dining room table there was a feverish eagle pecking at an aspirin, while in the kitchen his wife was comforting a shivering little wren that she found in the snow. The furious spouse strode over to where his wife was toweling down the cold little bird. "I can't take it any more! We've got to get rid of all of these darn..."

The wife held up her hand to cut him off in mid-curse. "Please Dear," she said, "Not in front of the chilled wren."

Recruitment Tip #9

Here, in no particular order are my thoughts and the things that I can recall immediately that I do to recruit members:

Most members will tell you they wish they'd known about our society earlier. They didn't because no one told them, or they weren't exposed to us through performances, advertising, or other PR venues. I'm one of those men. So, I tell as many men as possible about our hobby. I do it as much to offer them the opportunity to experience what I have enjoyed, as to build up a large number of recruits.

Some of the ways I do that are by:

• wearing my society pin on my suit coat lapel every day
• wearing barbershop shirts, coats, hat, etc., frequently
• having my chorus and quartet calling cards posted outside my work area right alongside my name and title
• having chorus and quartet pictures on the walls of my office
• "volunteering" my quartet to sing at various functions that my agency sponsors
• never throwing away a name, telephone number, or address because each name is potentially a member, ticket sale, source of leads
• freely dispensing my chorus and quartet calling cards on the flimsiest of excuses
• being persistent, but not pushy; some men take months or even years to decide they want to try Barbershopping
• loaning or providing music, learning tapes, chorus and quartet champion tapes, etc. to potential guests
• making sure that everyone who knows me knows that I am a barbershopper
• placing society bumper stickers and window decals on every car I drive.

That covers (some of) the things I can recall right now. I would only add that I think the main ingredient is attitude, including getting into the proper one. I'm sure most members could recruit as well or better than I do if they just thought about it more often. With me it's almost automatic, but it didn't happen overnight. I had to keep reminding myself that I needed to spread the word. Eventually, it just became a habit, and a good one.

Jere Richardson,
Fairfax, VA Chapter

Charitable mission refocused

On November 4, 2000 the SPEBSQSA Board of Directors made a positive step in solidifying the Society's charitable mission by approving nine recommendations offered by the Charitable Mission Task Force.

The SPEBSQSA charitable mission is an integral part of our organization's core purpose and its non-profit status. It is an equal partner with our quest for improving singing and performing, nurturing fellowship and increasing membership. The new charitable mission redefines how we view service projects. Harmony Foundation is now the official SPEBSQSA charity and organizations (including chapters and districts) that have projects that meet the SPEBSQSA mission may request financial support through Harmony Foundation grants.

The Board passed a resolution that summarizes all the recommendations:

"It is the Charitable Mission of SPEBSQSA to preserve our musical legacy through support of vocal music education in our schools and communities. To provide unity and to improve support for this Charitable Mission, fund-raising should be focused through Harmony Foundation as the Society's own charity. Leadership at the Society, districts and chapter levels must be vocal and assertive in urging members at every activity and gathering to provide support through donations to the Harmony Foundation General Fund. We also should encourage members and chapters to support the Charitable Mission though local charities by promoting causes that reinforce our Society's Vision."

Calendar of Upcoming Events

Articles in this bulletin do not necessarily reflect the views of the chapter. Unless carrying a byline, they are those of the editor. Items received may be referred to the executive before publication. All chapter officers and members are encouraged to submit articles to the Sharp Notes. Submissions will be credited to the author. Please address any comments, suggestions or submissions to the editor – Bruce Fish, 2327 Brodie Bay, Regina, Canada S4V 0V1 phone: (306) 761-2503; email: bfish@accesscomm.ca.

Current and back issues of the Sharp Notes can also be found at www.gpfn.sk.ca/culture/arts/gharvest.

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An infant rabbit was orphaned. Fortunately though, a family of squirrels took it in and raised it as if it were one of their own. This adoption led to some peculiar behaviors on the part of the rabbit, including a tendency for it to eschew jumping, but rather to embrace running around like its step-siblings. As the rabbit passed through puberty, however, it soon faced an identity crisis (don't we all!). It went to its step-parents to discuss the problem. It allowed as to how it felt different from its step-siblings, was unsure of its place in the universe, and was generally forlorn. Their response was, ... "Don't scurry…, Be hoppy…!"