BARBERSHOP POLE CAT PROGRAM by Doug Pederson

I have been asked to be the Quartet Development Chairman for our Chorus. I am really pleased about this and I invite everyone’s input into the development of this important program. This new emphasis on quartet skills will, eventually, improve all of our individual skills and our overall chorus sound as a result. Quartetting is the essence of the Barbershop style and I look forward to striking some sweet chords with all of you.

Once a month we will be having Quartet Nights. The main emphasis of these evenings will be to give everyone a chance to try and succeed in a quartet experience. Remember, there is no need to be worried about standing out. At Harmony College the atmosphere was such that anyone could ask to sing a tag with some of the best in the world and not feel embarrassed. It was a totally supportive atmosphere and that is what I will be trying to establish, with your help. Everyone should be encouraged to try it for themselves, I did and now I’m hooked. Anyone who is uncomfortable to begin with can start with Octets (8) or we will use a buddy system.

We will be renewing The Pole Cat Program. This is a program of twelve songs which the Society has chosen as standards. If you go to another Barbershop event, anywhere in the world, you should be able to find someone to sing with you if you know the Pole Cat songs.

Once you feel comfortable enough to try your songs in front of the chorus without words or music, you will ask to try and a section leader will listen to your part to verify that you have sung it correctly. When you have successfully completed all twelve songs you will receive a Pole Cat Pin.

I am really looking forward to the changes that will result in our chorus as we sing more quartets and tags over the next few months. I encourage your feedback & enthusiasm.

TRIP FROM HELL TAKES ME TO HEAVEN by Doug Pederson

Sometimes good things require a little inconvenience. Next time I’ll travel by Yak.

My first flight was at 8:00 a.m. I had an 8 hour layover in Winnipeg (I got to watch 1/2 of the Riders game on the tube - was this a blessing or curse?) before I took off for Chicago. Just as we were about to land we ran in to some ROUGH weather. I almost lost my lunch, supper and breakfast. As we stepped out of the plane it was just like opening an oven door. The temperature was 105 degrees and the humidity was incredible. We arrived there at 7:00 p.m. for my next layover, 3 more hours. The Chicago airport is one of the biggest and busiest in the world. It is also very nice and has a glass ceiling. The view of the lightning and rain was quite incredible.

At 10:00 p.m. I left on the last leg of my journey to Kansas City arriving at 11:30 p.m. (If I had driven I would have been only about 4 hours away). Michael (Frolick) was waiting for his luggage to arrive so he came with the airport shuttle to pick me up. The hotel reservation I had confirmed with my credit card was cancelled, but, not surprisingly, Michael charmed his way into the room about 8 hours earlier.

The next morning we got up and Michael still hadn't found his bags, they arrived just as we needed to leave to meet the bus to Harmony College. We weren't sure where to meet anyone so Michael ran ahead to see if a group of guys on the curb were Barbershoppers. Sure enough. It didn't take Michael long to pull out his pitch pipe and organize the whole group in a song (oh, to be young and enthusiastic again). We boarded a crowded bus for the 45-minute trip. It was still plus 100 degrees.

Upon our arrival at St. Joe's we proceeded to register. Within minutes Michael had found a T.V. reporter and was being interviewed for the news. (How does he do that?)

Tag singing, quartetting and just general gang singing began at the airport curb and continued, non-stop, until I left 7 days later.

At 8:00 p.m., the first night, was our first general assembly and our first opportunity to sing with 700 others (in tune). What a feeling! Just before we went into assembly we sat and watched what looked to be the making of a tornado approaching. As it went through it took all the hot air with it and the rest of the week was just great with temperatures in the 75-85 range.

That night after assembly the ice cream routine began. In total 390 gallons of hard ice cream and 150 gallons of soft ice cream were consumed during the week. Soon after the ice cream hits your stomach the tags & quartetting start in earnest. Every day between 7:00 a.m. & midnight the cafeteria building was alive with the sound of Barbershop chords. Every nook and cranny a gang of 4 could find to strike a few chords, was filled, until around midnight, when the real keen people found other spots to continue long into the night.

I took 5 classes: The Quartet Experience, Vocal Technique, How to Be a Great Lead, Tune it or Die and How to be a Great Tenor. Seven hours of class each day and an hour and a half in general assembly fill up a day pretty well. As well Tuesday and Thursday we had chorus practice. Wednesday night was the first show along with various tours or sports activities. Saturday night of course was the big show with World Champions NightLife and Bronze Medallists Bank Street. The afterglow that followed was incredible. Michael's quartet drew rave reviews and held its own against some of the best from around the world.

In between all this was "Beanie" practice. Oh, I haven't mentioned the beanies yet have I. Upon arrival, all of the rookies at Harmony College are issued red or blue beanies. They are expected to where them at all times, until after the big competition on Wednesday night. Each group has to pick music, pick a director, develop choreography, and pull themselves together with no help or direction what so ever from anyone.

The red beanies were fortunate. We had Keith Harris, World College Quartet Champion, in the fold. We met secretly in the morning, at lunch, or before supper and developed our routine.

We went for the comedic effect while the blues focussed on singing well, (big mistake - Blues). It is rumored that we had the support of the lead from Fred (World Silver Medalists Comedy Quartet), we reworked the words to Sweet & Lovely for a showstopper. Fortunately, blue and "poo" sound remarkably similar. We were a hit and we walked away champions of the beanie challenge.

My trip home was very similar to the trip down. Up at 3:45 a.m. and home by 11:30 p.m. A two hour layover before my first flight, 7 hours in Chicago, 3 hours in Toronto. The trips were a nightmare, the destination HEAVEN. More to come.

From: Jarol Knowles <knowlejb@med.unc.edu> -- aka Jack Boan

Subject: Life in the South

Dear Bruce and Golden Harvest chaps:

When you're in the slow lane, it takes a while to get something written! Actually, it is not that slow, it must be me that's the problem. It is easy to procrastinate. I did get a note off to Gord Gardiner, and Carl Stroh, and Fred Rodgers, about a week ago.

Also, I did get in touch with Kenosha, re chapters here. I found that there is a chapter in nearby Raleigh, and I got the name of the contact, and phoned him. I got his answering machine. After a couple of days, he called me, and we had a nice visit. Turns out their chapter is very small, about 18, and no one is from Durham (so no way to get there and back - in the dark - to take in a practice: in other words, no Bill Quick in sight). He didn't invite me anyway. However, he was very nice. He even knew where Saskatchewan is. In fact, he was in our Province doing a market survey for some chemical company that sells agricultural chemicals just a few years back. He suggested that I should phone Kenosha again, because there is Research Triangle Chapter, and there would be sure to be someone from Durham with whom I might get a ride. But I haven't done it yet. Manana! (There are, in fact, quite a few Hispanics here).

The Research Triangle has, at its three corners, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University at Durham, and the University of North Carolina at Raleigh, the capital, about 20 miles away. It is a world famous Research Triangle, with multi-millions of dollars invested in it by the private sector (big companies like IBM have big buildings, and research facilities). The number of Ph.D.s per capita must exceed that of any place in North America - maybe the world! You can imagine the intellectual ferment that is brewing, with the cross-fertilization of ideas that propinquity like this promotes!

As for our life, here, our daughter has a very busy schedule. She has a medical practice in connection with the Medical School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where her appointment is. She is Clinical Research Assistant Professor, doing work on Irritable Bowel Syndrome, something, evidently, that is a bit of a mystery to the medical profession, so research on it is badly needed. Then, she has this house she bought last summer, and being a house, there is always something for us to do. And finally, a little girl, 10, who must be picked up after school, and driven here and there to after-school functions, some of which are social. Fortunately, Jarol has two cars, one to drive some 10 miles to work, and one for us to use.

I am wired in to my colleagues across Canada, so a lot of my work goes on pretty much as though I were at home. If you want to reply, for clarification, or any other reason, you can use the above address, or send it to me at Regina, as my mail is being forwarded. The Regina address is: boanj@cas.uregina.ca

FINALS SONGS MUS PRE SNG TOTL MEN

1 Hilltop, MN You Keep Coming Back

Great Northern Union Like A Song 251 253 252 1510 67

Bye, Bye Blackbird 256 256 242 83.9%

2 Greendale, WI A Little Street Where

Midwest Vocal Express Old Friends Meet 231 230 238 1393 43

It's A Sin To TellALie 230 231 233 77.4%

3 Milwaukee, WI Mother Machree 221 213 224 1295 55

Festival City Chorus ListenToThatDixie Band 211 215 211 71.9%

4 Albert Lea, MN Floatin' Down /Are You

Harmony Junction Chorus From Dixie Medley 192 217 205 1241 33

Don'tCryJoe,LetHerGo 199 219 209 68.9%

5 St. Croix Valley, MN Georgia On My Mind 185 206 204 1174 36

Croix Chordsmen Sweet Georgia Brown 176 204 199 65.2%

6 LaCrosse, WI TakeMeToTheLandOfJazz 184 204 193 1150 31

Coulee Chordsmen Oh,HowIMissYou Tonight 179 202 188 63.9%

7 Clara City, MN I Wonder Who's Fishing

W. Central Connection There Now 175 205 185 1128 34

PolarizedGlassesParody 178 203 182 62.7%

8 Minneapolis, MN You Will Still Be The

Commodores Same Girl To Me 188 195 187 1124 51

Wait'TilTheSunShines, 62.4%

Nellie 180 193 181

9 Appleton, WI LetSmileBeYourUmbrella 170 192 186 1080 44

Fox Valleyaires A Little Street Where 60.0%

Old Friends Meet 166 183 183

10 Rock Valley, WI Let The End OfTheWorld

Badger Chordhawks ComeTomorrow 172 195 180 1079 33

The Song Is Ended 169 187 176 59.9%

11 Fargo, ND-Moorehead, MN Aura Lee/Love MeTender 163 186 176 1059 21

Great Plains Harmony Are YouLonesomeTonight 169 190 175 58.8%

12 Stevens Point, WI May I Never Love Again 173 175 176 1041 39

Northern Gateway Chorus Babyface/Exactly Like 57.8%

You Medley 169 177 171

13 Madison, WI Smile Medley 171 164 173 1024 30

Madison Capital Chordsmen Kathleen 179 162 175 56.9%

14 Manitowac County, WI Theres A Rainbow Round

Clipper City Chordsmen My Shoulder 161 169 167 991 30

There's A Vacant Chair 55.1%

At Home 162 167 165

14 Racine, WI April Showers Parody 149 188 158 991 44

Dairy Statesmen California Here I Come 155 182 159 55.1%

16 Greater St. Paul Area, MN Emmaline 161 183 159 990 30

North Star Chorus By The Sea 157 176 154 55.0%

17 Rochester, MN Oh, You Beautiful Doll 144 163 153 884 27

Rochester Music Men Midnight Rose 132 154 138 49.1%

Madison, WI is the Plateau A Champion

Greendale, WI is the Plateau AA Champion

Hilltop, MN is the Plateau AAA Champion

Most Improved Chorus Is LaCrosse, WI

Hilltop, MN will represent the Land O' Lakes District at the 1998

International Contest in Atlanta, GA

PANEL:

ADMINISTRATOR MUSIC PRESENTATION SINGING

W. Ornt-SLD D. Gray-JAD J. Coffin-RMD D. Comer-CSD

R. McQuaid-JAD G. Peters-ILL T. Raffety-FWD D. Flinn-JAD

G. Volk-LOL B. Squires-ILL

FINALS SONGS MUS PRE SNG TOTL

1 Seasoned Sound Wait Till The Sun Shines, Nellie 186 173 171 1043

Story Of The Rose 176 167 170 57.9%

2 Gay NinetiesQuartet When You're Smiling 53 92 108 640

Two Friends 132 137 118 35.6%

Seasoned Sound is the 1997 Land 'O Lakes Seniors Quartet Champion

PANEL: ADMINISTRATOR MUSIC PRESENTATION SINGING

W. Ornt-SLD D. Gray-JAD J. Coffin-RMD D. Comer-CSD

R. McQuaid-JAD G. Peters-ILL T. Raffety-FWD D. Flinn-JAD

G. Volk-LOL B. Squires-ILL T. Woodall-ILL

Bulletin Material -- Bruce Fish

Special thanks to John and Jack for dropping a line. Email, Fax, pencil & paper -- drop me a line any old way with YOUR bulletin article for next month -- articles and submissions in any format are gratefully received. You can fax me at work (751-7002); email it via the Internet to Bruce_Fish@ibm.net; save it onto a diskette (just about any format will do); even scribble it onto a scrap of paper (as long as I can decipher it) and give it to me or drop it in my mailbox. Email or diskette are preferred since this saves me from having to retype it (and in return, you can get away with being a little past the official Monday night deadline).

For those of you with connections to the internet, or friends with connections, check out our Chorus home page, bulletins and upcoming events at www.gpfn.sk.sa/culture/arts/gharvest. Land of Lakes District page is available at www.mcs.com/~toma/www/pages/bbshop.lol.html.