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!

November '99

Remembrance Day

"They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old,

Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them."

Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet

On the old farm house veranda there sat Silas and Miranda,
Thinking of the days gone by;
Said he, "Dearie don't be weary, you were always bright and cheery
But a tear, dear, dims your eye."
Said she, they're tears of gladness, Silas, they're not tears of sadness;
It is fifty years today since we were wed."
Then the old man's dim eyes brighten'd and his stern old heart it lighten'd
As he turned to her and said:

"Put on your old grey bonnet
With the blue ribbon on it
While I hitch old Dobbin to the shay;
Through the fields of clover
On the way to Dover
On our Golden Wedding Day."

It was in the same old bonnet with the same blue ribbon on it
In the old shay by his side,
That he drove her up to Dover thro' the same old fields of clover
To become his happy bride.
The birds were sweetly singing and the same old bells were ringing
As they passed the quaint old church where they were wed,
And that night when stars were gleaming the old couple law a-dreaming
Dreaming of the words he said.

"Put on your old grey bonnet
With the blue ribbon on it
While I hitch old Dobbin to the shay;
Through the fields of clover
On the way to Dover
On our Golden Wedding Day."

What a day! Fifty years ago this day.

Happy Anniversary

Congratulations to Gord and Marj Gardiner on their recent Golden Wedding anniversary.

Greetings

Greetings to all Regina Golden Harvest Chorus members. I hope that you all had a good summer. What a beautiful fall, the colours and the fine weather so that the farmers could get their crops in.

Congratulations to the Chapter and the members involved in your publicity, namely, the parade floats. I read that you had the exhibition float and now a Santa parade float. GREAT WORK!! We need more of this with chapters. You know the old saying that "Barbershopping is a best kept secret!!"

I read with much interest, Bill Coulthard's comments in the last bulletin about the different approaches of different chapters as to focus and singing, etc. Welcome back Bill and best of luck in your new chapter responsibilities.

Did you note in the latest Pitch Piper that last summer, of the three mini-Hep schools with total attendance of 220, that Clear Lake had an attendance of 147 – that's more than half for these 3 schools. Let's do it again – June 2-4, 2000. Mark your calendars!

Have a GREAT BARBERSHOP year. Sing every day, it's good for your health!

Sing-cheerily,
Ken Stephenson,
Chapter Coach

Memorial

Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of former barbershopper Norm Bechard. The chorus was honoured to participate at Norm's memorial service.

Virden Leadership Forum

On November 20^th a van loaded with a half dozen avid barbershoppers will be making its way eastward to Virden. You can tell that we're avid barbershoppers because we'll be up and on the road by 6:00am for this one-day music leadership forum. This is a great opportunity to meet and share ideas with other barbershoppers in our district, as well as learning from "the experts". If you are at all interested (and what barbershopper wouldn't be), please speak to Ron at the meeting and we'll find a spot for you.

Sweet Adeline Show

Congratulations to Ken, the Regina Sweet Adelines and quartets on another great show. Peter Vanderstelt, Eltyn Hasz, and Bruce Fish were among the volunteers helping out at the show – and we got to see and hear the entire show. (The dinner was pretty good too). A great show and a great entertainment evening for all who attended – and a lot of work and fun for all who worked so hard to make the evening a success.

Santa Claus is coming to town –(this Sunday, November 14th)

We had a great taping session on November 1^st – and we now have a CD of a few of our carols. We'll be doing much like we did for the Buffalo Days parade, using a sound system and singing along to the pre-recorded CD of our own carols. Nelson, Stuart and Gord have got the float all winterized and ready to go. All we need now is your participation. If you have already signed up – many thanks. If you haven't signed up yet, see Ron – the more the merrier.

Not only will this be a fun event to participate in, but it’s a great way to keep our chorus in the public eye. You never know where that next new member will come from, or where that next singing engagement might come from, or who might be interested in attending our next show.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Parking

The large parking lot behind (north of) Knox-Metropolitan United Church is owned by the Masons, not the church. The spaces in the lot are rented for private use Monday to Friday from 8:00am to 5:30pm, and reserved for the use of the members of the various Masonic Lodges during the remaining times. These times include the evenings from Monday to Friday, and all day Saturday and Sunday.

During the past years, many people have utilized this lot when attending meetings, functions, or concerts at the church, with the result that the Masons themselves have been unable to use their own lot. This situation has become very frustrating to the members of the various lodges, and they have asked us to contact all groups and organizations that use the church requesting that they take whatever steps are required to keep the parking lot free for the use of the Masons. Failure to do so could result in vehicles being towed away at a cost to the owner of approximately $60.00.

It is only right that the members of the Lodge be able to use their own parking lot at all times, and we ask that you honour their request. Your co-operation in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Yours truly,
Jean Balika
For G.K.Rever, Chair
Official Board

Singouts

Tree Lighting at the Leg on Wednesday, November 17^th – we will be singing off and on between 6:30 and 8:30.

Wascana Clinic on Thursday November 18^th – but yet to be finalized (depending on the time we may or may not have enough voice parts)

Victoria Estates on Monday November 22^nd – we'll sing there and then head over to the hall for our regular practice.

Rotary CarolFest on Monday November 29^th. This is a regular Monday night at the hall so we should be able to have a good representation. This is a great opportunity to show the rest of Regina what we can do – and one we really want to do well on since CableRegina tapes this and replays it over and over throughout the season.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Bingo Dates

We have a Bingo scheduled for Tuesday November 30^th, 5:30 pm to midnight at the Silver Sage bingo hall. Please check your calendars and be ready to say yes when asked.

Soup Labels

As you may have heard at chapter meetings, Campbell's has revised its soup label program and we will no longer be collecting and sending soup labels off in support of Heartspring – that's the bad news. The good news, is that Jack and Doug have been working behind the scenes and have spoken to a number of people and groups, and we will be collecting Campbell UPC's (the little bar code thingy) for the Early Learning Centre here in Regina.

Note: with this new program, all we need to save are the UPC codes – not the whole label. If you have any soup labels that you have already collected, bring them in, but from here forward, all we need is the barcode.

Executive Meeting

The Executive met this past Sunday at Bill Coulthard's. We were a little short on numbers, but thanks to all of you who did phone in or email reports. It was a beautiful warm sunny Sunday afternoon – but in spite of this we still managed to fill two hours and then some. Much of the discussion was on our upcoming singouts, upcoming COTS, upcoming music trip to Virden, as well as planning for a number of upcoming December events. Watch for further details and announcements at upcoming meetings.

Music Committee Meeting

The Music Committee also met this past month at Ron Evan's and discussed music plans for the upcoming year.

Annual Show - April 8, 2000

Stay tuned – only 17 more practices until our show. We have Darke Hall booked for Saturday April 8^th, Bill Coulthard is working on a script for us, and Lynn will be working with his committee to get all the arrangements in hand. Watch for announcements at chapter meetings and in future bulletins.

Membership / Chapter Development

If you don't know what the following triangle symbolizes then make sure you ask Bill at the next meeting – and if you do know what it means, I'm sure that Bill would be glad to have you volunteer to assist him in this important work for the chapter.

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, 761-2503 / bfish@cableregina.com. Current and back issues of the Sharp Notes can be found on our chapter website at www.gpfn.sk.ca/culture/arts/gharvest.

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