title level, is a district decision. The responsibility of this team is to deliver the services and resources to the chapters as well as complete the district's goals that contribute to the Society Board's strategic guidance.

D. Last July, the Society Board established a Society Hall of Fame Committee made up of Ben Ayling, Chairman; David Wright, Bill Campbell, Jim Richards and Val Hicks. They plan to induct a number of men into the Hall of Fame this July in Louisville.

Here is an interesting reprint from the March/April
1978 "Pitch-Burgher" bulletin of the Pittsburgh Chapter, Lou Sisk, editor:

IT'S MERGER TIME IN PITTSBURGH..
Sung to the tune of: "It's Round-up Time in Texas"

The special meeting, held at the Swissvale Presbyterian Church on Feb. 28th [1978], brought together the East Suburban of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Chapters to form one new chapter [Greater Pittsburgh]. The tellers for the vote, DVP Bill Wagner and AC Tom Seybert, reported the final tally as: 65 in favor, 9 opposed and 1 abstention. Now the real work begins, as the merged Board of Directors, together with the newly-formed Music Committee, bury themselves in planning for the first BIG EVENT - The Annual Show at the Syria Mosque on April 15th. It is expected to be a barn-burner, featunng the new look and sound of the chorus, THE HAPPINESS EMPORIUM, INNSIDERS, and four great local 4tets... KNIGHT GALLERY... CIRCLE W FOUR... PITTSBURGHERS... REARRANGEMENT. The opening line of the final selection by the chorus should say it all for now: "I'm Delighted, I'm So Excited!"

Here is another reprint from the same Pitch-Burgher:

LIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!

"Sing it again," were the words heard repeatedly, as the chorus recorded on video tape, "Back in Dad and Mother's Day" and "Tee Idle Dum Dum," for KDKA's Evening Show. In spite of the repetition, we, and the audience at Mifflin Ave. Methodist Church, seemed to enjoy this experience with television. This segment, along with one done with the KNIGHT GALLERY, will be put together and aired on April 13th, 7:30 PM, on Channel 2, KDKA TV, called EVENING. Got that? Credit PR-man Bud Ditrovati for a sterling effort on this one.

Let's have one of the composers begin the story of this song. Here's an excerpt from a 1949 letter by 0. F. Jones to International Secretary Carroll P. Adams, when Jones was a member of the Dallas Chapter, later to become the Big D Chapter.

"Back in 1915 I was located in Meridian, Miss., and four of us young fellows were doing a bit of quartet work. Our lead singer, Martin S. Peake, was quite a piano player, and we spent our spare time picking out new chords and arrangements... Circumstances caused me to move to Birmingham, Ala., so I lost track of Martin for several years. In the meantime our song was picked up by other quartets, the war came on, and it was taken overseas. Several years later I heard it used all over the country, the tune a little different and the words a little mixed. "I made a trip to Montgomery, Ala., to see Martin, whom I had not seen in 32 years, and he showed me the original papers of our composition." Although the song was sung widely for a long time before, it was popularized in the 1940's by the Dallas quartet Polka Dot Four. Clarence Giesen was tenor, Joseph E. Lewis (Society president, 1957- 58) was lead, Lee Myers was bass and Oscar Jones, one of the composers, was baritone."

"Sweet, Sweet Roses of Morn" was the first official Society arrangement of a barbershop quartet song, in 1941. The arranger was Phil Embury, arranger for the Buffalo Bills and Society president 1944-46. Much to the chagrin of the Society, Mills Music, Inc., included the song in "Barbershop Harmony" in 1942 and copyrighted the arrangement, "as sung by the Mound City Four, the Okie Four and the Misfits." Oscar Jones' letter above was in response to the Society trying to copyright the words and melody, which happened.

Society president Frank Thorne, unaware that a complete melody already existed, wrote a second melody in 1948. When Oscar Jones found out about Thorne's melody, he wrote lyrics which he called "Twilight." Neither Thorne's melody nor Jones' lyrics became popular, nor has the original verse written by Jones and Peake. Floyd Connett, the Society's first field man, did a new arrangement and copyrighted it in 1959. This is the Barberpole Cat song we sing today.