submitted by Dave Gryvnak
4/20/2005 7:43:42 PM
ALL MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENT from the Barbershop Harmony Society
The Board of Directors of the Barbershop Harmony Society (SPEBSQSA, Inc.) has accepted the resignation of CEO Don Harris, effective April 20.
"We are grateful for the new perspectives that Don brought to us, and for his many efforts to move the Society forward during a period of significant transition," said President Rob Hopkins. "We wish him well in future endeavors," he said.
President Hopkins named Past President Roger Lewis as the interim CEO, pending the completion of a search for a new CEO and the appointment of same by the Society Board of Directors.
Lynn Zobel
Office Manager ~ Executive Assistant
Barbershop Harmony Society
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4/21/2005 4:43:28 PM
Society Search Committee
Society President Rob Hopkins made the following announcement today:
"I am happy to announce that the following men have agreed to serve
as the XD/CEO Search Committee:
Dennis Cook, chairman
Charlie Davenport
Jim Sams
I am grateful to Dennis and Charlie and Jim for agreeing to take on
this crucial task.
The Society Board will be approving the search materials (job
description, background and capabilities expected of candidates,
etc.) this Sunday evening. We expect to be able to name a new XD/CEO
no later than at the Salt Lake City convention."
While the Society Board and the Search Committee go about their
important work, it is comforting to know that the leadership of the
Society is in the capable hands of our Immediate Past President Roger
Lewis. Roger, as many of you know, is a very experienced
businessman, an excellent administrator and a quartet medal winner.
We couldn't ask for a better interim CEO.
Please don't permit the changes in Kenosha to become a distraction.
Our chapters are doing a very fine job of working to improve the
barbershop experience for all our members. Keep up the good work.
I hope to see many of you in Salt Lake City!
Peter Feeney
President
Far Western District
Barbershop Harmony Society
Go Ahead and Ask
As Long as It’s a Barberpole Song
By Stanley Tinkle
Last weekend, the Fullerton Chapter had its annual show. The title was “Fullerton Confidential—In Search of the Maltese Turkey”. The audiences loved it, and we all retired to the afterglow. The cast members looked forward to hearing our guest quartets: Ready Willing and Mabel and Four Score. During the show we had been downstairs changing costumes while they sang.
Both quartets put on a show for us, and they were really good. By the way, we also learned who “Mable” is. If you want to know, you can buy their new CD—or start coming to afterglows.
So things were winding down at the glow, when I realized that Robert Clark, the resonant bass of Ready Willing and Mabel, was standing by and listening to a pickup quartet. So I got up my nerve, located a lead and bari, and asked Robert to sing with us. It turned out that he had been waiting to be asked. We had a great time sharing a Pole Cat Song, and for me it was the peak moment of the evening. I almost missed out on the opportunity. OK, so I had to sing tenor, but that was a small sacrifice. In fact, everyone should try to sing tenor. All you need is a tenor learning tape of the Pole Cat Songs (see me), and a little free time on the freeway. Because the tenor’s share of the total volume is about five per cent in most songs, a mouse squeak is just fine. Once you’ve become at ease with the tenor part, you feel like a dancer who learns he can tango.
But don’t wait for that. If you’re just a bass, go with it. Cook up a pickup quartet at every barbershop event. Just don’t be shy about it. You’ll probably make the day for all four of you.
A Second Look at Our Society
And Where We’re Headed
By Stanley Tinkle
Connecting with the internet world is a lot like having a very nosy kid brother. He’s a gossipy little snoop who constantly tries to get your attention. Half of the time he’s telling you how much he knows, and the other half of the time he’s Chicken Little, clucking that the sky is falling.
A case in point: on April 20 Lynn Zobel, the Office Manager at Kenosha, released to the internet the announcement that our Society’s CEO, Don Harris, had resigned. Mr. Harris had taken a lot of heat for putting into force a number of changes which the SPEBSQSA Board of Directors hoped would make our Society leaner, healthier and more attractive to new members. From the blizzard of email that has flown about lately, I’d guess that a) most of us feel we weren’t consulted about the changes, b) many of us don’t want to change anything, and c) we shouldn’t be talking about this in public.
One SoCal chapter president sent an e-letter around explaining that a) his chapter was doing nicely without any help, thank you, and b) they did not want to be diluted by other a cappella styles, but c) some of their quartets liked to sing doo-wop and jazz songs. Besides, e) they were spending large sums on Society activities and getting very little in return, so f) Kenosha might as well choose a fall guy now to take the blame when the whole ruddy mess collapses.
The letter writer had a point. Some of the recent changes seemed to me to lack finesse. I think the new logo looks like four mummies in profile. I think the mystic letters SPEBSQSA, like the mystic prime number 13579 and the old Roman Catholic mass in Latin, deserve to be our own secret and don’t need to be explained. But I also think the new name, “Barbershop Harmony Society,” is 'way overdue and deserves a loud huzzah.
You’ll all remember that Kenosha has been subjected to a demographic drumroll for decades, as our membership became a year older every year. How could our leadership help our chapters to grow, in an era when the target age group was too busy to join any spare-time organization?
Well, our nosy little brother the Internet may possess the answer. It’s a way for special interest groups to get together. Wild Parrot Enthusiasts, fans of Teresa Brewer, and gardeners with powdery mildew problems happen to be three internet groups that include me at the moment. And now the Orange Quartet Chapter’s email site is getting “hits” from people who are looking for a group to sing with. Huzzah for the internet!
Most of us who are in a chapter are having fun already. We can buy musical arrangements and tapes from Kenosha. We can go to a convention now and then if we save up for it like we do for Las Vegas. We go to chapter shows and hear champion quartets. And of course we surely do enjoy singing in the barbershop style. Just singing the Barberpole Cat Songs in new combinations is a pleasure. If I can add a new arrangement to learn, I’m a happy camper. If I’m also in a quartet that does an occasional anniversary gig, or a chapter that does a show, I’m home free.
Last night I sang in a mixed quartet, as did half of the guys in the Orange Quartet Chapter, courtesy of tenor Patrique Gryvnak. A visiting quartet, Easy Street, starring our resident lead Ken Tillmanns, shared a number of great songs with us. At the glow, our waiter requested we sing Coney Island Baby. A teenager and his music teacher demanded Ain’t Misbehavin’. The outside world holds more surprises than are dreamed of in our philosophies. All we need to do is watch for them, and grasp them as they sail by.
Chapter History: The Orange Logo
by Rich Lewis
Back in 1968, when Paul Kelley and Rich Lewis were working together on the Annual Novice Quartet Chapter, they asked for some "promotional" help from a technical director, Walt Wedlock, whom Rich worked with at a computer company in Orange County. The barberpole with the quartet wrapped around it was born. Rich asked Walt if he could continue to use it, and Walt said, "It's yours, Rich." In honor of his artistry and his love of the barbershoppers and the music they generated, Walt Wedlock's name always appears at the bottom of the pole. It has been the moniker of the "Plaza City Serenaders" Chapter since its inception in 1991.
So what's so special about this pole? Those fellas wrapped around that pole appear to be really having fun, ringing a barbershop chord--a symbol of our enjoyment while singing in a barbershop quartet. And notice, there are only four guys around that pole! The next time you and three other guys are attempting to ring a chord, show us that you are having fun--and smile!
Yours in Harmony,
Rich Lewis
(The Orange Chapter logo is on the mailing cover of our printed bulletin, and in the photo album and above the Officer list in our on-line Squeezin's.)
Paul Lewis, Our Proofreader
An email from Paul Lewis to Editor Dorothy Acton
Early in June it will be 60 years since I first did proofreading for pay (35 cents an hour, pretty good for a high school kid). I worked as drueckersteufel (printer's devil ) for Hans H. Ernst, job printer in Victoria, Texas. Texas was still part of Mexico when the city was founded, and Mexico encouraged immigrants from Europe. Germans settled widely in south and central Texas, as a scan of town names will still show, and printing was a trade they found attractive. Hans' shop had been the job printing shop of Die Deutsche Zeitung, a weekly published by his father in the late 1800s and up to WW I. Some of our fonts had the umlaut characters in them. And yes, we had one font (12 point New Caslon) that was the primary text font and required both upper and lower cases. We had no linotype. Our press was an 1895 Chandler & Price model, hand fed. At first, Hans always read proof on what I set up, but when he learned that I could spell, knew English grammar, and was careful about keeping my fingers out of the press, he gave me a raise from 25 to 35 cents/hr and let me read proof and go to press on many jobs, while he got together with friends in the afternoon for ein bier (und viellicht zwei oder drei bier).
Paul Lewis
Thank You, Orange Chapter
By Dorothy Acton
Tues. April 26, I had just returned from two days at UCI Hospital because of complications after chemo #8. There was a package in my mailbox. I was surprised and delighted as I unwrapped the array of "goodies" that were sent me, along with a "Get Well Soon" card from the Orange Chapter. I suspect that a barbershop wife or two had a hand in selecting the bath gel, hand cream, lipstick, make-up bag, and other treats. What a pick-me-upper! Thank you, barbershop family! I bet I'm the only editor in the Society to get such pampered treatment. My chemo is finished, and now I plan to get back to living my life with a song in my heart.
Editor's Comments
By Dorothy Acton
As I mentioned last month, we received some excellent suggestions from the bulletin contest judges on ways to improve Squeezin's. Here are some tips on "content."
Primary bulletin objectives:
Inform of coming events;
Record recent barbershop events;
Reflect views of chapter officers and members as to chapter well-being (weaknesses, strengths, plans for future, etc.);
Recognize efforts and accomplishments of members and others;
Educate about chapter, district, and Society aims and goals, about various aspects of singing craft, and about events and actions that shape the future of barbershopping;
Promote barbershopping in general, together with chapter, division, district, and Society events and programs;
Recruit by encouraging members to bring guests, supporting membership drives, and publicizing guests and new members;
Encourage pride and participation in our hobby and Society.
Wade Dexter was our judge for bulletin content. I was thoroughly impressed that he wrote me a two-page letter giving tips and ideas. He suggested that Orange chapter members would be interested in reading a summary of the major decisions made by the board, a brief treasurer's report, as well as reports on events in the recent past.
To improve our "recognition" category, we should list our guests, with a brief biography. I like Wade's comment that we need an article/biography on every new member. I agree. So, feel free to write, guys. Don't make me chase you down. (And don't worry about your spelling, etc. Paul Lewis and I will fix any errors.)
Wade noted that Chapter history is another fertile field for articles. I have all the copies of Orange Squeezin's back to Nov. 1994, thanks to Ed Wilks. He gave me his set before he moved to Palm Springs. (Thanks, again, Ed.) I will begin this category with an item Rich Lewis gave me about the Orange Chapter logo. (Thanks, Rich.) Any old-timers want to tell us more about how the Chapter began and grew? Memorabilia? Interesting adventures? Highlights? If you enjoyed the walk down memory lane provided by the photo of the back of Paul Kelley's garage door (Sept. 2004 issue), help us gather similar goodies to share.
Dorothy Acton, editor
Mail and Email
Hi Dorothy,
Just thought I'd thank you for continuing to send me the ORANGE SQUEEZIN'S publication. You do a great job and I like reading
the interesting articles you put into the Orange Quartet Chapter's blurb.
One thing, could you please change my mailing address to:
7930 Sheridan Road
Kenosha, WI 53143
Thank you,
Jim DeBusman
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Dorothy-
Thanx for keeping me up to date with the chapter through the "Squeezin's." While my address has changed to far away, my membership (and heart!) remains in the Orange Chapter. Hopefully I'll find the time to make it down south some Monday in the near future.
Keep up the fine work!
Stan Haymaker
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Applause!
Good publication. There are some items that I wish the Music Central chapter could realize.
Jack Jungroth
Thought to Ponder
Found on the Internet:
If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can get going without pep pills,
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment
If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him,
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
...Then You Are Probably The Family Dog!
Next Issue
Target publication date for the next Squeezins' bulletin is June 1 or whenever we get enough articles. Send your articles to Editor at dcacton@earthlink.net.
ORANGE SQUEEZIN'S
