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!

November 2000

Oh the weather outside is…

Yesterday was "summer" with everyone out jogging in t-shirts and shorts, giving their lawns a final trim, and checking their Christmas lights. Today is "winter" with the wind howling, snow swirling, and everyone trying to find their car window scrapers and snow brushes.

And just in time for Santa…

The annual Santa Claus parade is coming up this Sunday November 12 and our float is ready. Our music is on CD so we just need members to ride on the float and to wave to the crowds. Hopefully Sunday will be a little less wintry than today and there'll be lots of people lining the parade route. This should be a fun event, a great way to support our community, and a marvelous opportunity to keep our chorus visible within our city.

So, while you're practicing your music, take a few minutes to practice a few Ho Ho Ho's.

Welcome New Member

Welcome to our newest member - Mark Coulter – and thanks to Bill Coulthard for making the effort to invite Mark out.

Executive Meeting

A number of the executive braved our first winter storm and met at Ron and Chris Evan's place on Sunday.

We have a number of events lined up for the next several weeks -- the Santa Claus parade, Music school in Brandon, Government House, Rotary Carolfest, Tree Lighting at the Legislature, and possibly singing for the Shriners, a couple of bingos over the next few weeks, and we're still looking for a locale for our Chapter Christmas party.

Next Executive meeting will be on Sunday December 3 at Bruce and Elaine's. If you are unable to attend please let Wayne and/or Bruce know and send a report and/or alternate representative. Members in good standing are welcome and encouraged to attend any executive meeting. Please let the president and host and hostess know in advance so that they may plan accordingly.

MEMBERS ONLY site

Here's what you will find on the Members Only page at www.spebsqsa.org/members. All you need to access this is an email account and web access. You will need to set up a password the first time you log in. If you have trouble accessing this site, there are contacts listed on the site or you can contact a member of the executive to help get you set up.

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Remember – Every night is a Guest Night!

Government House

The chorus will be singing on Sunday November 19 at Government House. The Regina Stitchery Guild is holding a Victorian Market, and we'll be singing for a half-hour or so during the afternoon. Families are invited, and there will be tea and goodies available.

Larry Vermont came home weeping bitterly. He had gone to propose to his girl and his father eagerly awaited her response. "So what happened, Larry?" the old man asked. "Did she accept?"

"Oh, Dad, she sure didn't. When I told her what you advised me to say, she slapped my face and sent me home."

"Did you start out by saying what I told you to, what I told your mother when she accepted my proposal? 'Dear, time stands still when I look in your eyes.'"

"Did you say that? Holy smokes, Dad, I got it all wrong. I said, 'My dear, your face would stop a clock!'"

Share the Dream – Easy as 1-2-3

Recently I asked a group of more than 200 Barbershoppers who had recruited more than 20 new members each to share their recruiting "secrets" with me. The response has been terrific, and I want to share their ideas with you as well. I do this knowing that many of you may also have some ideas that work for you. If so, please send them to me and we’ll continue to build our "bag of tricks" so that all may be successful; male or female, young or old, quartet singers or chorus singers . . . everyone can find new members with whom to share this hobby.

Recruiting idea #2

This one comes from Marv Spellman of Kearney, Nebraska. Marv has brought in more than 90 members during his career. Some of his thoughts include:

"Kearney is located in the center of the USA from east to west. This is how we chose our chorus name (1733 Chorus) as it’s 1733 miles to San Francisco and 1733 miles to Boston. Kearney has a population of approximately 23,000 and we have six surrounding towns with each less than 2,000 people. So, totally we have less than 40,000 . . . so we don’t have a lot of people to recruit. There are 12 chapters in Nebraska and the Kearney Chapter is No. 3 in membership. We have more members than Omaha with approximately one million, and we’re also bigger than Lincoln with 250,000 population.

Our chapter was 25 years old last June and I have signed up 90 members and I’m working on three more before the end of the year. When I reach 100 man-of-notes I’m gonna hang up recruiting. I’ll never catch up with Jerry Orloff. But he has a lot more population to work with.

Here are a few suggestions that I use. First of all, you cannot sign up friends or relations, so that leaves total strangers to go after. I did not know any of my 90 members or what they looked like. All of my invitations are written. I made up a special letter that I send out and I’m enclosing a sample (note: he did . . and it’s a corker!). My chorus is great as they give me all the postage and stationery that I need. I send out about 20 to 25 invitations per month. I tell each prospective member that each Monday night is a special guest night and they don’t know the difference. I’ve been told several times that I’m a "persistent bastard."

Here’s how I got one member: I was at a Saturday Mass and I heard a guy singing behind me a couple of rows back. When Mass was out, I followed him to his car - I wrote down the license number of his car - called the court house and gave them the number and they told me his name and address. I wrote him a letter to invite him to be my guest. Six weeks went by and I heard nothing. Then one Monday night before rehearsal, he called and wanted to come to see what barbershopping was all about. I signed him up. Two years later he was our chapter president and the following year our show chairman.

I watch for newcomers in church bulletins and the newspapers. I also check on who got promoted, divorced and married . . . and I send them an invitation. The whole secret is you’ve got to ask everyone to be your guest. They are out there waiting to be asked."

(Note: Thanks, Marv. Persistence certainly does pay off. How many more chapter presidents can each of us find using the "stalking" method? For copies of Marv’s recruiting piece and his homespun method, just let me know. It may not work for everyone, but . . . it may work for you! And by the way, can your chapter afford a little postage and stationery to fund a guy that can write to people randomly? If Marv Spellman can find 90 members in 25 years in an area of 40,000 people, what can your best recruiter do?)

Ev Nau

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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.