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Previous Page		 LUBBOCK, TX
The Singing Plainsmen
by Don Cotton
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Some of the mernbers of the Lubbock Chapter posed for this picture in 1946 at Breedlove Airport
as they welcomed O.C. Cash arriving in Lubbock. They were, left to right,
Lambert Eaton, Butch Edwards (Cash's pilot), Harry Delaney,
Marshail Harvey, O.C. Cash, Bob Rose, J. Ray Dickey, Jack Hall and George Meiser.

 
Lubbock became the first city in Texas to be granted a charter from SPEBSQSA on August 11, 1945. Harry Delaney, an insurance agent, read about the national barbershop harmony group in his Kiwanis newsletter and persuaded 14 men to sign a petition requesting membership. A check covering the charter fee of $5.00 and $2.00 for each member accompanied the petition. It is appropriate that the Tulsa chapter, the very first chapter, acted as sponsoring group for this first Texas chapter.
Prominent citizens helped make up the charter group. The first Lubbock barbershoppers were:
Buick automobile dealer J. Ray Dickey; bank vice president L. C. Ellis; County Tax-Assessor Russell Hardin; drug store owner Bert Pinson; Lubbock Avalanche-Journal managing editor C.W. Rafliff; and dentist Dr. Clyde C. Craig. The charter was officially presented at a special meeting in October by former Senator S. Hobert Nelson. Growth in membership characterized the earlV years. Under		  the music direction of Jack Hall the chapter chorus made significant strides and In 1949 the total membership reached the astounding (and never surpassed) number of 94. Following Jack Hall, other directors included: Raymond Ernott, Dick Richards, J. H. Penn, Robert Leonard, John Anderson, and Jack Almack.
Dr. John Anderson, who was Director of Music for the Lubbock Public Schools, later served as president of the Southwestern District and was a certified judge for Society contests. The Lubbock Chapter's first annual "Parade of Quartets" took place in May of 1947. Our chorus has produced a total of 41 annual shows in our 50-year history.
Some of the nationally-known guest headline quartets who appeared in Lubbock include: The Desertairs, The Flying L Quartet, the Evans Quartet, the Four Hearsemen, the Gay Notes, the Confederates, the Roaring 20's, the Western Continentals, the Doo-Dads, the OK 4, the Salt

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