| Golden Memories |
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Chapters |
| the old favorites from those days:
Ida, Sweet as
Apple Cider, Brown Derby, Glad Rag Dolt, Egyptian Ella, A Son of the Sea, and the New Ashmolian Marching Society and StLLdents' Conservatory Band. A contest in Ponca City, Oklahoma, followed later; we rented an old school bus, drove all night, sang all day, and had a great time. Although we were never strong contenders in contest, we received our emotional highs by just patticipating, and we've made many friends over the years at those contests. In 1964, Victoria needed a Boy's Club, and the Victoria Barbershoppers responded with a benefit show with all proceeds going to the Club. The Mark IV volunteered to help as well as the Lovabelles, a Sweet Adeline quartet from Austin. Two chapter quartets, the Humbugs and the Chordwringers, as well as the Victoria chorus joined the headline quartets in making the show a great success. In 1966, Dr. Bauer moved and the chapter folded due to lack of an adequate director. For the next thirteen years, four men continued to perform locally as a quartet with no chapter affiliation: J. P. Hulin (Bass), Norm Damerau (Ban), Nort Fritzinger (Lead), and Leon Smothers (Tenor). In the late 1970s, Fritzinger joined 0. C. Cash in the great quartet upstairs and was replaced by Ken Woodring. The quartet developed into an active unregistered quartet call the 4 City 4. J. P. Hulin ~ictoria), Norm Damerau (Beeville), Ken Woodring (Edna), and Leon Smothers (Hallettsville). This quartet still performs and has an alternate singer in Bud Tucker. In 1983, an ex-Air Force pilot named Barry Smith moved to Victoria.
He was a quartet bass and an excellent director. Ken Woodring and J. P.
Hulin organized a steering group, and with help from Bill Moeller, Danny
Hoad, W. E. Laas, and others pulled together a membership drive. Ed Reeder,
District II Vice President, came down, and with The Innsiders sold Barbershop
to sittty men. In a short time, we had signed up forty men and chartered
again as the Toast of the Coast Chorus.
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slot temporarily. During this period, Victoria
and Houston joinfly sponsored the Bay City chapter.
One of the greatest thrills we had during this era was singing Texas, My Texas, composed and arranged by Mac Huff and Jerry McCulloch, as a combined chorus with Houston, San Antonio, and Bay City. We still think it should be adopted as the state song! In 1985, the local newspaper ran an item in the "25, 50, 75 Years Ago" column featuring a picture of the chapter from 1960. This picture prompted a reunion of the original chorus. Over fifty former members were contacted and over thirty attended the one-day reunion coming from as far away as Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The chapter history would not be complete without recognizing the men who accepted the responsibility of President, as well as those who earned the respect of their fellow members as Barbershopper of the Year (BOTY)
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Previous Page |
Contents |
Page |
How It All Began Chapters Chapter Histories International Quartet Champions ChorusesAdministration
Contests and Conventions Registered Quartets Publications Recognitions In Conclusion