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| When Abilene oil man V. C. "Bud" Perini went
to Chicago, on a business trip in 1948, he checked into the Stephens Hotel.
That particular evening, a happy group of harmonizers were doing their
ritual impromptu concert in the hotel lobby. Perini liked what he heard
and came home determined to start a local chapter of the wonderful organization
that O.C. Cash and Rupert Hall launched in 1938.
Back in Abilene, the first man Bud contacted was Phil S. Kendrick, Sn It was duck soup" to sell P.S. Kendrick on the project. P.S. already knew and loved the "Old Songs". Together these two recruited nearly sixty men of the Abilene community. By year's end, Abilene was ready to apply for a charter; the charter was granted on January 22, 1949 and bears Cash's signature. Sponsored jointly by the Lubbock and Wichita Falls chapters, Abilene became the seventh chapter |
in the state of Texas. Chapter officers were:
V.C. Perini, Jr- President; Millard Shaw - Vice President; Elbert Hall
- Secretary; Henry Schulz - Treasurer The chapter chorus was under the
direction of Geridine Shaw Weatherby, a qualified music educator and daughter
of M. Shaw. There are forty-four chorus members pictured in the first show
program.
V.C. Perini's lovely wife, Maxine, working with the Abilene Junior Service League (later affiliated with the national Junior League) provided a civic purpose for the budding barbershoppers. Funds were needed by the Abilene Public School system to furnish a "special education" classroom for handicapped children. The Charity/Charter show was held on May 7, 1949, in the Abilene High School Auditorium (now Abilene Middle School). The huge sum of $1,500 was raised for, at that time, an |
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Contents |
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How It All Began Chapters Chapter Histories International Quartet Champions ChorusesAdministration
Contests and Conventions Registered Quartets Publications Recognitions In Conclusion