Golden Memories Page 52

Golden Memories Chapters

Amarillo,Tx
Golden Spread Chorus
by don Ham

             I asked Dwight Elliott, baritone of the      Hearsemen, when the Amarillo chapter began. He
said he joined the chapter in 1949 and believed the
Amarillo chapter was organized in 1948. Dwight
spoke with Wendell Heiny, Four Hearsemen tenor,
now living in Colorado, and learned that the first
meetings of the chapter were held at the San Jacinto Methodist Church. The first director, Mr. Jackson,was also the choir director of the Polk Street Methodist Church and the Amarillo College Chorus.
         The Amarillo chapter was organized under the leadership of the Lubbock chapter with the help of Grover Patrick Cunningham, a Lubbock chapter member.
             Dwight recalls that meetings were later held in the Old Tascosa room of the Herring Hotel which still stands but is presently unoccupied. The
membership roster of the Amarillo chapter listed
outstanding citizens of Amarillo and included,
among others a judge, the mayor of Amarillo, the
county sheriff and also Cal Farley, the founder of
Boys' Ranch. Interestingly, these people did not
come to the meetings. They were merely members of the Society who desired to have their names on the rolls of the chapter.
             During the early days the emphasis on barbershop singing was directed at quartets and not on chorus singing. Amarillo boasted at least three quartets during this period, all of whom were sponsored by funeral businesses in Amarillo.
         Dwight's quartet, the Four Hearsemen, were

         sponsored by Blackburn-Shaw funeral directors. N.S. Griggs funeral directors were the sponsors of the Pioneers, district champions in 1962. Other quartets at that time were sponsored Boxwell Brothers (no pun intended) and other funeral directors.
            Dulling the 1950's there were smaller chapters of the SPEBSQSA located in Pampa, Borger, and Dumas. These towns are neighbors of Amarillo. Other present chapter members recall that in the late 50's or very early 60's the Chordsmen from San Antonio came to town to appear on our annual show held in the old Amallillo Municipal Auditorium. They probably felt right at home since the architecture of the Municipal Auditorium resembled the Alamo.
         In those days the annual barbershop show was advertised as a parade of champion quartets. Some of the headline quartets that appeared on the
parades included the Mark IV, Orphans, Confederates, Lads of Enchantment, Gaynotes, Evans Quartet, Suntones, and the Sidewinders.
            In 1965 Amarillo hosted the district convention and contest. In that contest the Doo Dads placed first, the Mark IV, second and the OK 4 placed 8th.
         During 1965, the government announced the closing of the Amarillo Airbase which resulted in
the slow decline of the city's population as well as the membership of the chapter About the same time, the City of Amarillo decided to tear down the
old Municipal Auditorium and build a new one.
         Guess what? The Amarillo chapter put on the last

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Table of
Contents

Sections:
How It All Began Chapters Chapter Histories International Quartet Champions Choruses Administration
Contests and Conventions Registered Quartets Publications Recognitions In Conclusion