January 2006 2001 International Gold Medal Chorus XXIV NUMBER 1

In this issue . Editorial Comment...page 2 Annual Dinner 06...page 3 What if ?...page 4 I Just Like to Sing .page 5 Recruiting Tip #3...page 6

2006 Installation and Awards Banquet

John Trumbull, President 05, presented Barry Cain with the Eight is Enough Award.

Nicholson Photo

Tom Noller was presented the Barbershopper of the Year award by the New Tradition s current title holder, Bob Smith.

Nicholson Photo

John Trumbull presented Mike Schnitzler with the President s Award.

Nicholson Photo

ANNUAL AWARDS DINNER By Don Meseth, Editor

With great cooperation from the weatherman, Nick Cac-camo and his wife organized another superb dinner and installation of officers this year. Papa Joe Giallombardo tried to add a little excitement to the evening by having a slight stroke. Thankfully, he is recovering nicely at home!

(continued on page 3)

January 2006

Page 2 Harmony Gazette

The Gazette Bulletin of The New Tradition Chorus

Editorial Goal

By means of professional reporting, articles, photos, features, letters, and editorials, provide information about the Chorus to our chapter, the Society and the community, which will assist our members in achieving our goals and objectives.

The New Tradition Chorus Northbrook Chapter Illinois District

Meets every Monday at 7:30 P.M.

at the Christian Heritage Academy 315 Waukegan Road, Northfield, Illinois

MUSICAL DIRECTOR Jay Giallombardo

Music Team: J.D. Rich, VP-Music

Jay Giallombardo, Music Director Duane Fenn & Brian Milnikel, Assistant Directors

Duane Fenn, Chapter Coach Bob Tempas, Tenor Section Ldr.

Pat Brady, Admin Tenor Section Ldr. Ralph Brooks, Lead Section Ldr.

Dennis Barto, Admin Lead Section Ldr. Dick Kingdon, Baritone Section Ldr.

Ben Ahring, Admin. Baritone Section Ldr. Duane Fenn, Bass Section Leader

Bob Haselsteiner & David Lee, Admin. Bass Section Ldrs. Ben Ahring, Music Librarian

Duane Fenn, Learning Tape Prod. Barry Cain, Presentation Team Leader

The HARMONY GAZETTE is published by and for the New Tradition Chorus, Northbrook, Illinois Chapter of SPEBSQSA, Inc., an educational and non-profit society.

Articles without by-lines are written by the editors. Contributions are appreciated and will be credited to the author. All submissions will be edited for clarity and for reasons of space.

Editor: Don Meseth Assistant Editor: Jennifer Sievers

PO Box 2235 Northbrook, IL 60065

gazette@newtradition.org Phone: 630-539-1544

Photographers: Nancy & Tom Nicholson

Past Editors Richard Nelson and Michele Arnette were Illinois Bulletin Editor of the year

1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001 International BETY:Second place 2003, Third place 1999, 2000 - Fourth place 2001

THE SOCIETY VISION STATEMENT The Society is to be a widely recognized ever-growing, singing fraternity of men, drawn together by their love of the four-part a capella, close-harmony style of music known as barbershop whose mission is to perpetuate that style by sharing it and their love for it with people of all ages throughout the world; and to be a leader in the cause of preserving and encouraging vocal music, in our education systems and in our communities, as a lifelong recreational activity and an essential element in one s cultural well-being.

President Max Kieba Executive Vice President Stan Sakalowski Board Member-at-Large George Moloney Chapter Development Vice President Ralph Brooks Chorus Manager Enrique Signoret Immediate Past President John Trumbull Marketing & PR Vice Pres. Greg Lee Music Vice President J.D. Rich Operations Vice President Ken Rotter Fundraising Vice President Max Karpiak Secretary Mike Saeger Treasurer Bob Katin

Editor ial Comment

And so to sleep again

And with the tag line of the old ballad echoing in our ears, the New Tradition rings out the old year of 2005, and takes a well deserved rest until the dinner dance.

Most of us had a full plate for the month of Decem-ber...a few of us had a platter. Pete Harrison, keeper of the numbers, informs us that 30 members were on the risers for all 6 of the Holiday performances (4 per-formances and 2 rehearsals), and that 24 of us were on stage for every call

in December, which included all holiday performances, 5 country club perform-ances, and 4 scheduled rehearsals. This does not include commitments by some with our local church choirs on regular days of worship, and special Christ-mas programs, or other gigs put on by many of our quartets. Do you call that dedication, love of singing, or what?

Anyway, vocal chords got a rest during the holiday weeks, and a well deserved one at that. Now onward and upward for a great 2006 season. Lets recapture that esprit de corps we had in 2001. We have a full schedule for early spring, including new numbers for the Spring Concert in May, the finish of our Disney CD in March, and polishing, polishing, polishing our com-petition package for Indianapolis in July. If you think these times are off in the future time marches on. Much more quickly than we d like.

Don Meseth Editor

Submissions for the next issue of the Harmony Gazette are due by

February 17, 2006. Please submit your

pictures and articles!

January 2006

Page 3 Harmony Gazette

(Continued from page 1)

Jerry McDonough, Illinois District Immediate Past President, was on hand to share an inspirational message and also to swear in the new Board of Directors. The new board is as follows:

Max Kieba, President Stan Sakalowski, Executive Vice President J.D. Rich, Vice president of Music Ralph Brooks, Vice President of Chapter Development Ken Rotter, Vice President of Operations Greg Lee, Vice President of PR & Marketing Mike Saeger, Secretary Bob Katin, Treasurer George Moloney, Member at Large Enrique Signoret, Chorus Manager

Several awards were presented, including the Music Appreciation Award to Duane Fenn (for a second time), President s Award to Mike Schnitzler, the Barbershopper of the Year to Tom Noller, and a new award, Eight is Enough, presented to Barry Cain, for serving eight years on the board of directors or as an officer. Another award was held until the following rehearsal night and was presented to our director, Jay Giallombardo. This award is a certificate according him a lifetime membership in the Barbershop Harmony Society. Several mem-bers were recognized for achieving 95% or greater attendance for the year.

Entertainment was provided by the mellow tones of Skyline, the Illinois District Quartet Champions for 2005. Need I say more?

Board of Directors 2006 Nicholson Photo

Skyline Tim Carter, Dan Starr, Doug Smith and Mark Betczynski

Nicholson Photo

January 2006

Page 4 Harmony Gazette

What If I Didn t Send That Letter? By Max Kieba, President

It s still interesting to think just over a year and a half ago I wasn t even a member of this chapter. Just over a year ago I wasn t a member on the

board. How did I get here? It started when I wrote a let-ter to the board expressing my dissatisfaction with certain things that happened at the 2005 Installation Dinner. Nothing major, but it just would have been nice to better acknowledge new members that were helping the chorus, and society, to thrive. Next thing I knew I had three pages of items I felt the board and the chorus needed to address to improve.

The detail of that letter isn t the focus of this article. But I think to myself what if I didn t send that letter? You know what? I almost didn t. I thought maybe I was being too irrational, or maybe the board just wouldn t care to hear from someone that s only been a member for just over six months. Nah, I won t send it. No one cares. But I decided to send that letter, and have the message heard maybe others thought the same thing and were just afraid to say it.

After several messages back and forth with the Presi-dent, my message was heard. Shortly thereafter, I was asked to consider the VP of Marketing and PR position recently vacated. I was hesitant to join the board be-cause I was the new guy no one would listen to what I had to say. But I decided to do it. I thought that rather than sit back and criticize the way things were going from the outside, I would step in and try to change things from within.

I wasn t cocky. I just thought some fresh insight might help, especially from someone that wasn t afraid to say what others were thinking. I could go toe-to-toe with someone that I felt was seeing it all wrong. And as someone that does R&D work, I am used to being pre-sented with a problem, and trying several different ways to get it fixed. If one way doesn t work, don t assume it s a futile concept. Try another way to get the end result.

Before I knew it I was going on a binge with teams I was assistant section leader, and on the music, presenta-tion, and show teams. Never mind the fact I was also in the VLQ and Front Row. Any one of these I almost didn t join because I figured What s the sense? People won t listen to what I have to say or That s ok, someone else will do it. But I decided to join those teams. I threw out crazy new ideas or once again simply said what I felt others were thinking, and just afraid to say.

It was actually fun being on those teams, to work on the problems. I can t lie and say things changed right away and I was perfectly happy; I was frustrated at times. Here

I was going full-speed, wanting change NOW, and others seemed to be way back in my rear view mirror. I heard too often Pace yourself. Be patient. I couldn t be patient because I thought this chorus could do better NOW. Many times I was ready to just give up. I was up against too much. But I stuck with it and kept going, because nothing would improve if I stood to the side. What if I had given up? Maybe things would have gotten there eventu-ally, but I like to think I had a small part in getting them there just a bit sooner.

Fast forward to the end of 2005. I won t lie I was start-ing to get burned out from all those teams. But at least I was figuring out how to better manage my time, to set pri-orities and go into my second year as VP of Marketing & PR. Then the bombshell hit our President had certain issues that forced him to consider he couldn t continue. After much thought, I agreed to throw my hat in the ring. I almost didn t I wasn t a new member anymore, but was I too new to be President? I doubted myself; surely I don t have the necessary skill sets. But who does? We re Bar-bershoppers for heavens-sake. Going on technique and talent alone won t get you there. You need heart, you need emotion, and you need belief in those around you.

By now you ve already heard my speech at the Installation Dinner and my State of the Chorus presentation. It s time for Gold again. It s time to become The New Tradition again. Let s try some new things never done before; let s push the envelope again. Let s also bring back some of the things that made this so fun many years ago. I have so many thoughts in my head, so many crazy ideas. Yet I feel there are some that don t think they can happen. I might as well give up because others don t believe. But I believe in the ideas, and I believe in you. That s enough for me.

Unfortunately, though, I can t do it alone. I don t want to do it alone. I want to do it with you, because I know you care and have belief in yourself, belief in the New Tradi-tion. Why else do you show up on Mondays, fight through those tough rehearsals? Are there times when you want to give up, to walk away? Sure, you can admit. I just did. But you come back, you try it another way, and you make it happen.

Do I want you to sign up for several teams like I did last year? No. But consider helping with one task; believe it or not, every little bit helps. And while you re at it, give me your ideas; send me that letter with recommendations you have stored away. You never know when that one idea will be the one to take us to the next level. Together we can make it happen.

And while we re at it, let s share our ideas with others to help them get through those tough times they have. Let s help other chapters in our district, other chapters in our society. Isn t that what Barbershoppers do? Together we can all make it happen.

What if I didn t send that letter?

January 2006

Page 5 Harmony Gazette

Northbrook Chapter Quartets * Denotes Chapter Members

Boom Town Tenor: Craig Hall Lead: Chris Kirkham Bari: Pat Henders Bass: Jerry Metzo* (847) 354-2823

The Chi-Tones Tenor: Noah Miller* Lead: Larry Emery* (815) 477-3037 Bari: Mike Schnitzler* Bass: Andy Smith*

Chicago Sound Tenor: Peter Fink* Lead: Dennis Barto* Bari: Bill Donahue* Bass: Walt Parus* (847) 253-7197

Chordiac Arrest Tenor: Marty Jahnel* Lead: Dick Johnson* (815) 838-1874 Bari: Mike Bagby* Bass: Earl Meseth*

Father 'N Son Reunion Tenor: Paul McCracken* Lead: Lawrence Dohogne (618) 452-7196 Bari: Steven McCracken* Bass: Larry Dohogne

Gadzooks Tenor: OPEN Lead: John Cain* Bari: Bob Scheible* (312) 255-1344 Bass: Bill Ward*

Geneva Tenor: Gareth Cole Lead: Wayne Weiser Bari: Steve Schoultz* (312) 558-8642 Bass: Paul Zeien

Hospitality Tenor: Pat Brady* Lead: George Carlson* Bari: Keith Mockenhaupt Bass: Joseph Schlesinger*

(847) 328-0921

Lakeside Edition Tenor: Bob Tempas* (630) 887-8399 Lead: George Harper Bari: Paul Saeger* Bass: Duane Fenn*

Skyline Tenor: Tim Carter* Lead: Dan Starr (630) 483-0418 Bari: Mark Betczynski Bass: Doug Smith*

Take 2 Tenor: Max Kieba* (312) 656-7469 Lead: Mike Woods* Bari: Peter Harrison* Bass: Dave Brady*

Talismen Tenor: Gene Woolcott Lead: Ralph Brooks* Bari: Dick Kingdon* (847) 934-1171 Bass: Ed Chapman

Lovely . You should know these songs anyway, and be able to sing 'em in the hallways and washrooms at any convention! And you can sing them at chapter (before, at break, and after rehearsal). Learn two parts, so you can appear to be "versatile"! Any quartet-ting you do can help you become more a leader in chorus singing. And, if there's anything we want, it's that each member of the New Tradition is a leader, not a leaner. In a quartet you can practice all the things we work on at chorus. Learning the part without words (on DOO), analyzing the words for their phonetic content, practice the flow of word sounds, and using repetition to drill muscle memory. The elements of music remain the same. You should become proficient with all the ele-ments of vowels and consonants. Then the learning process is drilling the "order of events". Pitches first, word-sounds second, then integrate. Whether it's cho-rus or quartet, like me, you can enjoy your singing and have a great time doing it.

I JUST LIKE TO SING By Director Jay Giallombardo

Usually I have a tune running through my head all the time. Sometimes when I have been arranging the song is still "with me". Other times I just burst

forth with a big loud note, to the dismay (or shock) of everyone around me. My family is sort of used to this behavior. "Dad, too loud!", the kids would complain. They're always afraid I might do that in front of their friends (to their total embarrassment).

I like to test the upper range and the lower range, and do an exercise sliding between registers. It's just kind of fun. I always like to keep my voice "in shape". I sing everyday, exercise the voice, keep it clear, and pingy. You never know when the next opportunity to sing might arise, so it's good to be prepared.

In 1990 I retired from quartet singing for a few years when the kids were little. There was no time to be gone every weekend doing a show. So I stayed close to home and my musical outlet was focused on the chorus. About then we started winning our Silvers and the chorus became a "directing" performance for me. But, occasionally, I'd do a solo or fill in a quartet spot on a show. It always was a lot fun.

I sang a few months with District Quartet, "Chicago Nights" and then in 2002 I sang with a great quartet from Minnesota, "Excalibur". They had lost their Bass, John Kirby, due to vocal trouble. I filled in for two years and got a couple Top 10 finishes at Inter-national. Then the quartet retired. But still I like to sing...always looking for that next opportunity. Who knows maybe one day I'll get back into a quartet. People ask me, "When are you going to do some quartetting again.". Perhaps they remember when I was regularly on the stage as an International Quar-tet Champion. Who knows, the kids will be off to col-lege soon and the time may be right, again, for a strong competitive, show quartet. Time will tell!

What about you? Chorus singing maybe your thing. If you haven't tried a little quartetting, you might want to give it go. Get four guys from the chapter, and get a couple songs from Kenosha; They have some easy ones for free. Or you can do some Pole Cat songs to start out. Coney Island , Down Our Way , Sweet Roses of Morn , Wild Irish Rose , Sweet and

January 2006

Page 6 Harmony Gazette

28 Recruiting Tips By Ev Nau

Tip # 3

Here s one from Bill Kendig (Lansdale PA) that just about any chapter can use:

"I ve been reading the membership tips and wanted to pass on what works best for our chapter. I am into my third year as Membership VP (not consecutive, and I realize it s no longer Membership VP, but...). I have maintained a 10% increase each year, and have signed up about 18 new guys while in this position. Anyway here is the tip: Each year at our annual show, we give away prizes (donated, no cost). I print the tick-ets and there is a perforation down the middle with the drawing ticket (we found that this doesn t hold up the line into the auditorium, as they can fill it in ahead of time). The drawing ticket has name, address, phone and a few boxes that they are asked to check. It says:

MEN, please check one or more (because we found that women would fill them out, and we can t recruit them).

I sing with a barbershop chorus/quartet (purpose; to identify Society members so we don t recruit from other chapters). I sing with a chorus/choir (a potential member, send a letter). I would like to attend a Lansdale rehearsal (Send a letter now!).

This is the main thrust of forming my mailing list. Guest night is always about two weeks after the show. I get a letter out within two days, and we always do well. I ll mail two letters and two postcards per year and keep on my mailing list for two years. All guests, on any night get a follow up letter.

I do a lot of stuff, but nothing works like this. Thanks.

(note: Actually, thank you, Brian. This idea has been around for a long time, but is of-ten overlooked by chapters because it takes a bit of follow-up to make it work. Are there men in your chapter who could administer such a program once a year? Recruit-ing from a group of people already predisposed to like barbershop harmony seems like an easy entry level to recruiting to me!)

January 2006

Page 7 Harmony Gazette

access the web

New Tradition Chorus: www.newtradition.org Barbershop Harmony Society: www.barbershop.org Illinois District: www.harmonize.ws/Ill/

Barbershop Harmony Chicagoland: www.bbs.singer.as Chordiac Arrest: www.chordiacarrest.com Hospitality: www.harmonize.ws/hospitality Lakeside Edition: www.lakesideedition.com Skyline: www.harmonize.ws/skyline Take 2: www.take2quartet.com

Board meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month at the home of Treasurer Bob Katin at 7:30 P.M.

Members are encouraged to attend. Exceptions: Feb. 15th and July 19th

New Tradition s Section Leaders

Duane Fenn Bass Section

Dick Kingdon Baritone Section

Ralph Brooks Lead Section

Bob Tempas Tenor Section

Sweet Traditions New Tradition Women s Auxiliary

Join us! Date: 3rd Monday of each month Time 7:30 p.m. Place: Christian Heritage Academy Program: TBA

The 2006 Sweet Traditions Board Nancy Nicholson, President Nichol@wi.net 262-886-5486 Helen Giallombardo, Vice Pres. gsbmedal@comcast.net Kay Schuetz, Secretary shoots448@juno.com 630-325-0214 Kathy Parus, Treasurer waltsssg@wowway.com Marion Meseth, Membership demeseth@yahoo.com 847-827-6530 Linda Brady, Social Chair evansmom00@yahoo.com Robin Jacobs, Sunshine Mgrobinj@aol.com Mindy Lazor, Immd. Past Pres. michmin1@aol.com 847-257-1000

Please email or call anyone on the Sweet Traditions board if you have questions, suggestions, or wish to volunteer.

New President Max Kieba Nicholson Photo

Outgoing President John Trumbull shared some advice...and a few gavels...with Max Kieba.

Nicholson Photo

Operations VP Ken Rotter

Immed. Past Pres. John Trumbull

Secretary Mike Saeger

Member-at-Large George Moloney

President Max Kieba

Chapter Dev. VP Ralph Brooks

Executive VP Stan Sakalowski

THE HARMONY GAZETTE Northbrook Chapter SPEBSQSA

Editor: Don Meseth Assistant Editor: Jennifer Sievers

PO Box 2235 Northbrook, IL 60065

gazette@newtradition.org 630-539-1544

International Gold Medalist - 2001 International Silver Medalist

1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000

Chorus Manager Enrique Signoret

Music VP J.D. Rich

CALENDAR OF EVENTS (other than regular Monday night meetings)

April 22 Peoria Spring Convention

May 6&7 Spring Performances

Jun 9&10 Carthage College Retreat

July 7 International Competition Indianapolis, Indiana

VP PR & Marketing Greg Lee

Treasurer Bob Katin