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TRANSCRIPT
TIMBRE Quarterly Newsletter of the Evergreen District of the Barbershop Harmony Society
June 15, 2018 ”With One Voice” Volume 70, Number 2
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Click the page number to go to that page
President Charlie’s Commentary / Vision & Mission Statements Cover District Officers / Editor’s Notes / Leadership Summit in Nashville 2 Quartets to International / Division I Convention 3 Division II Convention Report and Photos 4 Division III Convention Report and Photos 5 Division IV Convention Report and Photos 6 Division V Convention Report and Photos 7 Spring Contest Results / Evergreen International Representatives 8 Standing Ovation Program / Story Teller Project / Bud Leabo Fund 9 Evergreen District Historian’s Highlights / Gentlemen of Fortune Move 10 Barbershopper of the Year Rob Macdonald / Evergreen Fall Convention 11 Signature Quartet - A Short History 12 Bridgetown Sound - Everyone in Harmony / Hall of Fame Nominations 13 Chapters in Action: Victoria, BC and Pullman-Moscow, ID 14 Marketing Your Chorus - The 4 Ps 15 Looking for Director of Finance / Mel’s Musical Musings, by Mel Knight 16 Membership News, By Bob Thomas / Harmony Explosion Energized 17 Celebrating the Co-Deans of Harmony College Northwest 18 Education in Evergreen District / Evergreen Facebook Page Update 19 Calendar of Events / Resources Links / Advertising Rates / Last Word 20
Charlie’s Commentary - Rejuvenating Chapters
I’ve now made my way through Evergreen’s Division Convention season, visiting the conventions of Divisions I, II, and V. The hospitality and organization, the attention to detail, and the quality of the singing have all been wonderful and attendees have generally had a wonderful and usually educational experience that they will treasure for some time!
At each of these meetings, I have met with the Presidents of the chapters attending the event. They get a chance to share their successes and concerns and become more informed about each other. I get to learn a lot about what is happening in the District.
Many small chapters express one biggest most serious concern: “Our chapter is getting older, it’s getting smaller, and we do not have a way to reverse the trend!” The others listen and wonder what might help, feel deeply that help would be wonderful, but rarely have solutions.
In Missoula, however, hearing the same concerns, there was an important exception: The Bozeman chapter, realizing about 8 years ago that they were getting close to be being in the same danger, was led by their current president to slowly make some very particular changes. The result at the Missoula convention was that in the contest they competed as a rejuvenated group and scored second in the contest to the long-accomplished Boise chorus. It’s an indication of the health of the Bozeman chorus that they did so well, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. Their president, Don Greer, was present at the Presidents’ Meeting and gave us a quick synopsis:
1. For the sake of the chorus, say goodbye, honor and celebrate the past, deciding to work inexorably towards a better future, recognizing the changes in the world around you. Do a good job of deciding who is willing to make important changes, who is willing to commit to future actions for the good of the order. Take the needed time and go slowly, respectfully, and caringly into the future.
2. Consider and value a timeline of years to make the change. If you go too quickly, the effort may fall apart. Keep watch and stay determined, supporting each other. Develop a truly cooperative and caring group. Spend the time to care about each other and nurture each, deciding upon the things that help and not hinder the progress of the group.
3. Create a safe place to learn. Ideally, make everyone a learner and a contributor to the cause. Look after the people in as many ways as possible. Look for solutions to problems that satisfy everyone – Win/Win solutions. Be determined to value what people bring to the table and give them opportunities to learn and improve.
4. Get better as quickly as possible. Hire a professional teacher/director to teach everyone to sing better, select a more suitable repertoire for your target demographic group (younger), and develop the kinds of musical habits that will lead to better learning, better singing, better musicality, better performance. Do this diligently, because you must have a vital, musically growing membership before recruitment makes sense. Don’t actively recruit until you have a worthy product getting better.
5. When it’s time to recruit, be patient and strategically recruit only singers with clear talent that fit your desired future chorus demographics, and consider alternatives. Real Men Sing, for instance is effective partly because it doesn’t push membership, but rather helps people with their singing – free of charge and without pressure. Some will want to find a new place to sing with you. Give them the best experience you can! Leave that need for the future when it comes to kids. Let it happen, don’t make it happen – just as when performing and singing at a high level.
6. You are in a community, and in it you must find partners. The music partners should not be seen as competitors, but as groups sharing resources. Many resources are needed – share them. We all need audiences – share them. Some other groups may be able to contribute valued knowledge and resources that you know nothing about. Collaborate with as many organizations (not just musical groups) as possible.
7. Keep your ear to the ground in your community. Contribute to schools without requiring anything of them. Make friends and, like other collaborators, they will come to you for help and also to help you.
8. Through all of this, stay vigilant to changing circumstances in your various communities. Stay on top of opportunities. Recognize demographic changes and respond usefully. Watch for trends and make them work for you. And above, don’t go too fast. Watch, listen, be aware of the whole group and develop the culture of fellowship and excellence that you want.
Charlie Metzger, Evergreen President
EVERGREEN - VISION & MISSION STATEMENTS
VISION: “The Evergreen District provides excellence through sing-ing, leadership, fellowship and service.” MISSION: “The Evergreen District will support the goals of the chapter, by providing opportunity for enriching vocal music partici-pation, training leaders for today and tomorrow, creating memora-ble experiences at all gatherings, and taking the initiative to actively participate in the community.”
BHS - VISION & MISSION STATEMENTS
VISION: “To be the premier membership organization for men who
love to sing”
MISSION: “The Barbershop Harmony Society brings men together
in harmony and fellowship to enrich lives through singing”
Timbre
Official QUARTERLY Publication of Evergreen District, BHS
2018 District Officers
District President Charles Metzger [email protected]
Executive Vice President John Rettenmayer [email protected]
Treasurer Don Thorn Secretary Paul Graves Immediate Past President Rob Macdonald [email protected]
Board Members at Large Ken Leonard Rob Nits Glenn Hayes Society Board Member Liaison Matt Mercier
2018 District Operations (OPS) Team
Director of Communications Bob Robson Director of Contest & Judging Jimbob Kahlke Director of District Support Bobby Huber
Director of Education Peter McBride
Director of Events Don Cain
Director of Membership Bob Thomas
TIMBRE Editors
Content: Bob Robson — Layout: Jeff Billo 403-286-3357 403-970-3451
[email protected] [email protected]
TIMBRE is an official publication of Evergreen District, BHS, published electronically on, or about, the fifteenth day of every third month (March, June, September and December), on the evgsings.org web site.
To go to the 2017 (and prior years) newsletters: click here
All articles, photographs and other information herein are provided by BHS members, for BHS members, patrons and others interested in barbershop harmony singing in Evergreen District.
NOTES FROM THE EDITORS
This is the eleventh issue of a revised Timbre newsletter under new editors, Bob Robson (content) and Jeff Billo (layout). If you find some of your favorite features from previous issues missing, please let us know. The calen-dar of current events, the lists of previous year contest winners and hall of Fame members have been dropped in favor of links to the online Evergreen district calen-dar, and online honorees lists at EVGSINGS.ORG .
TIMBRE 2018 Production
Schedule
Issue # Ad/Copy Deadline Publishing Date 2018 #1 (TIMBRE) Feb. 28 , 2018 March 15, 2018
2018 #2 (TIMBRE) May 31, 2018 June 15, 2018
2018 #3 (TIMBRE) August 31, 2018 September 15, 2018
2018 #4 (TIMBRE) November 30, 2018 December 15, 2018
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Leadership Summit
Leadership Summit July 19-22, Belmont University, Nashville
There used to be a Leadership Forum that took place in Novembers past; every other year would feature District Board and Operations Team Direc-tors meeting with their compatriots from other Districts to share experienc-es, get educated and set some direction.
As events have unfolded, it becomes apparent that leadership at every level is required for the future of our Society and our ability to fulfill the strategic vision “Everyone in Harmony”. The Leadership Summit was created. No longer is a BHS leadership gathering just about District leaders; it is open to anyone, including:
Chapter Leaders wanting to build their leadership “toolkit”
Individuals interested in future leadership roles at the Chapter, District and Society levels
Facilitators who don’t have an opportunity to be a participant at their own leadership academies
Nominating committee members seeking to identify future leaders
Leadership Academy coordinators who want to experience these ses-sions first-hand, and bring them back to their regional events
Coaches
Directors and Music Team Members
The Leadership Summit 2018 is designed to provide opportunities for lead-ers; to inspire and educate so they can attain new levels of effectiveness and achievement.
Your Chapter and our District will be strengthened by those who choose to personally invest in and develop their leadership potential. When you attend, you will be joined by at least 7 others from Evergreen, so you’ll not be alone!
Click here: barbershop.org, to learn more about the Leadership Summit and register. See you there!
Rob Macdonald
Immediate Past President
Evergreen District
Have You Missed Copies of the
TIMBRE or the Greensheet?
Archived copies of YOUR district newsletters are stored conveniently on the Evergreen District website -
click here
Any missed copies can be downloaded directly to your computer or printed.
DIVISION I CONVENTION FOR 2018
DIVISION I – NANIMO HOSTS A GOOD ONE!!
The Division I Contest / Convention began with registration in the lobby of the Port Theatre in Nanaimo, BC, on Friday April 27th. The 800 plus seat venue is a purpose built, quality theatre that regularly hosts live entertainment from around the world. The barbershop chorus, quartet and mixed chorus / quartet contest fit nicely into that mix. Nearly 200 participants from Northern Washington State plus the BC lower mainland and Vancouver Island performed to highly receptive audiences.
As host chapter, the Tidesmen decided early in the contest process to offer a memorable experience for those singers who would join in the festivities and take the ferry from the mainland. A theme was chosen and promoted throughout the convention. “This is Us ...Experiencing the Barbershop Family” was the underlying thread enjoyed by those who participated. Written on all badges, programs, and signage, that theme became the focal point for the con-test, the Show of Champions, and the afterglow festivities. Individual presenters relating their own Barbershop family experience were chosen to intro-duce each chorus for their contest performance. Called in a festival style from the audience, each chorus had the opportunity to see at least six other cho-ruses perform.
The Saturday afternoon immediately after contest and prior to evaluationss was billed as “The Great Nanaimo Sing-out.” Both choruses and quartets walked to various venues around the downtown core and sang “close up and personal” to restaurant goers, street people and businesses. Accompanied by a Tidesman host and a 4 foot by 2 foot easel sign announcing who was performing, the participants were able to have fun and show the community what barbershop family fun singing was all about. Many comments were made afterwards about how well it was all received.
The focus on the BBshop family and ‘what it means to you’ was carried over to the Show of Champions. The Tidesmen asked Evergreen’s much loved com-edy quartet Social Insecurity to be the emcees for the show, which included the Sweet Adeline chorus medalists, Pacific Edge as guest performers. The antics of our emcees and the quality of each of the other performers were all hits to the harmony loving audience. The afterglow featured another quar-tet, Perfect Storm, as emcees. The food and the singing were splendid as things kept things rolling until the late hours with tags, choruses and quartets.
It is safe to day that the Division I contest / convention ended on a high note. 19 quartets and 9 choruses competed. The theme was a hit and the host hotel had nothing but good things to say about the barbershop family. Many accolades from contestants continued to roll in days after the event. Com-ments from the audience after the Show of Champions were stellar. We can safely conclude that the Division I contest/ convention was a terrific showcase of what the Evergreen barbershop family is all about!
Jay Cousins , Convention Chair
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Flipside is:
Tenor Mike McCormic
Lead Eric Christensen
Bass Kevin Stinson
Bari Tim McCormic
Pacific Ring is:
Tenor Paul Carter (sub for Jacob Yoakum)
Lead Dean Waters
Bass Adrian Leontovich
Bari Tyson Jensen
Top Quartets Are Off to International - Flipside and Pacific Ring
Flipside
Pacific Ring
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Director - Ken Potter
DIVISION II PLUS PRE-LIMS CONVENTION AND CONTESTS APRIL 20-21, 2018
The Division II Convention and Contests was again a rousing success, highlighted by the International Quartet Prelims. Hosted by The Harmony Kings of Federal Way and The SeaChordsmen of Seattle, we gathered in Federal Way on April 20-21; the event was chaired by Jim Burbidge. Also assisting were many members of both choruses and members of The Jet Cities SAI chorus---those all-important guides, door monitors and concessionaires. Overseeing the entire contest event was Jimbob Kahlke. The Convention occurred again at Journey Church with its excellent sound system, acoustics and multitude of warmup rooms.
Thirty-three quartets competed in various categories with five quartets participating in the International Prelims. Two mixed quartets joined the fray. Coming from across the U.S.(Florida) and Canada (Ontario) the Contest Administrators and two Panels of judges and trainees worked above and beyond the usual call of duty to make it a successful weekend for all the singers.
Did the quartets sing well--you bet. In the International Prelims component of the Quartet Contests, Flipside scored in the 80s and Pacific Ring scored in the high 70s and so both are on their way to the International Convention in July 2019 in Salt Lake City. Local Boyz (EVG) and Dynamix FWD) might well join them as wild cards with high near-miss scores. (See www.evgsings.org for a complete list of scores).
In the Division II Quartet component of Contests, Amplitude led the way and is the new 2018 Division II Quartet champi-on. Sound Booth was second and Blue Skies was third. The Seniors champion is Renewal. Basses Loaded!is the Mixed Harmony Quartet Champion. Momma's Boys sang for District evaluation and scored in the 80s.
The next day was again filled with singers and singing as 8 choruses performed. The evening provided the finals for the Prelim-competing quartets and the Show of Champions, but the highlight of the day occurred on Saturday afternoon. Or-ganized by Lanny Gleason, seven middle school and high school a cappella groups sang their hearts out for the conven-tion barbershoppers. Cash prizes to the schools went to: first place, Spanaway Lake H. S. Music Company; second place, Emerald Ridge Girls’ Ensemble; third place, Emerald Ridge Male Ensemble; Barbershop award to Emerald Ridge Male Ensemble. What a thrill to see and hear these young people and the future they offer.
Heading on to District in the fall is our Chorus Champion, Northwest Sound of Bellevue. Voices Inc. was second and West Coast Chorus (Kitsap Co.) came in third. Several other choruses scored high enough to join them in Spokane. The most improved chorus is Tacoma Barbershop Harmony.
Honored as Barbershopper of the Year was Rob Macdonald, Evergreen District Past President. Jim Burbidge received a Tall Timber Award.
Altogether, 243 singers crossed the stage during the two days of Convention. So you can understand why the walls and halls resonated with ping and ring. 152 different Zip Codes were represented including the judges and attendees. Now for many it is on to Orlando this July for the International Convention. Then in October the Evergreen District Convention occurs in Spokane, October 25-27, 2018. Mark your calendars!
Photos by Silent Knight Productions
DIVISION II CONVENTION FOR 2018
Northwest Sound Men’s Chorus
Director: Ken Potter
Amplitude - Div II Quartet Champions
Bari-George Nowik; Lead-Ken Potter;
Bass-Matthew Picioccio; Tenor-James Jones
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DIVISION III CONVENTION FOR 2018
Convention Report – May 2018, by Doug Gardner, Division III Convention Co-Chairman
The Evergreen District Division III Convention, Contest and A Cappella Festival was held in Calgary on May 25/26, 2018 and was a rousing success! Hosted
by Calgary’s Western Hospitality Singers (Calgary Foothills BHS Chapter), 99 BHS member singers and a multitude of guests and over 80 youth participants
enjoyed a full schedule of socializing, competing and performing on the show stage for an audience of more than 500 cheering fans. This year’s convention
and contest included an ‘A Cappella Festival’, featuring 6 high school choral ensembles competing in their own categories with a combination of barber-
shop and other choral repertoire selections. This feature is another part of youth outreach effort that Western Hospitality Singers have been involved in
for several years.
Friday night kicked off with an Icebreaker organized by Paul McKenna, Chapter Secretary, and his team. The theme was ‘ICE’ – Information, Celebration,
and Engagement - and through the evening participants celebrated directors, quartets and individuals by building a ‘garden wall’ of celebratory flowers
acknowledging ‘Each of us is unique; together WE make a Masterpiece’. The Icebreaker closed with a rehearsal for the mass Alberta chorus of almost 100
singers to prepare for the Saturday evening show.
Saturday morning the chorus contest included 3 barbershop choruses and 3 high school a cappella larg-
er ensembles. The Champion BHS chorus was the host chorus ‘Western Hospitality Singers’ with a
western package that included a song written and arranged by a chapter member. The champion A
Cappella Ensemble was ‘The Red Hot Bell Peppers’, a 35 voice mixed ensemble directed by Jonathan
Bell from Dr. E P Scarlett High School in Calgary. Their wonderful performances of ‘Shosholoza’ and
Kirby Shaw’s arrangement of ‘Thinking Out Loud’ were both memorable and exciting.
At the close of the morning contest session, Rob Macdonald presented the Randy Peters Memorial
Scholarship for 2018 to Annette Bradley, Director of ‘His Light Vocal Ensemble’ from Koinonia Christian
School in Red Deer. This $1,500 scholarship, offered by Western Hospitality Singers will enable Annette
to attend Harmony University in Nashville in July in the Music Educator Track, and acknowledges the
many contributions made by Randy Peters who directed WHS from its inception in the mid 1980’s until
his passing in 2015. The chorus will be awarding this scholarship annually for the coming 10 or more years.
Saturday afternoon highlighted a quartet contest that included 9 registered BHS quartets and 3 smaller
a cappella ensembles. Champion quartet ‘The Executives’ edged out second place ‘Lovin’ Tuneful, and
3rd place ‘Blend the Rules’ with very memorable performances. In the a cappella contest, the champion
ensemble was the ‘Lord Beaverbrook Hard Choral’ ensemble, comprising 10 mixed voices who wow’d
the audience with ‘Bill Bailey’ and ‘Hide and Seek’ and scored the highest mark of any of the partici-
pants in the whole day of contest. Another feature was a quartet of young men, ‘The Scarlett Letters’
who left the audience applauding wildly to their performance of ‘My Bonnie Lies Over’ and ‘I’ve Been
Working On the Railroad’. The judges and contest administrator worked effectively to score these var-
ied groups and the feedback from participants about the judges’ coaching sessions following the con-
test was very enthusiastic.
Saturday evening featured ‘An A Cappella Celebration’ that included performances by the mass Alberta
barbershop chorus, the competing choruses and medalling quartets and two of the a cappella ensembles
and a reprise of the performance by ‘The Scar-
lett Letters’ quartet. Closing with a feature set
by Western Hospitality Singers that left the
audience of over 500 standing in appreciation,
and then a hilarious set by our guest quartet
‘Hi-Fidelity’, a past Far Western District Cham-
pion quartet, the show was a resounding suc-
cess. The Afterglow following the show at the
end of the day provided a very nice social close
to the day.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the Convention, Contest and A Cappella Festival in
Calgary for our Division. It was a success by every measure!
The Scarlett Letters
The Executives
The Red Hot Bell Peppers
Western Hospitality Singers Unleash Their Inner Cowboy
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Gorgeous surroundings
Tagging into the wee small hours
DIVISION IV CONVENTION FOR 2018
DIVISION IV CONVENTION RECAP By Deena Wolfe, Convention Co-Chair It was a wonderful convention in Division IV, April 6 – 7, 2018 in Eugene. This was the first time in the division that there were mixed groups as well as an
SAI affiliated quartet.
Friday evening saw a well-attended presidents forum, meeting with John Rettenmeyer, the Evergreen Executive Vice-President who was representing the
District Board for the weekend. There also was a “barbershop scavenger hunt” with prizes available.
On contest morning, over 200 lovers of barbershop gathered at Shel-
don High School in Eugene on a very windy and wet day. The
unique feature of this contest was the one day only format with all
the contest events taking place on Saturday.
Seven choruses took the stage in the morning, with 13 quartets wrap-
ping up the afternoon. Local Boyz from Salem topped the quartet
contest. All Mixed Up took the MBHA crown.
The quartet that stole the show was “Adult Supervision” a quartet made up of 3 students
and heir music teacher Will Fox finishing a close 2nd. 4C-Sons placed 3rd.
IVIVIV
In the chorus contest the Salem SenateAires took first place, followed by the Cascade
Chorus in 2nd. The Windmasters from Hood River were most improved. Northwest
Blend took the top spot in the MBHA division.
The evening show featured the top three choruses and quartets, as well as the MBHA and
SAI groups. The
afterglow featured
singing from many of
the quartets, including
the SAI affiliated
Diamond Dames.
Singing opportunities
were abundant and
many closed out the
afterglow with contin-
ued tag singing.
Co-chairs Joanie Schlosser & Deena Wolfe received “Tall Timber” awards for their work
in getting this convention together. The Eugene Cascade Chorus was glad to host the
convention again, and the convention committee worked hard to assure a smooth conven-
tion for judges, competitors and attendees. Overall a fun weekend for all.
All Mixed Up
Adult Supervision
Adult Supervision
4C-Sons
Local Boyz
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We're ready - are you?
Registration opens March 1st.
Go to our website www.harmonycollege.org
for new registration updates.
DIVISION V CONVENTION FOR 2018
DIVISION 5 – HARMONIZES IN MISSOULA
by John Rettenmayer, Convention Chairman
The Division V Convention hosted by the Rocky Mountainaires in Missoula, MT, on May 18-19, 2018 kept growing day by day to the point that we had 19 quartets and 7 choruses. As we got each successive
email about another BHS quartet intending to enter the contest, it finally became clear that we had to go to a double judging panel. Somehow Jimbob Kahlke, Evergreen’s Contest & Judging Representative,
was able to find another panel within reasonable travel distance (and cost!) from Missoula.
Like the other divisions, we ran an A Cappella Festival concurrently with the official BHS contest. If one Sweet Adeline quartet had not cancelled due to a family health situation and an expected high school
girl’s quartet had been able to accommodate their schedules to ours, we would have had 21 quartets. As it was, we had 6 BHS choruses; 1 SA chorus; 15 BHS quartets, including one from Division II qualifying
for district contest; 3 SA quartets; and one mixed quartet.
For the Friday evening quartet contest we invited John Combs, the Superintendent of Fine Arts for Missoula County High Schools, to be the emcee and to have dinner with the judges before the contest. We
also invited Jessica Franks, the choral teacher for one of the high schools, to be a guest judge through the Best Seat in the House program, and to have dinner with the judges so they could give her some
orientation to the judging categories. She had so much fun ‘judging’ the quartet contest that she returned Saturday morning and sat with the panel for the chorus contest and even came back to sit in the
audience for the Saturday night Show of Champions!
As usual, the Boise Chordsmen ran away with the honors, winning the chorus championship and taking the top three divisional quartet places. The Bozeman Chord Rustlers were second in the chorus
contest, as they were in 2017, and the Pullman-Moscow chapter’s Palouse Harmony Chorus placed third. And, as is always the case, when barbershoppers gather, everybody has a great time!
RagTag Boise Chordsmen
DURF
IPA
Bozeman Chord Rustlers
Palouse Harmony Chorus
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IT WAS A BUSY SPRING CONTEST CYCLE - by Jimbob Kahlke
By Jimbob Kahlke, Evergreen Director for Contest and Judging
Hello all,
Here are the compilations of the 2018 Division contests. It was a heck of a season, with 30 BHS choruses and 74 BHS quartets competing this spring. For the past 4 Spring seasons, here are the overall numbers:
Choruses Avg # men Quartets Avg # men
2015 28 27.0 75 4
2016 26 23.6 71 4
2017 26 25.6 65 4
2018 30 23.3 74 4
AND NOW – REPRESENTING THE EVERGREEN DISTRICT...
BEST OF LUCK TO OUR INTERNATIONAL COMPETITORS IN ORLANDO THIS YEAR !!!
The big event for 2018 runs from July 1 to July 8 in Orlando, Florida. Evergreen will have representatives in the main competitions – cho-
rus, quartet and youth quartet.
The Squares Quartet Singers Association from the Southwest British Columbia Chapter will be our chorus
contest representatives. They will be under the direction of Sean Huston and are participating in their first ever visit to the Interna-
tional Chorus Contest.
Flipside and Pacific Ring will represent us very capably in the quartet contest. Both quartets qualified at the Evergreen Pre-lims
Contest held in Federal Way in April. (Pictures are on page 3.)
Rounding out our Orlando competitors is the Singularity quartet from the Boise Chapter who will be singing in the Next Generation
Varsity Barbershop Quartet Contest. See article about this quartet on page 12 in this issue of the Timbre.
Evergreen wishes you all the success in the world as you boldly represent us in Orlando.
Could you please tell us what you are up to?
What has your chapter been doing lately? Your TIMBRE is an excellent media vehicle to share news about your chap-ter with the other chapters in Evergreen, and beyond, be-
cause we share the TIMBRE with other districts throughout the Society. We want to know and share your successes! Have you had a successful visitation, sing-out, membership recruitment drive, received an honor, highlights of honored members, or the passing of a member? Don’t hesitate to contact the editor or division news digest-er to promote an upcoming show or event. We’ll help you get the word out to the entire membership, plus our pa-trons and subscribers. Keep those cards and letters coming! Email: Bob Robson
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SUPPORT...
STANDING OVATION REVIEW - IS IT FOR YOU?
BY BOBBY HUBER, CHAIRMAN OF THE EVERGREEN STANDING OVATION PROGRAM
Do you know what an SOR Evaluation is? Have you ever had one? Do you know where to get one? What do I
need to do to find out?
The Standing Ovation Review program is available to EVERY chapter in the Barbershop Harmony Society.
Here in Evergreen, if you need more information call me, email me or capture me and we can get one set for
your chapter (also available for quartets too!!) There is NO COST except for a couple of show tickets to the per-
formance, and then you will get a written evaluation to help you fine tune those “missed opportunities” that
may help your chapter get that long awaited Standing Ovation that we all strive for. And, it is to your benefit to
get some POSITIVE feedback on how to improve your performances in the future. What are you waiting for?
Thanks and keep on singing well – we are here to help.
Bobby’s contact info: email [email protected]
Home phone 425-337-0585 Cell phone 206-953-3864
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Evergreen District Historian’s Highlights
Cascade Chorus goes to Washington D.C. by Jim Betteley
Story by Joe Kats of the 1954 Washington D.C. Barbershop Convention.
Bud Leabo, Director
“Once upon a time, many years ago, (June 1954) the Cascade Chorus had won the Evergreen District Championship and went to Washington D.C. – the
nation’s capital for the National Convention. Some of the members drove or went by train, about 20 members and a few wives went on a chartered plane.
This is the story of that trip.
We were gathered at Wahlow Sweet Airport around 4 o’clock in the afternoon when the plane was supposed to pick us up. We waited till 8:30pm or so
before it arrived. The pilot explained that on the way west an important instrument had gone haywire. He flew into Seattle Airport to have the thing re-
paired. It took more time than he expected. He realized we were waiting and wondering. So, he had to fly from Seattle down the coast to come pick us
up and had to fly along the coast back to Seattle. He called it “flying by the seat of his pants.”
We waited several more hours at Seattle Airport before they finished installing the repaired instrument. As we finally got underway in the right direction
EAST, we were too tired and sleepy to do any singing. Very early next morning we arrived at Great Falls Montana to stop for fuel, only the airfield at Great
Falls was socked in solid with fog. It looked like a big mountain of snow. I should have mentioned this before – our plane was a DC3. It was large enough
for 25 passengers. All the baggage was carried in the passenger compartment. We had uniforms hanging all over with cases under the seats and under
our feet. One toilet in the tail end of the plane – no flight attendants or any of that good stuff. All you got for your money was a ride on the plane. Our
pilot was a short guy who wore a cowboy hat and boots. During the war he flew in Burma and other far-east countries. We soon realized he was a good
pilot. Nothing seemed to disturb him.
The air fare was supposed to include food, which it did if you could find a restaurant. We did find at least one in Chicago, a long walk from the plane and
back. The pilot gave us tickets which the restaurant accepted. The place to eat was across the highway from the airport. I sorta got ahead of my story.
Left you up in the air over Great Falls, Montana with the fog solid on the ground…so we headed south getting low on fuel. We came to a small airport.
Don’t know the name, just a place way out in the country. A restaurant building that looked like a big old bus with a trailer next to it. The owner, a lady
lived in the trailer. She was still in bed and had a hard time getting organized to take care of our gang. Probably the biggest crowd she had ever seen in
her place. We sorta pitched in to help out. Somebody cooked bacon, somebody else fried eggs and somebody made toast. We all had bacon and eggs,
toast and coffee. The owner was so upset and nervous she couldn’t get going. Mrs. Olson, one of our bunch, finally set her down to do the book keeping
and keep track of the charges. We all enjoyed a good breakfast.
The pilot had gotten hold of somebody to bring us fuel for the plane. The tank truck drove up and proceeded to fill the fuel tanks. The pilot, co-pilot and
another pilot who was dead heading back to Chicago with us were finishing their breakfast as the gas truck guy came in to have his ticket signed.” It was
obvious that the pilot was sorta upset… Stay tuned for the 2nd half of this true story in the next Timbre!
Special thanks to Mr. Donald Thorn for sending us this old story about the Cascade Chorus detailing accounts of their flying to Washington D.C. to
represent Evergreen at International in 1954.
Have a story or historical tidbit you’d like to see published/archived. Please contact me directly. [email protected]
Preservation of our past directly correlates with the strong and healthy future of our hobby. Believe it or not these things are accomplished in big part by historians and are key aspects in retaining current members and attracting new ones.
Jim Betteley - Evergreen District Historian
Gentlemen of Fortune Have Moved to New Location
Well the end of an era has come. After 18 years in the same practice location, the Gentlemen of Fortune Chorus have had to move. Our old practice location at Como Lake United Church was being torn down to be rebuilt with larger spaces and some rental units. It will be a new era for them. With that said, we will now be meeting at a new church starting April 10/2018.
Our new location is : Cliff Avenue United Church, Burnaby, BC We look forward to a new beginning and building new and friendly relationships with them and with the neighbourhood around us.
In Harmony, Jim Bates, Chorus Manager, Gentlemen of Fortune Chorus, Vancouver, BC
Back to cover page Timbre - June 15, 2018 - Page 11
EVERGREEN BARBERSHOPPER OF THE YEAR
Spokane, WA Chapter – Pages of Harmony Chorus
Cordially Invites Everyone To The
2018 Evergreen District Fall Convention/Contest
26-27 October, 2018
Headquarters Hotel: DoubleTree City Center
Spencer’S Steak HouSe
Contest Venue: Spokane Convention Center
You can expect all of the usual activities:
Harmony Platoon Quartet Contest Chorus Contest
Tag Singing Woodshedding QCED Afterglow Hospitality Suites
Alternative hotels nearby: Hotel RL (formerly Red Lion)
Davenport Grand Best Western (formerly Travel Lodge)
Several restaurants within walking distance
We look forward to seeing you all in Spokane
Evergreen District Fall Convention and Contest 26-27 October, 2018
BARBERSHOPPER OF THE YEAR ROB MACDONALD
The newest member of the EVG. District Barbershopper of the Year fraternity is a 37 year member of the Society and a long-time leader in many ways. He has served his chapter as a charter member, show chairman, VP of music, VP of Marketing and PR, and been President as well. He sang in at least 4 quar-tets in Division III and all were champions. In serving the Division he has been Convention Chair and a chapter advocate covering 3 chapters. For the District he serves or served as : District Board member at large, Exec. VP, President and now as Immediate Past President. He also is on the HCNW staff and RLA staff where he has his most successful endeavors. He facilitates and creates all types of Leadership classes and has lead the District in re-aligning our forward thinking Board and OPS Teams and making Evergreen the leader in Healthy Chapter programs here and in the Soci-ety as a HU faculty member. A forward thinker if there ever was one, Rob's skills for leading our chapters through these programs are unequaled. In real life he is an engineer in the gas and oil industry and is currently an innovator in leader-ship and management training with Western Leadership Center in Calgary.
We are proud to introduce to you - as the BOTY for 2017 - Rob Macdonald !! Congratulations !!
Bobby Huber, Chairman- Barbershopper of the Year Committee
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The Boise Chordsmen got it right when they put together the Youth Barbershop Festival in Boise. As alumni of Borah High School, all four members of the quartet named Singularity got to participate in these events and opened up a new style of singing and a new world of mu-sic. We are grateful to the Boise Chordsmen and the Barbershop Harmony Society for the youth outreach programs and example they set as respectable men, and hard working artists and singers that work on their craft. Members of Singularity: Stuart Gagnon (23) Tenor; Matt Hart (25) Lead; Stephen Gagnon (22) Baritone; Nate Hart (18) Bass. Not only are we comprised of two sets of brothers, but Stuart married Nate’s and my sister, Sarah. We almost named our quartet the Tenor-in-laws. We thought it was funny, but we didn’t like being called that. Because of choir in the public school system, and be-cause of our local barbershop chapter, we grew up with barbershop as part of our curriculum. I sang in a few pick-up quartets (not all barbershop) for different shows, and found an A Cappella group to be in my junior and senior year called Cluster Chord. I really got into barbershop after I graduated high school and after my church service mission. My brother, Nate was in a barbershop quartet called “The Refreshments” which started when he was in junior high school. They were the first quartet I heard sing Mel Knight’s “Irish Blessing” for Paul Olson’s (their junior high choir teacher) retire-ment. They nailed it. They won a contest put on by the Boise Chordsmen called the A Cappella Fusion contest. Stuart and Stephen sang together in a barbershop quartet in high school named “Splash of Juice.” They played the quartet in Borah High School’s “The Music Man” in 2012, and won Borah High School’s talent show with “When I see an Elephant Fly.” Because we are spread out over Idaho, Utah and Florida, occasionally we would get a group together with 3 of us and someone else. In the 2016 holiday parade, Matt, Nate, Stephen and Rex Spjute sang "Mele kalikimaka" as a "Hawaiian" quartet in Carl Spjute's Boise music week float. In the 2017 Boise Idaho Youth Barbershop Festival on the Morrison Center stage at BSU, we had Marvin sing lead to "Give Me a Bar-bershop Song." Stuart and I got Richard Taylor and Con Hobson to compete in the Balladtown USA contest in Oregon this March in which we sang “Nevertheless,” and “Shine on, Harvest Moon.” I’ve learned that singing in different quartets can really polish your singing. I’m currently in THREE QUARTETS. Help! It was (and has always been) difficult getting rehearsal time in. We were coming from different places and going to different places. I was attending BYU-Idaho, Stephen, BYU in Provo, UT and Stuart attended Utah State while Nate was in high school here in Boise. Finding out that we were invited to the Las Vegas 2017 YBQC was a trip, and we wouldn’t have been able to go were it not for the Harmony Foundation International and generous donations by members of the Boise Chordsmen. We were coached by Rich Lapp, Spencer Esmond, John Brockman (over facetime), and a lot of times by Sarah. We stuck to our goal and made it to Las Vegas. Nate had to take a 4 day break in the middle of performing shows up at Starlight Mountain Theater, and Stephen came back west from selling pest control in Florida. The day before we performed, we stayed at the Bally’s hotel in Las Vegas, we wandered around to see if there were any good places to re-hearse, and to our surprise there was an unlocked door to a conference/convention room in between Bally’s and the Paris with a 40 foot ceiling and nobody was inside. It RANG in there. We practiced singing in there and wished we could have performed there. Ben from Pratt Street Power was also there wandering around and found us and gave us some tips for how to rehearse the day before a performance and last minute things. He boosted our confidence and even sang a little with us. After registering, we returned to our happy conference room, sang some more and played a round of soccer using an empty water bottle as the soccer ball. Having that much fun helped us relax more and was good exercise. On the day of the performance everybody was feeling healthy, I was drinking too much water, and it was hard to know what to wear when getting dressed because it was 108 degrees outside and 65 degrees inside. A guide showed us where to go and when it was time for us to perform. It was a long walk that went outside and around to the backstage area. We went up the stairs to the warmup room, and spent what felt like was an hour but was probably only 15 minutes trying to relax. Before going onstage, we did our routine, but we were all pretty nervous. We sang the best we could with the nervousness we had. We felt like we did okay but without being nervous we could have done better. Our Prelim score was 70.6 and our contest score was 71.8. We felt we had worked hard but wanted so badly to work harder and compete the next year in Orlando and show what we truly could accomplish. We have prepared for Orlando one step at a time. We have only had one short coaching session and that was from Boise Chordsmen musi-cal director, Ian Kelly. Stuart and Stephen are both in Florida now selling pest control. Our last rehearsal was during the first week of April. We are about halfway through a 3 month period with no rehearsals as a full quartet, but as we continue to work on our music on our own, we are confident we can do well at contest. Unless we set up a show in the fall, the Orlando International Convention will be the last time Singularity performs together... At least until Nate gets back from his mission. We are looking forward to the contest and what the future brings to all of us. Thanks to Ken Leonard for the opportunity to write this article and thanks to the Evergreen District for the support they have lent me, Singu-larity and the Boise Chordsmen.
Signature Quartet - a Short History - by Matt Hart
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HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS – NOW BEING REQUESTED
If you have a special Evergreener in mind for the prestigious Hall of Fame Recog-
nition award please send me a Resume in e- mail for consideration. The recipient
will be recognized at our Fall Convention.
Requirements: 10 year member of EVG., outstanding achievements at the chapter,
division, District and Society levels and is a well-respected member of Evergreen
District. The determination will be decided by the Committee of the past 3 induc-
tees. I only break ties and don’t have a vote per se except in that capacity.
I will need these Resumes by July 15th on order to give research and evaluation
time for the Committee.
Bobby Huber, Chairman, Hall of Fame Committee - [email protected]
Hall of Fame Nominations
WHS Volunteers present $ 11,000 check to the Calgary Food Bank
We strongly encourage all members to support these organizations in the
excellent work they do to promote music education and encourage youth involvement.
Click on the logos below to go to the web sites.
Music & Learning at the Library - Palouse-Harmony Chorus, Pullman-Moscow, Idaho
A group of new immigrants from South America and
the Middle East were taking an evening class at the
Neill Library in Pullman, Washington to learn the Eng-
lish language. The group were serenaded by the Jack
and the Beanstalk quartet, from the Palouse Harmony
Chorus, Pullman-Moscow Idaho chapter.
One of the South American ladies, Fernanda, com-
mented: “Hard to describe but the serenade done by
Jack’s group filled my heart with joyful memories and
the promise of tomorrow. Truly beautiful, thank you.”
All of the newcomers had a big smile on their faces
the entire time Jack and the Beanstalk quartet sang.
Ed Novak
Palouse-Harmony Chorus, Pullman-Moscow Idaho
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Chapters in Action - Victoria, BC and Pullman-Moscow, ID
RESURGENCE OF THE VICTORIA, BC CHAPTER By Peter McBride
Spring 2018 has been a very busy time for South Island harmony – for one thing, we changed our name! The Victoria Village Squires have renamed the
chorus to “South Island Harmony” as part of our 50th Anniversary celebrations.
Our 50th celebration show was a huge success. Our sponsor chapter, the Vancouver Thunderbirds joined us onstage, along with a chapter we sponsored –
the Tidesmen (Nanaimo). In order to make this all work, each chapter learned one song from the other two chapters – so we could all sing three songs
together. The grand finale included all three choruses plus Pacific Edge, our championship sister chorus – over 120 voices onstage singing Lida Rose. Spec-
tacular barely describes it!
A week later, a subset of the chorus, our own VLQ, performed at a formal
music festival organized by Brentwood College in Mill Bay, BC – and I am
afraid we stole the show. Amid starch singers performing high art, the fun,
joie de vivre and plain old great harmonizing in the Barbershop Style had
the audience on their feet for a 15 minute set. As the VLQ left the stage the
other performance gave them a solid round of applause in backstage. One
of many very special moments for us this Spring.
The very next week the Southies were onstage again, returning to Division I
contest after a 5 year hiatus. Two BRAND NEW competition songs for this
one. Our guys learned five (5!) brand new songs in 4 months, two of which
we took to competition. This has never been accomplished before by our
chorus. We have made some serious changes!
Not only did we score well as a chorus, but one of our two competing quar-
tets won the Novice Award – Congratulation “6 Bits”! (Ron Skelton-Bass ,
Gordon Thurston-Lead, Ric Johnson-Bari, David Wilson-Tenor).
Our thanks go out to the Tidesmen for an outstanding Division OneI con-
test and convention. We would also like to thank Evergreen District President Charlie Metzger for a special certificate recognizing our 50 years as a BHS
chapter. That was a pretty special moment.
But it does not stop there! 2018 is our second year running our own “Learn To Sing” program. We attracted more than 40 curious registrants in all, and
had regular guest attendance of 14 men. As part of our Learn To Sing program, our guests learned the US and Canadian National Anthems in 4 part harmo-
ny – and sang for the opening of our local baseball team, the Victoria Harbourcats. Our guests had a blast singing in public, and we all got free tickets to
the ballgame. Win-win!
2018 is not quite half over, and we have packed a full year of activity into it. We have a 2 hour public performance planned in August, a 4-chorus barbeque
on August 25, a Christmas concert and several singouts for our community, members and director staff attending both HCNW and Harmony U…our 50th
year is about a full as it can be. Peter McBride, Director – South Island Harmony
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What’s the point of it all, anyway? By Larry Osterman, M&PR Guy, Communications Operations Team
Why do we have a marketing team in a chorus? The purpose of the marketing team is NOT to come up with flyers to promote
your latest thingy. It’s not to drum up customers for Singing Valentines. It’s not to sell ads in your program. Of course, a mar-
keting team will often be doing all of these things, but that’s not the purpose of the team – it’s just some of the activities that
the team takes on.
In journalism school, budding newspaper writers are taught about the 5 W’s that go into every story: Who, What, When,
Where, Why (sometimes they add a 6th “W” – WHow). In marketing school, budding marketing people are taught about the 4
Ps of marketing: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
When most choruses think about marketing, they often concentrate on just the last of the “P”’s above. The purpose of a mar-
keting organization is to execute campaigns with a goal in mind. A campaign is a series of actions that are taken in pursuit of a
goal. Designing and putting up flyers is one of the actions that you might take in a campaign, but it’s not the campaign in and
of itself. Campaigns are oriented around both tangible and intangible benefits. For instance, one tangible benefit might be “we
need more members”, let’s create a campaign structured to increase our members. Another intangible benefit might be “We
want to increase the visibility of our chorus in the community”.
Once you’ve decided on the goal, the next step is to figure out what actions you’re going to take to achieve the goal. And
that’s where the “4 Ps” come into play. And all of them matter when thinking about how you attack your campaign.
Let’s briefly talk about each of the 4 Ps.
Product: This is the thing you’re trying to sell. It could be tickets to a show, or singing valentines. It could be a new member
night. It could even just be your chorus (if you’re trying to increase visibility). What makes your product different from other
products in the same area? Do you have a special guest on your program (a major headliner for instance)? Can you exploit that
in some way?
Price: How much are you charging? Basic economics says that the lower you charge, the more customers you’ll have, the high-
er price, the fewer. But your revenue model may do well with a higher priced product (Apple has done very well in this area).
At the end of the day, you need to meet your expenses, so price can be an important consideration.
Place: How are customers going to get your product? Do they have to come to you or can you come to them? If you’re having
a concert, the customers are going to come to you. But if you’re following Paul Ellinger’s “Supercharging your chapter” pro-
gram and are doing community outreach, it makes sense to go to them – find out where the people are and go to them
(farmer’s markets? Singing seasonal songs on the streets near your chorus?).
And finally, there’s Promotion: This is all about your communication strategy. How are you reaching out to grab your custom-
ers? How do you let your customers know about you? What kind of an image do you want to present as a chorus? Your pro-
motional materials should reflect that. And of course, there are infinite ways of promoting your chapter. The trick is to find out
the right set of promotional material and methods. And that’s the subject of a different column.
Note: Much/most of the content of this came from an amazing talk by Greg Kronlund of the Federal Way chapter given at the
Evergreen District Leadership training seminar. Anything I got wrong is all my fault though.
There is a lot of information about the 4 Ps available on the web, I found this Wikipedia article to be helpful: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_mix
MARKETING YOUR CHORUS - THE “4 Ps”
Looking for Director of Finance:
By Don Thorn, Evergreen District Treasurer
The Evergreen District is looking for applicants to serve the District as Director of Finance, a role currently vacant in the District.
The Director of Finance supports the District Treasurer in administer-ing the funds for the District. He is responsible for compiling and administering the District budget. The Director of Finance is an ap-pointed member of the Operations Team. He supports the work of the District Treasurer.
Key focus points include, but are not limited to, District budgets and District accounts.
Duties, which may be daily, monthly, quarterly or annual are listed below. • Reimbursement of Expenses • Review and reconcile Checkbook accounts, deposits • Oversee Budget • Report monthly status and discrepancies • Annual filings • Annual Budget preparation • QuickBooks, Excel, Word, Adobe Acrobat • Security of finances • Backup of information
If you have the training and experience to be our Director of Finance, please apply to the Nominating Committee Chair, Rob Macdonald. Click this link to send your application via email to: Rob Macdonald
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MEL’S MUSICAL MUSINGS
By Mel Knight, Evergreen District Education Operations Team Several years ago I wrote an article, gleaned from An Information Manual for Barbershop Quartets that had some excellent advice regarding quartet rehearsals. Having observed a number of these rehearsals, I think it bears repeating.
Most of us realize that coaching for your quartets is a great idea, whether your goals are successful contest results, being an enter-taining show quartet or just singing locally for retirement homes. We all want to do the best job we can, and an outside coach or trusted listener is of immense help.
But, what if you don’t have a good coach always available? Or what do you do after the coach leaves? How about some self-coaching ideas to improve your foursome! Here are several techniques that have been successful for many quartets:
Unison singing has many benefits. First, it builds agreement in specific areas such as vowel matching, attacks and releases and tuning. It is much easier to hear those areas when singing in unison rather than in parts.
Rehearse facing each other in a square. Not too close, maybe 3 to 4 feet apart. This way you can hear yourself as well as the rest of the quartet in order to make corrections. Also, you are able to see what other quartet member’s facial expression or physical involvement is in the song.
Sing in duets while the other two quartet members comment and provide feedback. This not only assists the two who are singing, but sharpens the listening skills of the two listeners. Although we tend to think of dueting each part with the lead, any two parts can be helpful…even the dreaded tenor-baritone duet!
Talk about and reach agreement concerning the message of the song. What are we trying to communicate to the audience? How are we going to do that? Don’t assume you all think alike.
Have three parts face one and sing through the song. Rotate until all four have had a chance to face the other three. This can help raise the individ-ual performance level and help everyone reinforce the agreement we discussed earlier.
Recording your rehearsals can be enlightening. Make sure you use a quality recorder so that you hear a good representation of your sound without distortion. This technique is great for discovering wrong notes and precision errors.
Remember to always rehearse with a plan: warm-up, polishing repertoire, learning new material, etc. Just getting together and singing is not conducive to improvement. And always be positive. Singing in a quartet is fun and every rehearsal should leave quartet members with a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.
Good singing, Mel
I’ll bet you didn’t know that Over Time, 2000 International Senior Quartet Champion are still together! Better yet, we are still booking shows! We have some new songs that we’re sure will tickle your audience’s fancy: gospel, up tunes, ballads and comedy. You’ll hear songs from us you won’t hear anywhere else!
Our fee? Forget it. We’d just like to perform on your show and will be happy to appear for expenses only. Or even a small honorarium if you insist and we’ll donate it to the QCED Endowment Fund, which promotes coaching and development of quartets in the Evergreen District. You can’t beat the price! On top of that, we’d be willing to put on a quartet workshop or do some coaching prior to the show. If we haven’t sung on your show for a while, now’s the time for a repeat performance. If we have never appeared on your show in the past, we think the time has come.
Contact: Mel Knight 503-590-1646 [email protected] 14897 SW Osprey Ct Beaverton, OR 97007
We look forward to hearing from you soon!
Over TimeOver Time
Gary Jerry Bud MelGary Jerry Bud Mel
MESSAGE ABOUT MEMBERSHIP
By Bob Thomas, Evergreen Director of Membership Gentlemen, Over the last four weeks, I have taken an online membership class that the society is Beta testing. Here is a brief description of the topics covered.
1. Getting your chapter in order - so that it is attractive to prospective new members. Here are a few of the items covered. Make sure your meetings are fun Is your repertoire relatable to your guests and your audiences? Do you have a standard method (system) on how to treat guests , present them with information, and follow up, up to and including their audition
and their first month or year of membership? 2. Marketing-Is your website design compelling, current, attractive and easy to maneuver? Have you used Search Engine Optimization so that your website will appear in the first few items of a Google search for “barbershop”, “choruses”,
“singing” to name a few Have you tried Craig’s List, the newspaper, Meet Up, FaceBook events, or Tweet? Are your members practiced and prepared with a 30 second talk about their hobby and the uniqueness of barbershop singing? 3. Expert Recruiting - One-on-one personal contact is still the number one method of bringing in new members, especially after they have heard our
music. The Paul Ellinger phrase, “So… where do you like to do your singing?” Too many guys ask the question, “Do you sing?” which ends usually in a “No.” We discussed why a “cattle call” from the stage doesn’t work The importance of not asking yes or no answered questions You aren’t selling anything, just trying to get them to a rehearsal. Responding to people’s response to your question may take some practice. 4. The Ready Set Sing program or Learn to Sing or Sing, Sing, Sing, whatever you want to call it. This is a tried and proven method to gain members with-
out recruiting them. It doesn’t have to be with a big marketing budget either. Many small, poor chapters have tried this and they have gained mem-bers. It is community outreach. It makes boys and men aware that there is singing after high school. It gets people in the door who have an interest in singing, and they get exposed to our style of a cappella singing. The growing choruses do this system on an annual basis. It doesn’t always result in members. So it needs to be repeated.
There isn’t a silver bullet for growing. It does take some effort. But what is the alternative? I highly recommend using the Paul Ellinger method as well as the Ready Set Sing program. I would be happy to provide your chapter with info on either or both. The Seattle chapter went from around 20 guys to 50 in a short period of time using these methods.
On another note, Evergreen District is in need of two new chapter advocates, one each for Division I and Division IV. We are looking for experienced bar-bershoppers, who won’t mind visiting other chapters (expenses included), willing to be a good observer, a good listener, and a liaison between a few chapters and the District. I would be happy to discuss this in greater detail with any interested parties.
GROW EVERGREEN!!!!! Contact Bob Thomas <[email protected]>
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MEMBERSHIP NEWS
Harmony Explosion 2018 Gets Energized!
Wow, we are really fired up for this year’s Harmony Explosion Northwest music camp (July 19-21, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA). It’s funny, our “new” clinicians have been coming to Harmony Explosion for over 10 years. They have been a big part of developing our camp into a place where kids can learn about confidence, teamwork, and leadership, and where they feel like part of a family. Both clinicians have exceptional resumes, and both are exceptional people, and we are very fortunate to have them leading us into a new era.
There is an energy growing around Rachel and Drew, and it’s contagious. It’s like watching a rocket just before launching, the anticipation is overwhelming! We can’t wait to see it unleashed on the chorus. We just hope they don’t blow the roof off the auditorium! J
You will not want to miss our Celebration Show at PLU on July 21st at 6:30PM. It will feature the 160 student Harmony Explosion chorus, “Voices, Incorporated” men’s chorus, and Sweet Adelines, International 11
th place semi-finalists “Renegade.” All this for only $20 per ticket!
Harmony Explosion still has room for more students
We are still looking for students ages 12-21 who like to sing. For only $190, students receive 6 pieces of music (including learning tracks), food and housing, a pizza party, a BBQ, a T-shirt, an audio recording of their performance, and a ton of fun and memories. What a deal! Please go to www.harmonyexplosion.com for more information and for online registration. Registration will close June 25th.
Each year, we receive around 40 requests for full scholarships to camp. We are proud to say that we have never turned a student away be-cause of financial need, and we hope to continue that tradition this year. Currently, we have enough money to cover 28 of those requests. Please consider donating any amount by going to www.harmonyexplosion.com and using the PayPal button to make a donation. Please help these students experience the thrill of barbershop harmony by giving them the gift of music.
As always, thank you so much for all you do for the kids. You are ensuring the future of barbershop harmony, and giving these wonderful young people a very special gift.
Your Harmony Explosion Staff
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Celebrating Harmony College NW Co-Deans
CELEBRATING THE CO-DEANS OF HARMONY
COLLEGE NORTHWEST
It is very much with mixed feelings that we cele-
brate the achievements of Judy Galloway and
Carl Van Hoff, who have served as Co-Deans
of HCNW for the past several years. We cele-
brate the many great things they have done
and the many innovations that they have
brought to our music education weekend, but
we will for sure miss them a lot and their atten-
tion to detail which has made HCNW one of
the finest barbershop music education week-
ends. Read on to find out more about these
two wonderful people – and pass on hearty
congratulations when you next see them!!
Judy Galloway
has been married for 48 years, five children, 16
grandchildren (one on the way) and one great
grand child
Education: She received a Bachelor of Science
in Computer Programing from Oregon State
University
Business: She incorporated and was President
of JG Computer Works (JGCW) in February
1990, to provide marketing and computer-
related solutions to individuals and companies
in the growing local and regional business com-
munity. She served clients across the United
States, with her training materials being used
world-wide. In 2010, she retired and closed the
corporation.
Over the years, she has had a strong commit-
ment to creating and maintaining a consistent-
ly excellent, professional image for the clients.
In a few words, she could be described as:
optimistic, creative, detail-oriented, versatile,
and a fast-learner. Her work always includes
looking towards the future, finding or develop-
ing new ways to do things better, and doing
what it takes to move forward.
Her Barbershop and Sweet Adelines World
She joined SAI Region 24 of Sweet Adelines
in 1992, she has been involved as a singer
(several choruses and quartets) and she di-
rected a chorus for a short time.
She has been regional faculty
(Membership, Copyright Issues, Marketing, Goal
Setting, Planning, Learning How to Read Music,
Website Development, and more); regional
coach; motivator (Membership; New Choruses,
Revitalization); and technology resource.
At the International level, she has helped
teach classes at IES (International Education
Symposium) and was asked to rewrite several
sections of the current Regional Leaders hand-
book.
She is member of the Pacific Barbershop
Summit a collaborative team of leaders of Re-
gions 13 and 26 of the women’s Sweet Adelines
International, along with leaders from the Ever-
green District of the men’s Barbershop Harmony
Society.
She has been Co-Dean for Harmony Col-
lege NW for men and women of all ages, in
Tacoma, WA since 2009. Her responsibilities
include all aspects of the 3-day event: plan-
ning, budgeting, faculty, courses, invitations,
registration, facility negotiations and contracts,
classrooms, housing, meals, and evaluations
during and afterwards.
(www.harmonycollege.org) She has also
taught classes at HCNW on barbershop history,
copyright do’s and don’ts, and how to read
music.
She was the first woman trustee on the board
for the Bud Leabo Memorial Fund (the founda-
tion side of the men’s Evergreen District of the
Barbershop Harmony Society), which was es-
tablished to support barbershop education
and growth within the Evergreen District bound-
aries.
Regional leader:
She has been active in regional leadership
since 2000, serving three terms as Communica-
tions Coordinator, and one term as Member-
ship Coordinator for Region 24 until the SAI Re-
gion merger.
She led workshops speaking on Effective
Marketing Techniques, Membership Develop-
ment, Motivation, Goal Setting and Planning.
She has prepared presentations for region-
al workshops, and in 2006 was very active in
preparing and producing a set of regional vid-
eos on how to invite/recruit women to our hob-
by which I presented at our Area Schools (and
left copies of with each chorus for their files).
Since 2001 until the merger of SAI Regions,
she was the webmaster for Region 24.
She was awarded The Rose Achievement
Award for 2007-2008 in Region 24 (similar to Hall
of Fame)
She is now a member of Region 13 and
has been the Events Coordinator, and now is
Contest Coordinator
She also designed (or fine-tuned) many logos
for events and regional contest charms/pins.
Carl Van Hoff is married, living in the Richland, WA area
Education and Training
Bachelor of Science in Education (History and
Geography) Miami Uni-
versity, Oxford OH
Master of Arts in Teaching, Miami University
Experiences
Four years drafting legislation.
Nine years dealing with regulators. Special
focus on organizing materials to show compli-
ance and demonstrate that the items they
were looking for were included.
Served on boards of four non-profit corpora-
tions
Clear writing and speaking skills
Can organize written material, for coherence,
flow and thoroughness
Work Experience (reverse order)
2003 Retired after 26 ½ years with
Energy Northwest and Wash
ington Public Power Supply
System (owner of several
forms of electrical genera
tion, serving cities and coun
ty power systems.)
1977 to 2003 Energy Northwest and Wash-
ington Public Power Supply
System
Managed the external out-
reach program – tours,
Speakers Bureau, school
programs and Visitors Center
1973-1977 Idaho Legislative Council Bill
drafter and committee staff
1969-1971 Teacher at Rocky River H. S.
(suburb of Cleveland, Ohio)
Barbershop Involvement
1961 Exposed to barbershop by
Junior HS math teacher.
Sang barbershop in boys
chorus. Thought every
school had such a thing.
2003 Joined a forming barbershop
chapter.
2004 On Chapter Board. Volun-
teered to host Division Con-
test in 2005. Ran a successful
contest.
2005 Invited to become a Mem-
ber at Large on the EVG
Board of Directors.
2006-12 Serving as EVG BMAL; Fo-
cused on special projects.
Led the effort to get D&O
insurance for all District and
Chapter Officers in EVG
(currently all officers cov-
ered) and led the effort to
have the Society Umbrella
Policy include coverage for
sexual misconduct
(coverage is now in effect.)
2007-8 Served as Curriculum and
Faculty Coordinator for
HCNW
2008 Evergreen District Barber-
shopper of the Year
2009-18 Serving as Co-Dean of
HCNW
Back to cover page Timbre - June 15, 2018 - Page 19
EDUCATION IN EVERGREEN DISTRICT
EVERGREEN FACEBOOK PAGE UPDATE
From Our Evergreen Facebook Administrator – Duncan Gilman
Did you see BHS's Instagram post comparing Storm Front's suits to Queen Elizabeth's wedding attire? Check out instagram.com/barbershopharmonysociety and scroll down a bit. This image received twice as many likes as the next most popular recent posts (and per-formed equally well on Facebook). There's no secret formula here - it's timely, funny, and eye-catching. The lesson for your chorus or quartet social media presence is, whenever possible, make your content socially relevant.
In other news, as you may have noticed we are now publishing select Timbre articles directly on the EVG website and linking to them from Facebook. The goal of sharing these articles a second time in this format is to increase the visibility of the wonderful content our EVG leader-ship and members are already generating.
Do you have questions about how to use social media for your chorus? Do you have additional content you'd like to see on the district Face-book page? Let me know!
(Contact: [email protected] )
What’s happening in Education in Evergreen?
by Peter McBride, Director of Education, Evergreen Operations Team
In my first 5 months in the position of Director of Education in Evergreen District, I spent some time getting to know the people, process, practices that are currently being used, and starting to plan how to better deliver those programs to our members. I wanted to show how we could use good, well designed distance education to reduce barriers. For example, last year we saw the Regional Leadership Academy (RLA) get cancelled due to low attendance. It is increasing expensive and difficult to plan these events – participants must pay, and travel (meaning airfare and hotels in many cases). Leaders have to be housed, space must be rented.
These barriers can be overcome by offering online courses, coupled with virtual classroom lectures by subject matter experts. We piloted this approach for membership VP in March and April this year; small, easily consumed modules to watch, a workbook to follow along, a top notch coach to answer questions – and the results were mostly positive. Next we do some fine tuning, and then we are off to the races de-veloping the base level chapter officers training for Evergreen District. Coming soon! - President, Secretary and Treasurer training. This may not sound glamorous, but well trained officers are the underpinning of the business end of our chapters. It matters.
We also found the funds to offer several scholarships for the innovative program “Supercharging Your Chapter” class to be held the day before HCNW. Another bunch of new directors and assistant directors received HCNW scholarships.
As part of my orientation, I have implemented a plan to communicate with chapter officers from every chapter, once a month. Initially only sent to Presidents, soon every chapter officer will receive a monthly newsletter outlining available programs, schedules for training, and a process to apply for scholarships, courses and other educational opportunities in Evergreen District.
The teams that manage chorus and chapter development through coaching, and the teams that deliver CDWI and RLA, have been properly identified – sometimes it is a mystery as to who can and will deliver our programs, so I had a lot to learn. I have had great support from Mel Knight and Charlie Metzger as I found my feet and got on top of the job. And if you see him, pat Ryan Olsen on the back for me – he is awe-some! We are very fortunate in EVG to have an active, engaged and capable Board of Directors, and I am proud to be part of that.
What’s next? Well, later this summer we will announce schedules for RLA and CDWI courses. Both these course require chapters to come together, and plan for travel and accommodation costs, time and materials, etc. We want to hear from you if you would like to host one of these excellent programs.
You can contact me at any time at [email protected]. I look forward to working with you all.
For Evergreen District & Historical Information, click the links:
Hall of Fame Members Scores Archives
Quartet Champions District Leadership
Chorus Champions Barbershopper Of The Year
Here’s a handy Link to the Online Events Calendar at evgsings.org : Calendar
For additional information, please click on these links:
BHS Website BHS Phone Number - 1 - 800 - 876 - SING (6474) - toll free
EVGSINGS (Evergreen site)
Bud Leabo Memorial Fund Info
Sing Canada Harmony
Harmony Foundation International
TIMBRE Advertising
Rates for 2018
A great way to be seen by barbershoppers
Full Page 7.5” x 10 “ $ 120. per issue
Half Page 5” x 7.5 “ $ 60. per issue
Qtr. Page 3.75” x 5 “ $ 30. per issue
Card Size 2” x 3.5 “ $ 15. per issue
Quartet 2” x 3.5 “ $ 10. per issue 0r $ 30 Annually Next advertisements deadline:
For 2018 TIMBRE #3 ( to be published Sep. 15, 2018 ) Publication-ready ads must be in by Aug. 31, 2018 Contact Bob Robson [email protected] re availability and advertising content guidelines .
Back to cover page Timbre - June 15, 2018 - Page 20
EVERGREEN DISTRICT EVENTS CALENDAR
EVERGREEN DISTRICT INFORMATION LINKS
MORE MEMBER RESOURCES The Last Word