BQPA/PIONEERS
BQPA/Pioneers Quartet Festival
in
Chicago, 9/5 - 9/2018
We put another fine
“do-it-yerself convention” of
old style
barbershop quartetting in the record books in September.
Gerry Carroll and Raymond Schwarzkopf, as usual,
were able to arrange reasonable accommodations for us at the Hillside
Best
Western. They fought long and hard in
the negotiations for guest room pricing, but could not get the BW folks
to give
up that extra twenty-five cents… This
year we occupied the Jefferson room, which had enough space for a
number of quartets
singing at the same time, in
the far corners.
There were about 75
singers and guests in the room
for our
Saturday evening quartet parade, and more than 45 attended the Friday
evening
pick-up quartet
contest. A number of illnesses contributed
to the
slightly smaller membership attendance – hope everyone has recovered
their good
health by now.
Close to two dozen
singers had checked in at the
Best
Western hotel in Hillside, Illinois by the end of the day Wednesday,
the 5th of
September. A good deal of QUARTET singing
ensued (what a surprise), and foursomes were assembled for purposes
both
musical and golf-oriented. Dinner was
informal, mostly in the lounge area of the Hillside Best Western where
our
Midwest Festival was held for the eighth year (believe it or not!)
After the
complimentary breakfast Thursday morning
the
golfers drove off for rounds which included singing at every tee, as
usual. Also as usual, nobody would admit
to their scores when the golfers returned to join those who preferred
just to
sing (in QUARTETS) rather than spoiling a good walk by swinging a club. (Many said they had more fun singing than
golfing that day…)
Our BQPA/Pioneers
Board conducted their usual
meeting on
Thursday afternoon, after the golfers had returned.
Later,
our Registration table opened up, staffed by our volunteers. And there was much QUARTET singing. (DUH!!!)
Friday morning came
and a few golfers perversely
departed
again for the links, and got back in time for the pick-up quartet
contest
draw. Once the pick-up quartets had been drawn,
there was – as
usual – a lot of confusion, with folks searching for their other voice
part
singers. Some left, then, for somewhat
leisurely dinners, but rehearsals of the die-hards continued until
moments before
the contest started.
The contest went off
very nicely.
Raymond Schwarzkopf acted as the MC and
presided as the Chairman of Judges, and Lisa, his lady, was on the
panel, which
also included Membership Records Chair Frank Fliszar.
The winning quartet,
SO LONG 4, was made up of Ken Yergler, Chuck Guthrie, Jim Milner and
Jim Foy. What song they sang has receded
into the
past, but they were awarded the blue ribbons with the gold medals
inscribed in
honor of our dear departed member, Jinny Janis, and the plaques
announcing
their win in the Bob Leclair & Chuck Oliva memorial contest. Again this year, second and third place quartets were awarded
ribbons.
Again as usual, there
was a bit more singing after
the contest
session. (Well, umm, HOURS more…) All four corners of the room were occupied by
quartets, and the
singing spilled
out into the corridors outside the Jefferson room. That
informal QUARTET singing went on past
midnight.
On Saturday morning,
the BQPA/Pioneers annual
Membership meeting
was held. The names of Missing Voices were
read off, including some who were not members of BQPA/Pioneers. We remembered especially two legends: Terry
Clarke, bass of The Boston Common, who died in February, 2018, while
attending
a barbershop event in Florida, and Milt
Christensen, lead of the 1972 gold medal quartet champion Golden
Staters and of
the 1992 Senior champs, One More Time. We
also remembered Earl McDougal, our host
when we gathered at Fallbrook, who last visited us our last gathering
at the
Embassy Suites. A reverent rendition of The Old Songs was sung, to sing
them along
on their way to the Chorus Eternal.
A musical “Changing of
the Guard” was held, in
which a
QUARTET with President Tom Noble as the baritone started “Heart Of My
Heart”. Part way through the song, he
was replaced at baritone by our new President, Lee Taylor, representing
the
passing of the torch to the new administration.
Tom gave a “Farewell” address and was greeted with applause.
Jim Milner, the
Chairman for the Spring Festival
in Tempe,
Arizona, reported that the Holiday Inn and Suites in Mesa has a new
owner and
that the room rates have been raised significantly.
Jim has made Board-approved new arrangements
with the Tempe Inn and Suites which has reasonable guest room rates, an
airport
shuttle, an adequate meeting room, and a hotel-sponsored “social hour”. However, Jim reminded us that – unfortunately
– the Wednesday night spaghetti dinners are no more, the Arizona
QUARTET
Chapter having lost its lease …
Jim encouraged
reserving guest rooms early, even
if you
might have to cancel later if your plans or your calendar change. The hotel has a lenient cancellation policy,
but late reservations are very difficult to switch into the group guest
room rate. That rate is $80.00 per night
for a queen or
king room and $90.00 for a 2-room suite.
Jim emphasized that reservations should be made by phone, at
480-897-7900,
and be sure you indicate you’ll be attending the BQPA/Pioneers
Barbershop
Quartet Festival, to get the group rates.
As usual, Gerry
Carroll encouraged members to
email the Hillside
Best Western hotel, to thank them for their hospitality in Chicago
again this
year. Gerry and Raymond tell us that
this helps significantly in their negotiations for the next year’s
Festival in
the Chicago area. They’ve also asked us
to post our complimentary reviews to Expedia, TripAdvisor and
Hotels.com.
Finally, new Prez Lee
Taylor announced that Bernie
Esberner
has accepted the position of Vice President as well as taking on the
Chairmanship of our Western Festival.
Lee also recognized the other officers and advisors who have
agreed to
continue in their positions.
After the membership
meeting and into the
afternoon and
early evening, QUARTET singing abounded.
There were quartets
at the
Registration table, in the bar, in the halls and the lobby, etc. A large contingent – about 25 folks – went
out to Stacy’s steak house for a repast together, and – again this year
– got
back in time for our QUARTET Parade.
The Saturday evening
Parade, with Raymond as MC,
was a
rousing success. The pick-up contest
champs, SO LONG 4, led
off on
stage. Three other QUARTETS, assembled
for the event from attending members, regaled the audience, including
Random
Sample with Raymond standing (kneeling) in for Harlan Mellem, who could
not be
with us this gathering. Our guest quartet was Implied HARMONY, who were
very much the headliners.
Additional highlights
of the event included June
Noble
performing a solo of the Chad Mitchell Trio’s somewhat bawdy “Mandy
Lane”, and
a rousing auction of a fine framed needlepoint depiction of a
barbershop
QUARTET which was ultimately won by member Don Doss.
The Parade ended with
our traditional rendition of
Keep
America Singing.
With the formal
elements of the Festival
completed, we all
adjourned to the corners of our meeting room, as well as areas
immediately
adjacent, and even into unoccupied rooms down the hall, and proceeded
to sing
some more. Singing continued until nearly
one o’clock in the morning. I‘m happy to
say that, again this year I was able to sing “Creole Cutie” in a quartet. We
left our gathering room cleared of sound
system, registration materials and banner, due to the help and
assistance of many
volunteers.
This was another most
successful and enjoyable
Gathering. LOTS of QUARTET singing. (Well, yeah, that’s what we came for, no? That’s the bottom line…) There were a number
of gents with medals of one color or another from SPEBSQSA, but just as
many
and more “Joe Barbershoppers.” Didn’t
matter who you were or what your past accomplishments – everyone got a
chance
to sing some good stuff in QUARTETS.
THANKS – as usual –
must go to all the folks who
made it all
happen! The Chairs of all the committees
that DO things. The Board members who
remind the Chairs of what the Chairs already know.
The registration volunteers who labor but
also get to sing with everyone who comes up to the table to register. The folks who helped strike after the Parade. The quartets. Everyone!
Remember the spring
Festival, in April, in Tempe,
AZ.
Barily yours,
Tom Noble, Immediate
Past President
BQPA/Pioneers
Top
Placing Quartets:
Win:
Contestant
#9 –
SO LONG 4
Tenor
– Ken Yergler
Baritone – Jim Milner
Lead
– Chuck Guthrie
Bass – Jim Foy
Place:
Contestant #6 –
STATISTICALLY INSIGNIFICANT
Tenor
– Gary Mathews
Baritone – Darrell Eggertson
Lead
– Paul Herzog
Bass – John Close
Show:
Contestant #2 –
BLUE BY U 4
Tenor
– Jim Angell
Baritone – Art Dusenbury
Lead
– June Noble
Bass – Dave Brady