Thursday, December 16, 2021

Looking Back on the Dec. 2021 Harmonizer Events

 Looking Back on the Dec. 2021 Harmonizer Events

 

The Harmonizers have taken a break from regular chapter meetings after the Dec. 5th show starting with a great performance in Old Town Alexandria on Dec. 11th.

 

A huge crowd gathered on the walks, courtyard and King Street to hear the chorus sing at the base of the city’s Christmas tree.  The signers had on Santa hats and all sorts of holiday attire for this sing out.

 

The Dec. 11 events started off with 12 guys led by Terry Reynolds dropping by Sunrise Senior Living on Duke St. and Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare on King St. to sing holiday songs for residents and patients. These guys then joined the rest of the chorus at Market Square for a great performance at 3:00.

 

As is often the case when we sing in Old Town Alexandria, the airplanes seems to always go over head during the softer ballads!! But the crowds cheered and showed their appreciation.

Artistic director Joe Cerutti announced the songs, interacted with the audience, invited the people to join in a sing-along, and invited men who like to sing to come meet us.  (Actually there was at least one singer who responded and one barbershopper friend of a chorus member grabbed a Santa hat and sang with us.)

 

Joe lead the parade down King Street toward the Potomac.  The singers stopped in the last block of that street that has recently been closed to traffic and sang for all those folks seated in outdoor restaurant spaces.  As has been our custom, we sang several songs on the stairs that enter the Torpedo Factory Art Center – great acoustics and another large crowd.  There were a couple other stops including at the new Alexandria Sailing Club facility.  

 

Some guys stayed at Chadwicks, although it was packed and therefore many singers left Alexandria and went to the Harmo House for an afterglow with lots of great eats prepared by Joe.

 

Tuesday night, Dec. 14th the chorus assembled again at Market Square to get Santa hats and then strolled about the Old Town area for 60-90 minutes caroling for crowds and customers in the area. After the vocal warm up, the chorus made some caroling phone calls to members of the Harmonizer family including Cindy Hansen, Ken Ives and Rick Savage.

 

One stop during the evening was to sing for the fireman at the station around the corner from Market Square. The holiday music attracted another large crowd when they sang at the entrance to the Torpedo Factory.  Chapter members were happy to have Aaron Simoneau singing carols with the chorus this week.

 

There was another festive afterglow at the Harmo House on the 14th with more good things to eat from Joe’s kitchen. 

 

A similar plan to sing in and around Alexandria was announced for Dec. 21st plus there will be another holiday afterglow at Harmo House.

 

Several times during the holidays, the chorus was aired as part of the PBS station WETA’s “Songs of the Season.” 

 

Dean Rust made arrangement for all these sing-outs during December in and around Alexandria.

 

There won’t be meetings on Dec. 28th or on Jan. 4th. Chapter meetings will resume on Jan. 11th at Scottish Rite Temple on Braddock Road.

 

 

Until next time – editorjack!

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 73rd year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)

 

 

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Looking Back on the Dec. 5th 2021 Harmonizer Holiday Show

 Looking Back on the Dec. 5th 2021 Harmonizer Holiday Show

 

The Harmonizer “Hope for the Holidays Concert” was  Sunday, Dec. 5th at 2 pm and 6 pm at the Scottish Rite Temple (SRT) in DC on 16th Street.  It was a combined event sponsored by the chapter and the Scottish Rite Temple.  Tickets were free with an encouraged free-will offering that would be shared by the two organizations.

 

The 350-seat venue in their building was great with plenty of seating, good views, good sound, and plenty of room for the chorus to dress and prepare for the show. The SRT provided the stage décor and coordinated a reception for patrons and singers following the afternoon show.  They also provided valet parking for guests at the shows which was greatly appreciated. Artistic director Joe Cerutti recognized and thanked our friend and former AH Inc. community board member, Paul Dolinsky, for his help in getting the chorus into this venue.

 

The one-act show went smoothly and was a terrific return to Harmonizer performances for their patrons.  The two shows were basically the same – a few personnel changes in ensembles to avoid conflicts.  

 

For both shows, the auditorium was full.  The 50-man chorus was dressed in green, red and blue sweatshirts with white scarves.  Plus a new addition for this post-Covid show was the red or green masks for the singers! It was a colorful scene for sure when they got onto the risers. 

 

Music team administrator Terry Reynolds kept the chorus well informed prior to their call time. Executive director Randall Eliason arranged for an afterglow at Midlands on Georgia Ave.  It was well attended and fun for all. 

 

Volunteers welcomed guests and checked them in and directed them to their seats including Rebecca Connor, Krissi Folsom, Kate Weber and Nate Balke. Operations chairman Gary Cregan reports that he had a good riser crew to help him move in the show sound equipment and risers on Friday with help from Mike Kelly, Dennis Ritchey, Jack Cameron, Terry, and Randall.  Gary also reports that chorus members pitched in and made quick work of taking things out to the Harmo truck after the show ended. The tech crew for the show was Mike and Dennis – but when Frank Fedarko got sick, Mike had to fill in for “Do You Hear What I Hear” solos, and Dennis had no voice all weekend and so he managed things (and his quartet gig with Steve White, Reed Livergood and Paul Grimes singing “Little Saint Nick” was left out of the shows).

 

The show opener was “Trim Up the Tree” from the Grinch Stole Christmas – guys had fun performing this crazy Dr. Seuss song (and Joe was having fun adding crazy sound effects from back stage).  Tony welcomed the audience – in short his comments were “thanks for being our audience!”

 

For “Sleigh Ride” there were sleigh bells again this year provided by Steve White using the set of bells created by his grandfather.  Always a great addition to our holiday show.  There were also crazy sound effects for “Fa La La” when tenor Donell Torres added the cymbal booms sounds! Joe directed this ensemble of about half of the chorus and clowned up with the audience in reaction to the surprise lyrics from his chorus!

 

Twice during the show, there was an audience sing along with the accompaniment on the newly installed organ at SRT by organist Adam S. Graham.  It was great.

 

Some of our newer members formed a quartet to sing the “Chipmunk Song” – Donell, Lance Fisher, David Breen and Duncan Peacock.  For the second show, Joe and Tony filled in for David and Lance as they had another concert appearance to make.  This was a fun spot for the audience too. 

 

Tony directed another ensemble of the other half of the chorus to tease the audience with “Text Me Merry Christmas.” In the middle of this one, Terry, Will Cox and Tony  interrupted with texting messages with Santa (Joe).

 

Solos for “Joy to the World” were performed by David in the afternoon and Jason Lee at night.

 

“O Holy Night” was a special number with Tony as soloist, Adam at the organ, and Joe and the chorus supporting the music. 

 

For “Ave Maria” Tony and John Sifuentes and Steve White sing  the descant at night, and David, Lance and Johnsang it in the afternoon.  

 

Noah Van Gilder explained the special number, “Festival of Lights,” performed by he, Devin Gerzof, Scott Beach, Ike Evans, Turner Arndt and Troy Hillier

 

The music team formed an ensemble for the show too – “Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy” – including Tony, Brian Ammerman, Jason, Ryan Mextorf, Terry, Tessa Walker, and Ben Watsky, with Joe playing the drum rhythm.

 

As usual, the musical finale was “Do You Hear What I Hear” with Mike, Devin and Drew Fuller.  As in every year’s holiday show, the audience came to their feet for a standing ovation! 

 

Other great songs on the show were “Carol of the Bells,” “Mary Did You Know,” and “Silent Night” and then “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” for the audience.  This was the signal when Santa arrived and went among the audience to give candy canes to the children.  (Santa’s helper was Joe Cerutti, Sr.)

 

Emcee duties were performed by Randall and Terry as needed. 

 

Backstage there was space for chorus dressing, eating, resting and storing of uniform parts. Joe recalls that five guys were recognized during warm up as singing for the first time with the Harmonizers – Michael Berkson, Josh Myers, Donell, David and Lance

 

The months of hard work by the chorus and the music team yielded a wonderful holiday show. 

 

Until next time – editorjack!

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 73rd year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)

 

 

Thursday, December 2, 2021

Looking Back on the Nov. 30th 2021 Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Nov. 30th 2021 Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 

This week the Covid statistics in our area improved enough that our chapter Covid committee headed by Jason Leedetermined that all the Harmonizers who are planning to sing the Holiday show were invited to the meeting this week. In general, it was as great night with singing and work on the risers like the “old days.”

 

To kick things off, associate director Tony Colosimo conducted a warm up session for the singers in the cafeteria.  

 

When artistic director Joe Cerutti took the helm, he welcomed the members and thanked them again for their work on the music, and he welcomed the men on Zoom.  He also welcomed some folks we have not seen in person for a while including Tyler Carpenter, Kellen Hertz, and Jack Cameron who came to VA from his new home in SC to sing on the show.  He has worked via Zoom and is ready.  He is staying this week with Mike Kelly, his car pool buddy from before moving to SC.  We also sang happy birthday to Jason Lee and Alan Wile

 

The memorial service for Linda Savage is on Fri. Dec. 3rd at 10 am at Fairfax Memorial Park, 9900 Braddock Rd. in Fairfax.  Chorus call is 9:15 am and we will sing “I’ll Be Seeing You” as requested by Ricky. All Harmonizers are encouraged to come sing.

 

Joe spoke about the Giving Tuesday campaign promoted by Bruce Roehm and the AH Inc. board that endsed at midnight.  He even suggested that those who could and haven’t given could do it during the rehearsal. YeEd learned that we were not doing too badly in reaching our goal of $15,000.  The board actually pledged monies to match donations. Thanks to those folks.

 

And Joe stressed that guys update their attendance plans on Groupanizer for December events. The music team wants responses even if it is “Won’t Attend.”

 

Finally Joe sparked interest in some changes coming for our first rehearsal in 2022 on January 11th.   The music team is working on a rehearsal night format 2.0 – building on the plan that was in effect just before Covid.  Stay tuned for details.

 

For those who have not marked their Dec. 2021 calendar:

 

* Note that there will be no meeting on Dec. 7th  to rest up after the show.

* The chorus will sing some songs from the holiday show in Old Town Alexandria on Sat. Dec. 11th  starting with a mini-concert at 3 pm by the Christmas Tree at Market Square. After that we will stroll down King Street and sing for the crowds shopping there. There is some talk about ending some place together. 

* Then on Tuesday nights, Dec. 14th and 21st, we will do some singing in and around Alexandria. Quartets and VLQs will sing around the city too and on Dec. 31st.  Thanks to Dean Rust for coordinating many of these gigs. Joe will likely offer to host afterglows those nights too at Harmo House.  Come join in the fun. 

* There will be no chapter meetings on Dec. 28th nor on Jan. 4th.  

*We will start back up on Jan. 11,  2022.

 

After these announcements, the chorus went to the auditorium and sang on the risers and did a top-to-bottom run through of the show music for “Hope for the Holidays.”  Even some of the quartets and VLQs sang their songs for us. There were some new riser placements this week since more singers have signed up to do the show.

 

This year’s holiday show at the Scottish Rite Temple in DC (2800 16th Street NW) at 2 pm and 6 pm on Sunday, Dec. 5th.  They will be a one-act show lasting about one hour.  There will be complimentary valet parking for show patrons for both shows thanks to our friend and former AH Inc. community board member, Paul Dolinsky.  

 

Joe did suggest that ticket reservations are going pretty well for the 350 seat auditorium at the DC Scottish Rite Temple.  NOTE it is at 2800 16th Street NW  (if you had Googled it, you might get the wrong address of other similarly named venues).  Chorus members should use social media to prompt family, friends and neighbors and co-workers to reserve a ticket since this auditorium is smaller.  

 

There were several show announcements from Terry

(1)  the uniform for the show is a chapter provided sweat shirt, a white scarf, to be worn with a collared long sleeve white shirt, black suit pants and black shoes and socks.

(2)  Chorus call is 12 noon.  You should eat lunch before you come.  There will be time between shows to go get food or you can bring something. The chorus will not be fed as a group. Makes sense to wear the black pants, shoes and white shirt – save sweat shirt and scarf for the show.

(3)  Chorus members should plan ahead for their parking, plan to carpool if possible, and plan for delays at Metro Stations that are close to the venue.

 

Until next time – editorjack!

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 73rd year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)

 

 

Friday, November 26, 2021

Looking Back on the Nov. 23rd 2021 Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Nov. 23rd 2021 Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 

Since the statistics were worse for the pandemic in our area, this week the chapter’s Covid committee decided we could not have more that 40 people in a room.  So the music team worked hard to keep the numbers down by having sectionals, taking VLQ groups out to practice their songs for the show and even asking some of us to stay out of the room. The Harmonizers’ meeting was entirely inside the Scottish Rite Temple (SRT) again, and we used every possible space for breakouts.

 

To kick things off, associate director Tony Colosimo conducted a warm up session for the singers in the cafeteria.  We needed the “warm” part since the temps outside were pretty low.

 

When artistic director Joe Cerutti took the helm for the night, he welcomed the members and thanked them for their work on the music, and he welcomed about a half dozen men on Zoom.  He shared his pride in the men for “holding it together” during so many changes in our work style and meetings and rehearsals. He asked who gets the award for the longest trip for the Thanksgiving holiday – two contenders were Akron, OH, and the Bahamas!!  

 

He also reported the sad news that Rick Savage’s wife Linda died on Monday. It was very sudden. There will be a memorial service on Fri. Dec. 3rd at 11 am.  More details to follow.

 

The changes in the plans for this year’s holiday show mean it will not be at Schlesinger but instead there will be show performances at the Scottish Rite Temple in DC (NOTE this is not the place where we rehearse each week) at 2 pm and 6 pm on Sunday, Dec. 5th.  It will be a one-act show lasting about one hour.  There will be complimentary valet parking for both shows thanks to our friend and former AH Inc. community board member, Paul Dolinsky. At this point the plan is for singers to wear masks.  

 

ALERT - Announcements have been released to members and patrons to reserve the free tickets for our shows on Dec. 5th. Patrons are invited to make a free-will donation. There are just 350 seats at the SRT in DC. About 150 have been reserved for the 2 pm show and about 50 for the 6 pm show.  Chorus members should use social media to prompt family, friends and neighbors and co-workers to reserve a ticket since this auditorium is smaller.  

 

Chorus uniform coordinator, Robyn Murane, was in the lobby this week to distribute new uniform parts for members who needed them- especially for all or our new members!  

 

Here is the updated chapter December calendar for the chapter.  Take note – and go to Groupanizer to confirm your attendance. There will be no meeting on Dec. 7th the Tuesday after our show.  The chorus will do caroling in Old Town Alexandria on Sat. Dec. 11th  (see details for that day’s events below). Then on Tuesday nights, Dec. 14th and 21st, we will do some singing in and around Alexandria.  There will be no chapter meeting on Dec. 28th nor on Jan. 4th.  We will start back up on Jan. 11,  2022.

 

The plans for singing on Sat. Dec. 11th include a main event – we will sing for 30 minutes starting at 3 pm on the steps by the Christmas tree in Market Square on King Street in Old Town Alexandria. Thanks to Dean Rust for coordinating this event with the City of Alexandria. After the concert there, we will stroll down King Street and sing more for the crowds including a stop at the new Old Dominion Boat Club building. Likely we will end up with a party-like gathering someplace near the riverfront.  Before the concert, a couple of quartets or VLQs will sing holiday songs at some nursing homes.

 

This week’s rehearsal started with some review work on “Trim Up the Tree” and after a few times thru the song, Joeasked the guys to add some of the “sparkle” that we used to see when 13-year-old Mikey used to sing with us on the shows. Then we all looked around and there he was – all grown up and singing bass!! Welcome back for the show Michael Robertson.

 

When the chorus went upstairs to the auditorium, it was the first time we have sung as a chorus on the risers in a couple years!!!  During the second half of the meeting, guys were assigned riser positions. 

 

Some highlights of the work session on show songs included (1) “Carol of the Bells” will be without a director out front; (2) Tony will sing a solo on “O Holy Night” and there will be organ accompaniment and Joe was teaching the guys to observe different hand signals for “oo” or “ah” or “words” during the song; (3) David Breen will do the solo in “Joy to the World;” (4) soloists for “Ave Maria” will be David, Lance Fisher and John Sefuentes; and (5) soloists for “Do You Hear What I Hear” will be Drew Fuller, Frank Fedarko and Devin Gerzof

 

Tony worked with the soloists during some of the chorus time slots of the night. There was a time slot of sectionals too this week as well as time for the two smaller choruses singing “Text Me Merry Christmas” or “Fa La La.”

 

Our next  Harmonizer Tuesday meeting will be at 7 pm on Nov. 30th, 2021 at Scottish Rite   Temple on Braddock Rd. in Alexandria and will likely be a hybrid meeting again. 

 

It was fun to visit with members this week and chat about their plans for Thanksgiving.  Lots of guys do some of the cooking or are asked by their family to bring a special dish.  Joe made cranberry relish.  He also had a cake made which we baked during the afterglow – he got the recipe from a barbershop friend in HI.  It was great with some vanilla ice cream.  You just never know what will happen at a Harmonizer afterglow. 

 

Until next time – editorjack!

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 73rd year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)

 

Thursday, November 18, 2021

Looking Back on the Nov. 16th 2021 Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Nov. 16th 2021 Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 

This week the chapter’s Covid committee decided we could not have more that 50 people in a room – down by ten from the last week or so. The Harmonizers meeting was entirely inside the Scottish Rite Temple (SRT) again, however, and the chorus rotated between the auditorium, lobby and the cafeteria.  

 

Associate director Tony Colosimo was at the helm for the entire warm up and rehearsal periods this week. 

 

He welcomed the members and thanked them for their work on the music, and he welcomed about a half dozen men on Zoom.  (Great to see Bob Rhome on the Zoom link each week from his new home in GA.)

 

Tony extended the invite to all Harmonizers with November birthdays to come to the BirthdayGlow at the Harmo House after chapter tonight. He called for “one-clap” for each guy as he read the names: Lance Fisher, Jason Lee, Mike Fasano, Ken Rub, Kris Zinkievich, David Welter, Rick Taylor, Dean Rust, Terry Jordan, Scott Werner andAlan Wile

 

The changes in the plans for this year’s holiday show mean it will not be at Schlesinger but instead there will be show performances at the Scottish Rite Temple in DC (NOTE this is not the place where we rehearse each week) at 2 pm and 6 pm on Sunday, Dec. 5th.  It will be a one-act show lasting about one hour.  There will be complimentary valet parking for both shows thanks to our friend and former AH Inc. community board member, Paul Dolinsky. At this point the plan is for singers to wear masks.  (YeEd hears there will be colorful holiday masks provided!)

 

ALERT - Announcements have been released to members and patrons to reserve the free tickets for our shows on Dec. 5th

 

Chorus uniform coordinator, Robyn Murane, will be at the Nov. 23rd rehearsal to distribute new uniform parts for members.  Members expecting to get uniform parts and who won’t be attending next week should make arrangements for someone to pick up their things. 

 

Tony also updated the chapter on the changing December calendar. There will be no meeting on Dec. 7th the Tuesday after our show.  The chorus will do caroling in Old Town Alexandria on Sat. Dec. 11th. Then on Tuesday Dec. 14th and 21st we will do some singing in and around Alexandria.  There will be no chapter meeting on Dec. 28th nor on Jan. 4th.  We will start back up on Jan. 11,  2022.

 

Membership director Jacob Broude reports that the November Social event on Sat. afternoon Nov. 13th at Top Golf was a great success. Eleven folks showed up, split across two bays, and swung clubs for an hour and a half. Devin Gerzof and Stan Quick were the top of the class, pacing their bay, while Dave DesPortes shot well to win the other set. The group shared snacks, had some beers, and comingled across the two bays, with many reporting the event was a lot of fun, and would be great with a larger Harmo crowd. 

 

In recent months, chapter secretary Dave DesPortes has been mailing membership renewal cards to our fellow members when they pay dues and he gets word about the payment from BHS headquarters.  Here is a list of Harmonizers who have renewed recently:

 

Last Name

First Name

Years in Soc.

Date Renewal Card Sent

Lapel Pin for a Milestone year

Shepard

Adam

4

2021-11-15

Berkson

Michael

6

2021-11-15

Kohls

Dave

9

2021-11-15

McConnell

Jim

19

2021-11-15

Takahashi

Antony

19

2021-11-15

Reyno

Dave

22

2021-11-15

Cash

Tim

23

2021-11-15

Eliason

Randall

26

2021-11-15

Schwartz

Mike

27

2021-11-15

Geipel

Mike

30

2021-11-15

yes

McKeever

Chuck

35

2021-11-15

yes

Buechler

Chris

36

2021-11-15

Ashford

Jeff

37

2021-11-15

Wagovich

Joe

40

2021-11-15

yes

Ashford

Phil

44

2021-11-15

Santora

John

45

2021-11-15

yes

 

Dave also reports that he sent a membership renewal to Jack Cameron for 52 years!!

 

Musical leaders worked on holiday music starting with “Silent Night.” Part of the room rotation included letting the half-chorus groups work on their songs for the show. Soloists for “Do You Hear What I Hear” will be Frank Fedarko, Devin Gerzof and Drew Fuller. The fast whimsical “Trim Up the Tree” from “The Grinch Stole Christmas” is coming along and guys are adding the fun to their performance. The soloist for “Joy to the World” is David Breen.

 

There were some announcements during the business session this week: a VLQ is needed to fill an invitation for a holiday event at the Torpedo Factory in Old Town - email will be coming to singers; and be sure to keep up your attendance plans on Groupanizer.

 

President Stan Quick requested thoughts and prayers for some members of the Harmonizer family to include Susan Williams – Ross Johnson’s wife, Rick’s wife - Linda Savage, and Ken Ives.

 

Our next  Harmonizer Tuesday meeting will be at 7 pm on Nov. 23rd, 2021 at Scottish Rite   Temple on Braddock Rd. in Alexandria and will likely be a hybrid meeting again. 

 

In other news, this past weekend, Dennis Ritchey was elected as president of DELASUSQUAHUDMAC – the M-AD honor club for men who have made significant contributions to barbershopping in our district.  He follows Mike Kellywho served four years in that position.  The meeting was held virtually again this year.  A surprise guest quartet performance during the meeting was with FIRST TAKE – with Harmonizers Tony Colosimo and Andrew Havens.  Their tenor is Alex Corsen from NJ and their bari is Drew Wheaton.  They made their virtual appearance from Louisville, KY (in Drew’s recording studio) where they were having a weekend rehearsal. 

 

Until next time – editorjack!

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 73rd year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)

 

Friday, November 12, 2021

Looking Back on the Nov. 9th 2021 Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 Looking Back on the Nov. 9th 2021 Hybrid Chapter Meeting

 

This week the Harmonizers meeting was entirely inside the Scottish Rite Temple (SRT) and the chorus rotated between the auditorium, lobby and the cafeteria.  This week’s chorus included the most singers present in over a year.  There were some challenges for singers with wearing masks and taking plenty of breath.  Jason Lee suggested three good masks to get – K95, N95, or KF94.

 

After a couple moves from room to room, everyone agreed it was easier to hear and sing in the cafeteria. 

 

Associate director Tony Colosimo lead the singers through a thorough warm up session this week and he included some exercises with arm and hand movements to strengthen sound production.

 

Artistic director Joe Cerutti welcomed the large number of members and guests to the meeting and the half dozen on Zoom.  It was good to see Ian Poulin, Reed Livergood and Brad Jones.  Joe also thanked the men for their willingness to be so flexible such as in the change of dates for the holiday performances and even in the weekly meeting format at SRT

 

The changes in the plans for this year’s holiday show mean it will not be at Schlesinger but instead there will be show performances at the Scottish Rite Temple in DC (NOTE this is not the place where we rehearse each week) at 2 pm and 6 pm on Sunday, Dec. 5th.  It will be a one-act show lasting about one hour.  There will be complimentary valet parking for both shows thanks to our friend and former AH Inc. community board member, Paul Dolinsky. At this point the plan is for singers to wear masks.  Stay tuned for any restrictions for the audience.

 

Joe welcomed Paul and Jeff Holt from the DC SRT with us this week to hear the progress on the holiday show music.

 

Joe also alerted members that the chorus will not wear the blue suits but will wear the colorful sweatshirts and white scarves, with black pants and shoes (specifics to be announced). Terry Reynolds is working to confirm which singers need any of the clothing items for the show.

 

There is also the likelihood that we will do a show performance someplace in the City of Alexandria such as at Market Square or a Mall or other venue on Saturday Dec. 12th.  Dean Rust is working to obtain clearances needed for outdoor performances.  Joe thinks we might combine a performance at Market Square with caroling/strolling down King Street.

 

Since everyone was in one room at this point during the meeting, the business session was held before the singing.  Executive director Randall Eliason announced that the Operations Team is planning to re-establish the working teams for the various operations that make the chapter run.  He will circulate info about this soon.

 

He also shared with YeEd that the incoming board for 2022 held an orientation session over the past weekend at the Harmo House.  It was a great success and allowed the new community board members to learn more about the chapter and for the barbershoppers on the board to get a feel for how the board can function.

 

Bruce Reahm, current president of the AH Inc. board, announced the launch of a “Giving Tuesday” fund raising campaign for the chapter.  Stay tuned.

 

BHS Chapter president Stan Quick announced that the Mid Atlantic District (M-AD) has inducted our own, Joe Cerutti, into the M-AD Hall of Honor in recognition for his work, contributions and support of the M-AD.  Joe is the 25th Harmonizer to be inducted into the Hall of Honor in our district.

 

Finally, membership director Jacob Broude welcome two singer guests this week – Jacob Fry and Andrew Wu.  Both guests made it to the afterglow and enjoyed some tag singing with members. The chorus sang the welcome song this week with Terry directing.  Good to do that again as part of our chapter meeting.

 

After all these show announcements, Joe worked on holiday music starting with “White Christmas.” Part of the room rotation included letting the half-chorus groups work on their songs for the show, as well as for some VLQ groups to work on their songs.

 

Our next  Harmonizer Tuesday meeting will be at 7 pm on Nov. 16th, 2021 at Scottish Rite   Temple on Braddock Rd. in Alexandria and will likely be a hybrid meeting again. 

 

The second BirthdayGlow will be held at Harmo House after chapter meeting to celebrate all the November birthdays.  Hope you can join in the fun.

 

Until next time – editorjack!

(This message is prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to miss, and as a historical record for the great things going on each week during the 73rd year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)