Looking Back on the May 30th
Chapter Meeting
ALERT – the chapter will
celebrate our 69th anniversary on Tuesday nite, June 13th! All current and former members are welcome
for the event. Cake too!! Our sponsoring
chapter, Washington DC, will have representatives too. Also note, the chapter meetings on June 6 and
June 13th will be at First Baptist Church, 2932 King St. in
Alexandria, in the music suite.
This week the
come-early-to-tag was at 6:50 with associate director Tony Colosimo teaching. The
crowd continues to be good for that event.
There was some clatter in
the hall before our start time as we rented our risers to the DC Gay Men’s
Chorus for an event and the risers came out from under the stage in Durant.
At start time, we formed a
huge circle in the hall and Tony did
the vocal warm ups before turning the chorus over to director Joe Cerutti. Joe was full of
compliments and thank yous to the quartets that represented us so well at
Southern Division and to the chorus for its work to earn the good score on
Saturday, and also to the many men who stayed around for an impromptu rehearsal
on our new music. That session appeared
to help many men when we got to those songs this week.
Joe thanked Johan Westberg
for the idea to make the extra rehearsal open to all at the convention and
reported he had gotten a nice note about it from other chorus leaders. This
prompted Joe to revisit briefly the
topic of inclusion and diversity and Joe
spoke some about next steps, his promise to strive for more open communication,
and his desire to create more dialog with members about the topic.
The musical workout sessions
for this week concentrated on the “Chicago” medley and new songs for Harmony U.
There is one more song to come – very soon.
Executive director Terry Reynolds conducted the meeting
and expressed thanks to the chapter quartet, NATURAL SEQUE, for filling a request from the American Legion
to sing at Alexandria National Cemetery on Memorial Day. Terry
also announced an addition to the chapter calendar – an all-sectionals rehearsal
on Saturday morning June 24th in the music suigte at First Baptist.
Ops team chairman Mike Edison recognized and thanked Matt Doniger for his
above-the-call-of-duty efforts on the weekend when our truck hauling risers for
the contest had a blowout and had to be towed to Reston!! Matt
managed it all and got the risers there in time!!!
Terry encouraged all members to review and note the recent start of
communications from events chairman Craig
Kujawa for the fall district contest weekend in Reading PA. See his first edition of “Magic City
Countdown” (referring to the run to get to the International contest in Orlando
in summer of 2018).
President Randall Eliason reported that Dick
Hall is in a rehab facility (Restore Health Rehabilitation Center, 4615
Einstein Place, White Plains MD 29695, his cell 301-928-4379) and eager to hear from chapter members and that Bob Ulibarri is making progress on his
heart health issues.
Randall presented another of his
Presidential Valor Awards – this time to Jeff Burkey for his great work on the
chapter’s new website. Congrats and
thanks, Jeff.
Ike Evans was taking photos of
members for the member photo board that hangs in the hall. All newer members
are encouraged to get their mug up on the board! And old timers who don’t look like their mug,
should remake theirs!
Membership director Rich Hewitt introduced guests, and asked for volunteers to work at
sending cards to members with health and family issues.
Private vocal lessons will continue
to be available with Vicki Dennis on
Tuesday nites.
The Chapter Nominating
Committee is gearing up to consider individuals to serve on next year’s Board
of Directors. To ensure the broadest possible coverage, your input is welcomed
for (1) names of individuals you believe would serve the chapter best in a
particular position, and/or (2) your own name for consideration. The nominating
committee includes Brad Jones, Clark
Chesser, Mark Klostermeyer and Todd
Ryktarsyk with Alan Wile as
chairman.
Everyone sends
congratulations to Andrew Havens and his wife on the birth
of their baby girl today! Greg Tepe
was in the hall this week as was Jerry
TePaske. Great to have Ross Felker in town for a couple weeks
from his home in Texas. Also was fun to
hang out with several guys at Southern Division we don’t get to see often like Larry Silva and Chuck Botts. Terry Jordan was up and moving and was
fun to share the weekend with him too.
No one can believe Will Cox won the 50/50 again
this week! So Matt Doniger directed
“Keep the Whole World Singing.”
Some new guys made it to the
afterglow at LaPortas at 1600 Duke Street – short walk or drive from Durant. Also
easy access to the Metro. Plenty of free parking. Everyone is welcome. You don’t have to stay late – come for a
short stop before heading home. Late
singers manage to get in some tag singing tho.
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
of the great things going on each week during the 69th year of the
Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd
