Monday, August 13, 2018




Looking Back on the August 7th Chapter Meeting 

(Thanks to Gary Cregan who took the notes while YeEd Jack Pitzer was away on vacation.)

Tuesday night was another night of intense focus and preparation as the Platinum Moments70th Anniversary shows looms closer and closer. The evening started with clean-shaven Associate Director Tony Colosimo warming the men up to focus on proper alignment, breath control, and palate position.

Tony handed the reins over to director Joe Cerutti, who ran the chorus through “Steppin’ Out Medley” with no choreo. Then he asked only the men who felt they were very ready with the choreography they learned last week to go through it. Bringing everyone back onto the risers, Bruce Roehm worked the choreography for much of the rest of the song, and Joe took the rest of the time until the chapter meeting to drill those moves with everyone back on the risers.

Throughout the evening, Ian Poulin was available to take money for consignment tickets and to hand out more tickets for consignment.

Communications director Steve Murane conducted the chapter meeting, starting with the fact that all chapter meetings and extra rehearsals will be at Scottish Rite Temple in August.

Platinum Moments Promoter Krissi Folsom spent a few minutes recommending marketing suggestions for the 70th Anniversary show. Besides talking to people face-to-face, she encouraged everyone to ‘like’ or ‘follow’ the Harmonizers social media sites, and to share the Platinum Moments literature on those sites often. Krissi also asked everyone to invite their Facebook friends to the Platinum Moments event that is set up on that platform. Below are the links to the various Harmonizers social media pages; if you haven’t ‘liked’ or ‘followed’, please do so.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alexandria-harmonizers/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/search?q=alexandria%20harmonizers&src=typd
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harmonizers/

While you’re on Facebook, check out Tony Colosimo going live (as recorded by Mike Kelly) at rehearsal last night to talk about all the exciting special guests for the 70th Anniversary.

Uniform announcements: if you haven’t been sized for the new suit, you must do it either on August 9 or 14. Contact Robyn Murane if you can’t make either of those two to work out alternate arrangements. Also, check your tuxedo to ensure that you have the correct sizes and all the parts. See her email for more details.

Terry Reynolds took the mic to announce that men who are not prepared to sing all of the numbers on September 8 can sit out the ones they are not ready for. The only exception is “Blow Gabriel Blow” and “We Kiss in the Shadows” - if you sit out one of those, you have to sit out both. If you are going to sit out any numbers, let him know which ones. He also announced that the rehearsal on Friday, September 7 is a tech rehearsal and for front row only.

There are performances planned on August 28 in Manassas, September 16 at Strathmore, October 20 at the Washington Hilton, and TC Williams for the Holiday Show on December 8.

Tuesday was the last night to give Brad Jones money for the England portion of the England/Scotland trip; those doing the Scotland extension have until August 28 to give him the money.

A sheet went around the room for all the men to sign stating that they carry liability insurance on their car insurance. This is a requirement for the Harmonizers’ new liability insurance.

Steve wrapped up his time at the mic by asking for a count of men who want a Harmonizers saddle bag. Contact him soon if you’d like to get one.

Chapter president Shawn Tallant had several announcements. He is still looking for someone to take charge of the softball game with the men of Parkside Harmony in Hershey, PA. Contact him directly.

He had news of several chapter members, as well. Ross Johnson’s eye surgery on July 25 was successful. There is a 2-month recovery, but all is going well. Bob Wachter is back home, which is great news. Both men would appreciate hearing from other members. On a sad note, Chuck McKeever’s mother-in-law passed away. He was very close to her, so please let him know that you are sorry for his loss.

Lastly, Shawn brought Director Joe Cerutti up to present him with a framed copy of the Orlando photo in gratitude for all the hard work that he put into preparing the chorus for the International Competition last month.

Chris Buechler represented the membership committee, to announce Jeff Burkey’s fourth year of membership.

Calvin Schnure announced six visitors: Jacob, Adam, Trace, Luke, Will, and Adrian.

After the chapter meeting and a relatively short break, the men returned to the risers, and made some very minor tweaks to “Blow Gabriel Blow.” The chorus ran through “Great Day” a few times without choreography, and then put it all together under the watchful eye of choreographer Craig Kujawa (freshly tanned after his arduous month-long work trip to Hawaii). He made four recommendations for improvement, the group made the fixes, and moved on to the“Anthem/Ode to Joy” mashup. After working through the music, Joe announced that this would be the last night that men would be singing with music for this song on the risers. A run-through of “Miller Medley” finished out the night.

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 70th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd













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