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

 Looking Back on the Nov. 16^th 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. 5^th.  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. 5^th. 

 

Chorus uniform coordinator, Robyn Murane, will be at the Nov. 23^rd 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. 7^th the Tuesday after our show.  The chorus will do caroling in Old Town Alexandria on Sat. Dec. 11^th. Then on Tuesday Dec. 14^th and 21^st we will do some singing in and around Alexandria.  There will be no chapter meeting on Dec. 28^th nor on Jan. 4^th.  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. 23^rd, 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 73^rd year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. - YeEd)