Looking Back on the July 16, 2024 Alexandria Hybrid Chapter Post Cleveland
There was no meeting of the Alexandria A Cappella Collective (AACC) on July 9 so members could rest up and get back into their work and life routines. The meeting for July 16 was well attended and was a fun night to regroup and celebrate. This report will cover several outside-the-chapter events held after members returned home from the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) convention in Cleveland, too.
Saturday, July 13th was the retirement ceremony for Captain Craig Kujawa. USN at the National Museum of the United States Navy in Washington, DC. A group of 37 Harmonizers attended and sang the National Anthem as part of the traditional ceremony. Craig was honored during the ceremony for his work during his 32-year Naval career. His parents were able to attend and the Harmonizers sang Happy Birthday to his Dad, Ray. Guest speaker who recognized Craig’s work and dedication was Rear Admiral Thomas Wall, Commander, Submarines, NATO.
Later on Saturday, chapters in the DC Metro area gathered to honor Sam McFarland for his 82nd birthday. Several Harmonizers made it there as did members from others chapter such as Loudon, Fairfax, Mount Vernon, Richmond and Dundalk. Sam has sung with most of these groups at some point, and so he was invited to sing with several groups – quartets and choruses - during the program part of the afternoon. Rick Taylor was emcee. A great feast started things that was all part of the truly special event organized by Cliff and Gretchen Shoemaker. Sam has moved to a new address in Ashburn as of July 1 (contact YeEd if you would like his new address).
On Sunday, July 14th, there was a celebration of life for Jack Crickenberger who was an early Harmonizer and sang in one of the chapter’s first organized quartets, THE CONFEDERATE NOTES. He was 97. He joined the chapter in 1950 and was an active member until 1964 – although he came to visit the chapter often “to check on the boys” and keep in touch. He promoted quartet singing his whole life through his choir. He was a lawyer and provided legal services for some members over the years. He arranged lots of music for quartets and the chorus but he never listed his own name as arranger – he used “N Fringer.” During the ceremony, his stepson recognized Jack’s barbershop background and his membership as a Harmonizer.
As a side note from that ceremony, the minister of the St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church, told some of us that he had grown up as a kid living next to Scott Werner in Dale City and new lots about the Harmonizers. (YeEd contacted Scott that evening and he replied that he missed the Harmo gang and sent his greetings to all.)
This week’s meeting was organized as an education meeting with a variety of program options and was held at Beth El Synagogue on Seminary Road. Membership director, Jacob Broude, organized refreshments for the night too – lots of pizza, salads, sandwiches and sweets, plus cold beverages. Many hands helped set up and get the room ready for the meeting. Attendees were encouraged to get refreshments when the meeting started at 7, and as is typical, the AACC crowd devoured the chow in no time at all.
Artistic director, Joe Cerutti, welcomed members of Metro Voices and the Harmonizers to this educational meeting and led a cheer for the Metro Voices success in the festival event in Cleveland. He also encouraged everyone to watch the video of the Harmonizer performance and share the pride of being in this great chapter!
He offered some other business matters for folks to add to their calendar: next week, July 23, the meeting will be back at AlexRenew, 1800 Limerick St., Alexandria. The plan for that night is to work on the songs the two groups will sing the next night, July 24, at Franconia Park, 6601 Telegraph Rd., Alexandria. The concert is sponsored by the Fairfax County Supervisor for Franconia, Rodney Lusk. It will be in the outdoor amphitheater in the park. There is lots of parking and benches for the audience – although many folks bring a lawn chair. There are also picnic tables for anyone to use surrounding the amphitheater. After working on the songs, the chapter will watch the movie “American Harmony.”
The meeting on July 30 will be a singing walk through Old Town Alexandria. Note the gathering time will be 7:30 pm, at Market Square.
August meetings will concentrate on refreshing songs from the repertoire for the two ensembles to sing on the fall show scheduled for Sept. 21 at Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria. News is that all of the chapter quartets will appear on the show this year!
Joe and Terry also promised that music for the holiday show in December will be on Groupanizer later this week so that anyone can get a head start on learning or refreshing the music.
The opening event for education night was the celebration of the 76th anniversary of the Alexandria chapter’s chartering – June 19, 1948. The original charter was on display for all to see. Chapter historian, Don Harrington, retold the story of how our founders met and launched the chapter. He shared details from the 50th anniversary book, Breathless Moments. The history committee recognized the chapter’s success as Barbershop Harmony Society leaders with a reminder of members who have been named to the BHS Hall of Fame – Bud Arberg, Wilbur Sparks, Dean Snyder, Darryl Flinn, Walter Latzko, and Alan Lamson. Several other members of the Harmonizer family are also in the Hall of Fame including David Wright, Kevin Keller, Tony DeRosa, Greg Lyne, and Jim Henry.
The chapter is also proud to have its first member honored as a recipient of the Joe Liles Lifetime Achievement Award – Joe Cerutti.
The history committee pledged to start building a history legacy for Metro Voices too and invited members of that ensemble to join the committee. Anyone interested should speak with Don or Jack Pitzer. All the Metro Voices members present were also given a copy of Breathless Moments and the 75th anniversary booklet.
For the educational sessions. two breakout sessions were held for about 45 minutes. The first round was Cy Shusterand David Breen speaking and demonstrating “What Is An Overtone?” or Calvin Schnure explaining “What is a Brigade,” which many singers enjoy during the year. The second round was a debriefing from the BHS convention and contest with Joe inviting comments from members; or Ask FIRST TAKE any questions about their contest performances with Tony Colosimo plus Andrew Havens and Drew Wheaton who were present via Zoom.
Next was the skit from the Class of 2024 – a long awaited demonstration of their paying good attention at meetings and rehearsals. As is typical – it brought lots of laughs and played heavily on in-house jokes from the past few months. Thanks to Charlie Rothermel who reportedly pulled things together for his class! After the applause, the 2024 bandanas were discarded!
The final presentation for the evening was Terry Reynolds’ annual “nerd” or “geek” report and statistics about convention scores and placements and the history of the Alexandria chorus in International contests. His final slide summarized the main points of his fun session: we’ve earned more third place medals than any other chorus (7); we are second in the total number of medals earned (21); we are tied for sixth in number of gold medals (4); we are the highest scoring eight place chorus in BHS history!; Metro Voices made a huge splash in their first International appearance; and finally, we have proven ourselves competitive at the highest levels while following a strategic plan that emphasizes community and de-emphasizes contest.
After “Keep the Whole World Singing” the hall was cleaned up and chairs stacked, and Joe invited folks to the Harmo House for the 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 76th year of the Alexandria Chapter. - YeEd)
The Chapter Mission Statement Enriching lives through vocal harmony in the greater DC area.
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