Looking Back on the October 29^th Chapter Meeting (as reported by Assistant Scribe, Dave Branstetter)

The hall at Durant Center was buzzing with activity before the chapter meeting started. Ian Poulin was there for Harmonizers to pick up tickets they had ordered for the upcoming Holiday Dinner Theater. Eric Wallen was selling t-shirts in support of SAI quartet Shades of Jade and their trip to compete at International Competition in Hawaii. Dick Hall was at his normal post selling 50/50 tickets, and Sandy Stamps was there with her stash of White House Christmas Ornaments. Todd Rykstarsyk set up snacks and coffee in the break room, filling in admirably for Jack Pitzer who is in Kentucky for an FFA Convention.

Associate director Tony Colosimo conducted the warm up session. Director Joe Cerutti then reset the chorus in sections on the risers and spent several minutes reading selected comments from a very humorous facebook “discussion” on whether or not the chorus would be competing at Internationals in Las Vegas in 2014. After the laughter subsided, Joe went to work on some of the holiday music - “Little Saint Nick”, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time”, and “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Assistant director Terry Reynolds announced that this was the last time we would be projecting the holiday music during rehearsal. He also mentioned that auditions for the solos in “Ave Maria” and “Do You Hear What I Hear?” would be conducted during the rehearsals on November 5^th and 12^th (Terry had sent out an email to that effect on Oct 25^th).

Joe then turned the chorus back over to Tony for an excellent craft session to close out the first half of the rehearsal. Using the first few lines of “O Holy Night” as a teaching example, he had the chorus focus on “keeping our breath connected”, because using our whole voice requires “great movement of air”.

Operations vp Bob Rhome started the business meeting with a quick report on attendance for the Holiday shows. According to Groupanizer, we expect to put over 90 Harmonizers on the risers for each of the three performances – it will be quite a treat for our guests!!

Chapter President Alan Wile took over and provided an update on several Harmonizers currently experiencing or recovering from various health issues. Keep them all in your thoughts. Alan also reminded the chorus of the upcoming President’s Awards Banquet (Jan 25, 2014) and asked for RSVPs to be sent to Steve Murane. He also asked for awards nominations, so that we have something to present at the banquet. Alan also referred the chorus to emails he had sent earlier in the day covering the House of Delegates report as well as donation opportunities for chorus members. He closed by sharing some kind words he’d received from one of last week’s guests, Tom Halley, lead of last year’s M-AD quartet champs, FRANK THE DOG. The Harmonizers clearly know how to do hospitality!!

Sandy Stamps made an announcement on behalf of Roger Day, seeking volunteers to assist in decorating the hall at First Baptist Church for our Holiday Show on the morning of Dec 6^th.

Ben Roberts invited the chorus to West Potomac High School’s upcoming presentation of “Avenue Q”, an allegedly risqué bit of theater – with puppets!

Terry Reynolds returned and repeated his earlier announcement regarding auditions for the “Ave Maria” and “Do You Hear What I Hear?” solos (Nov 5^th and 12^th during rehearsal). Terry also informed the chorus that he would be hosting an extra rehearsal on Nov 7^th (likely at Durant, email to follow) focusing on the non-holiday portion of our repertoire. Great opportunity for newer members!

Bob Rhome returned to remind us that next week’s rehearsal (Nov 5^th) will be conducted in the 3^rd floor Music Suite at First Baptist Church on King Street, due to Durant being used as a polling center. And he reminded us that Ike Evans was available take our mug shots for the picture board display in the meeting hall.

Membership VP Mark Klostermeyer with help from Rich Hewitt welcomed guests for the evening; all three had been with us before – two of which have taken the step of becoming official applicants!! Rich was proudly wearing the t-shirt and medal he received for completing last weekend’s Marine Corps Marathon – way to go, Rich!! It should also be noted that one of the two applicants, Reed Livergood, successfully passed his audition after rehearsal – a welcome addition to the Harmonizers!!

After a 15-minute break, the chorus hit the risers again – this time in our “usual” formation – for work on “Fa-La-La”, including performing the choreography under the watchful eye of Carlos Barillo, and “Hallelujah Chorus”.

The rehearsal concluded with Terry Reynolds directing “Stars and Stripes Forever” and “God Bless America” in preparation for the Veteran’s Day Performance at Oakton Elementary School. Terry and Tony urged everyone, not just those participating in the performance, to take some time this week to refresh their memory on those numbers!

Afterglow at La Porta’s was as festive as ever, with a number of Harmonizers in attendance.

Til next week (after which Jack reclaims his rightful duties) - Dave

Looking Back on the October 22^nd Chapter Meeting

Before the chapter meeting, there were a lot of members and leaders of the chapter at Hard Times Café on King Street for some dinner and a couple booths had next year’s officers visiting with other members in preparation for chapter leadership in 2014.  In fact, there are always folks there for dinner on Tues, so stop by too if you get to Alexandria early some week.

The chapter meeting at Durant started right on time with all equipment set up as needed, and goodies in the kitchen for early snacks.  Assistant director Will Cox conducted the warm up session. And then director Joe Cerutti took over and we went right to work on the holiday show music – especially the new songs added this year.

The evening included some music work on the repeating songs for the show and other holiday concerts, with a sectional in the second half to particularly run thru spots that are often hang-ups for us in the regular holiday songs. Assistant director Terry Reynolds offered to host an extra rehearsal for the many new members who have a lot of songs to learn. Watch for an email announcing the final decision of a date and time and place.

Terry also alerted the chapter family that he is looking for a few more folks to be “monks” for the show.  See Terry or email him.  And then if a singer wants to try out for the several solos during the holiday show, watch for an email with details of how to audition.

Also during the second half of the evening, choreographer Carlos Barillo taught us a visual plan for “Fa La La La La” which will make it even more entertaining for our audiences.

The chorus was working fast and we got the whole agenda finished so early, we had time for a 30-minute break after the chapter business meeting.  Operations vp Bob Rhome began the meeting with some general announcements about business items guys should take care of over the break – especially getting info to the Normandy planning team and getting White House Ornaments to sell.

There were a couple announcements of Sweet Adeline chapter send-off events in the DC Metro area as the SAI convention is in Hawaii this fall.

Terry also urged all members to sign up on Groupanizer for the MANY upcoming events the chapter has on the calendar.  Your signing up helps chapter leaders greatly. Terry listed several events as a reminder: the Veteran’s Day sing at 9 am Monday Nov. 11th; the extra show rehearsal at First Baptist Church on Thursday Dec. 5^th at 7 pm and of course the three shows on the weekend (stay tuned for reporting times); our hospital sing on Tues Dec. 12^th before we go down into Old Town to sing in restaurants; a possible show for the Knights of Columbus on Rte. 1 in Alexandria on Dec. 14^th; a show at the Masonic Temple on Tues Dec. 17^th. BTW, we will not meet on Dec. 25^th.

Also be thinking about helping with the set up and decorating for the show at the church on Friday, Dec. 6^th.  And, all members will be asked to bring four dozen holiday cookies to the show for our guests’ dessert.

We were reminded to let Ike Evans take our new mug shots for the picture board display in the meeting hall.

President Alan Wile reported that John Hohl has made good progress after his operation recently.

Alan has asked us all to nominate our fellow members for the major chapter awards that will be presented at the annual banquet on Jan. 25, 2014.  Also mark your calendar and plan to attend.  It is a fun easy evening and something everyone should try to get to.  New members especially, should consider attending and bringing their significant other.

The chapter is eager to know if the employer of any member makes matching donations to non profits.  If so, please speak to Shawn Tallant.

Brad Jones alerted us that the major auction will go live online Nov. 1^st and he sent out an email explaining it, as promised.

Great to see so many of us wearing our name tags. But let’s keep working to make it automatic – keep the badge in your briefcase or car!

Membership vp Mark Klostermeyer with help from Rich Hewitt welcomed guests for the evening including lead of last year’s M-AD quartet champs, FRANK THE DOG, Tom Halley; and long-time member Bill Sowers and his wife Charlie.

In other news, YeEd learned that Dave Hood ran the Army Marathon over the past weekend! Afterglow was fun with director Joe there to share stories and news from around the BHS.

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 65^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd.)

Looking Back on the October 15^th Chapter Meeting

Fall season has set in – darkness coming on early as guys get from work to Durant.  Many members arrive via the convenient King Street Metro Station and walk the three blocks to Cameron Street and Durant. The usual work crews had the hall ready with av and risers, work tables, and chairs for guests.

The pre-song to get us headed toward the risers was “I Am the Pirate King” which hints at the theme for the holiday show.  It was shared that assistant Will Cox will be the Pirate King in the show – and he did the warm up session for us.

When director Joe Cerutti took over the chorus, we went right to work on new holiday music “Little St. Nick” and “Fa La La La La.”

Associate director Tony Colosimo conducted a barbershop craft session expanding on his maxims for the chorus.

Tony and Joe worked with the chorus on more of our holiday show songs such as “O Holy Night” and “Hallelujah Chorus.”

Mid-evening, operations vp Bob Rhome conducted the weekly business meeting with a start off thank you to the many guys who accepted his challenge last week to wear name tags.  HINT:  put it in your car or briefcase, or inquire about buying a second name tag.

President Alan Wile announced another senior citizen outreach opportunity Thurs Dec. 12^th at 6:30 pm. He asked for a show of hands so planner would have a feel for how many singers might make it.

Alan reports that John Hohl is recovering from his surgery very nicely and is up and about. Alan also reported that Jack McKendree’s wife, Nancy, fell recently and broke bones.  They live in Williamsburg.

Alan asked for all members to consider offering nominations for chapter awards to be presented at the chapter’s annual awards banquet in January 2014  – see the email you got from him a while back.

Assistant director Terry Reynolds asked guys to sign up for the three holiday show events on Groupanizer for Dec. 6 and 7 as well as the upcoming holiday show at the Knights of Columbus shows on Sat. Dec. 14^th  south of Alexandria just before Ft. Belvoir on Rte. 1.

Terry announced that auditions for solos in the holiday show are coming soon. Stay tuned for emails with dates and solos available.

Finally, Terry confirmed that we will have “Monks” again in this year’s holiday show, so there are opportunities for folks to take part – especially good idea for new members who have not had time to learn all the holiday music. Email Terry if you or someone you know is interested - Terry.reynolds4@gmail.com. It requires a few extra practices but no singing. Costumes are provided.

Bob Rhome reminded everyone to email Scipio Garling with their plans for elf or toy costumes.

There will be a board meeting Wed., Oct. 16^th at Durant.

Secretary Chris Buechler reported that Tony Colosimo and Dan O’Brien were judges at the Southwestern District contest that includes Dallas.

Chris presented a Man of Note award to Stan Quick for bringing Garrett Garner; Garrett received a Man of Note award for bringing his son, Tommy.  The Garners received new member materials.

Membership renewal cards were presented to John Pence for 29 years and to Jack Pitzer for 48 years.

Membership vp Mark Klostermeyer, with help from Rich Hewitt, welcomed several guests including a couple applicants and at least one first-timer!

During coffee break, there was brisk business to buy 50/50 tickets from Dick and Carolyn Hall, to make inquiries about the trip to Normandy from Ken Fess and Mick Stamps; and to pick up a supply of White House Ornaments to sell to friends, neighbors, co-workers.

Alexandria Harmonizers are selling White House Ornaments at $20 each.  The WHO makes a great present for a person who is hard to buy for, makes a great Thank You gift, a hostess gift or just that little something for a friend. It is just the right size to put in a suit case for a Thank You.

Members and Friends in Harmony may take some on consignment and not pay for them until they are sold. Sandy Stamps is distributing and selling them at every Tuesday night rehearsal.

 

There was a growl from the risers when Terry Reynolds won the 50/50 for the second time in three weeks.  He took us out singing “Keep the Whole World Singing.”  He did not make it over the afterglow to share in his winnings! So the crowd at LaPorta’s was on-their-own to pay their bills. Actually, the chapter’s half of the 50/50 goes to the chapter’s endowment fund.

 

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 65^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd.)

Looking Back on the 2013 Fall M-AD Contest Weekend and the Oct. 8th Chapter Meeting

On Friday, Oct. 4, Harmonizers and their families and friends headed to Ocean City, MD, for the fall district contest weekend. About 100 guys were set to be on the risers Friday nite and ten of our guys were headed to sing in the quartet contest that evening. It was an early start at 5:30 PM. 

The chorus was eager to earn a score to qualify for the district contest in 2014 without a conflict of qualifying at a division contest in the spring of ’14 just days before we head to Normandy, France. We earned 1604, 89.2%.

Besides the contests, we were there to serve as hosts for the weekend working at registration, inside the auditorium, serving as runners to get contestants to the stage on time, hosting judges, and other details like providing risers and set up crews as needed.

Friday nite the chorus call was at 6:30 pm, so we did get to hear MAYHEM.  We assembled on the risers with a great warm up session with assistant director Will Cox.  Everyone brought their uniform and make-up kits for later.  During the 2-hour or so rehearsal we drilled and ignited our enthusiasm for the package.  Our quartet guys came in as they could from the stage, made quick uniform changes and joined us on the risers. (We all appreciated their energy and willingness to rush back to sing.)  By stage time we were short one guy – Chuck McKeever was flying in from FL and a vacation to Disney.  But he made it just as we were leaving the dressing room. Special forces guys Mike Wallen and Sean Devine were with us for the contest too.

Assistant director Terry Reynolds did another “analysis geek report” at the Oct. 8^th chapter meeting to compare our score with other contests and such.  But Sunday afternoon he had already gotten out an email to all members with news (since so many men had returned home Friday nite or early Saturday morning and had not heard the score we earned.)  “Great Job to the 99 Harmonizers who gave a fantastic performance Friday night at district. We received many wonderful compliments for our performance as well as for our efforts hosting the contest. We didn't quite break the 90 mark, but district scores usually drop from international. They are significantly higher than last year's District.”  We sang “All the Things You Are’ and “Anything Goes” with lots of choreography designed by Carlos Barillo.

 

                      Overall/Music/Pres/ Singing

District 2013  89.2 / 88.7 / 90.2 / 88.7
Toronto          91.7 / 91.4 / 93.0 / 91.2

District 2012  87.4 / 87.3 / 89.8 / 85.0

Director Joe Cerutti worked hard at the rehearsal Friday nite and was glowing with pride after our hit on stage.  He had to leave on Saturday morning for his last official duty as a member of the BHS board and speak in another district.

In the actual chorus contest on Saturday, there were several Harmonizers who sang with other chapters; Singing Capital Chorus in DC was directed by Bill Colosimo with Bob Wells and Lou Bergner on the risers; The Virginians chorus from Richmond was directed by Mike Wallen with Mike Geipel and Sam McFarland on the risers; Fairfax Jubilaires chorus had Sam McFarland and Harold Weinberger on the risers; and the Chorus of the Chesapeake was directed by Rick Taylor with Chris Yates on the risers.

Two first-time emcees for the chorus contest – Tony Colosimo and Eric Wallen from our chapter – were great and likely will get a nod to do it again some time.

Voices of Gotham, Hell’s Kitchen, NY, was the new district chorus champ, with 50 singers, earning 1506 points at 83.7%.  They will represent the M-AD at the International contest this summer.  Second place chorus was our neighbors from Dundalk, MD, with 62 members.  Third place chorus was Long Island Sound Chorus from Five Towns College, NY, with 25 singers.  This is the chorus where our director Joe got his start singing barbershop. Fourth place chorus was the Westchester County, NY, Chordsmen with 48 singers. 

Our quartets did great over the weekend too! The 2013 district champs quartet was MAYHEM . They are the 18^th champ quartet with Alexandria Harmonizers singing in it. It was also great to have three quartets with our guys singing in the top 10 on Saturday nite!

1st  - MAYHEM (Ken White, Pookie Dingle, Matt Fellow, Mike Pinto)
5th  - ACME CHORD COMPANY (Dan O'Brien, Chris Susalka, Paul Grimes, Eric Wallen)
9th  - THE MONORAIL FOUR (Kellen Hertz, Phil Ferguson, Bobby Seay VI, Andrew Havens)
13th - YOUITH RECLAMATION PROJECT (Hardman Jones,  Mike Wallen, Roger Tarpy, Vic Owen)

 

MAYHEM introduced their great new song, “I Am What I Am” arranged by Dan O’Brien on Saturday nite. Their new formal outfits with their orange, red, yellow and green vests with black tails were striking.

 

ACME CHORD COMPANY had a new bass for this contest – Eric Wallen. 

 

New kids in the contest, THE MONORAIL FOUR, met on the Monorail in Florida when they were all there singing with CAPITAL FORCE youth chorus.

 

The second place quartet, GIMME FOUR, will be coaching at our chapter’s youth harmony event in the spring.

 

Bill Colosimo was emcee for the quartet contest finals.  Sean Devine spoke after the contest about ways to give to the Harmony Foundation.

 

Saturday nite’s show of champions included the top three choruses and retired district champ quartet, FRANK THE DOG. The M-AD Association of Quartet Champs ended the show with a welcoming song –“This is the Moment” - to the new champs, MAYHEM.  Steve White was the emcee for this part of the show.  Many Harmonizers had the pleasure of welcoming fellow chapter members into the fold of district quartet champs.

The new inductees to the M-AD Hall of Honor included our own Keith Jones. Congrats Keith! Well deserved.  Hall of Honor members are selected for long-time exceptional service to the district.  Quite a few fellow Harmonizers joined Keith on the stage in OC and up-front at chapter meeting on Tuesday when he was presented to his chapter as new inductee. There are 19 other Harmonizers who have been so honored (see page 43 of the chapter directory for the names.)

 

Tuesday’s rehearsal was a busy one with wrap up from the weekend and serious launch for the holiday show Dec. 6 and 7.  We were welcomed to the risers with “Feliz Navidad.” Associate director Tony Colosimo did the warm up session for us.  Director Joe Cerutti praised and thanked the chorus for their hard work this past weekend including the front row guys who handled the props and held extra rehearsals to revamp their routine.

 

He recognized our members Pookie Dingle and Ken White who were present as reps of the new quartet champs; and saluted Keith for his honor.

 

Joe welcomed Ken Potter from the Masters of Harmony who has become a Special Forces member with us. Ken plans to go to France.

 

Then Joe worked on many of the songs for the holiday show, and had a volunteer octet sing one song.  Tony did another of his great craft sessions – this one expanding on “awesome breath means awesome tone.”

 

Midpoint in the evening, operations vp Bob Rhome conducted a chapter business meeting. He welcomed the Friends in Harmony who held a meeting this evening.  Bob asked guys to have a new pix taken for the photo board that is posted in the meeting hall – especially for those who have not had a pix taken in many years!  Ike Evans was doing the photos.

 

President Alan Wile made a number of announcements:

 

·        Burt Stueve is back in the hospital in isolation with MRSA.

·        Ross Felker has returned from a duty assignment in Germany but his father died recently so will be back soon.

·        Joe Cerutti Sr. reports great response to the performances our guys did at the nursing homes recently. We were well received and the residents are eager for our return – especially those who had to miss our show.

·        There is a SAI show to honor quartets and raise some funds for area Sweet Adeline quartets going to their contest in Hawaii next month. Show is Oct. 12^th at Hunt Valley Inn in MD. Tickets are $15, show at 7pm.

·        Members are invited to respond to Alan’s email asking for nominations for the major distinguished service awards given by the Harmonizers to members at the annual banquet in January.

·        Harmonizers who contribute to the Harmony Foundation as members of the Ambassadors of Song (with a minimum donation of $10 per month) or the President’s Council (for a minimum of $1000 per year) have the option to designate their chapter and/or the district to receive up to 30% of their contribution. At the House of Delegates meeting on Sunday in OC, Alan received a check for $3,326.88 from “donor choice” contributions from the first half of the year.  Way to go men!

·        Alan thanked the chapter for their efforts this weekend and particularly thanked Chuck Harner for his leadership.  We earned $1300, which we can certainly use!

 

Chuck Harner earned a round of applause from the guys on Tuesday nite.  During the chapter meeting period, he thanked all those who stepped up to the plate and helped.  He commented, “This past weekend was another outstanding example of how the Harmonizers, Friends in Harmony, etc. respond when asked to handle great responsibility. All of our great Host Chapter Team need to know that I, as chairman, appreciate all that each one of you did to make our effort so successful. Many of you changed your plans and stayed all weekend to accomplish all of our task assignments – some (Bob Griesemer, Gary Fuller, Drew Fuller, Austin Cotton, and Howard Nestlerode) working until 12:30 am Sunday morning to break down the stage, ready room, and load out the Harmonizer truck for return to Alexandria. And thanks to our judge chauffeurs (Bob Rhome, Bob Wells, and David DesPortes) who left at break of dawn Sunday morning to get judges to their BWI and DCA flights and back home on time. 

Bob Wells invited us to attend the Harvest of Harmony, the annual fall show of the DC chapter on Nov. 9^th.  He has tickets.

Bob Rhome asked all members, new and not-so-new, to wear their white name badges each week.  Put one in your car or chorus brief case.

Secretary Chris Buechler welcomed new members Ken Potter and Evan Dosik and presented them Harmo History books. Mike Geipel was presented his membership renewal card for 22 years.

Membership vp Mark Klostermeyer, with help from Ken White, welcomed our large number of guests this week.  Mark reminded members that this is a great time to bring guests to merge into the performing chorus.

After coffee break, we did the wrap up on the chorus contest.  Joe continued his thanks and accolades to the men on the risers, to his musical staff and to the families and friends who helped us.  He was particularly taken by the synergy of the singers on the risers.  We watched the video from OC and Terry did his report.  Joe welcomed comments from the members.

The rest of the evening we worked on more holiday show songs – the ones we have sung before.

At the end of the nite, we bid farewell to Chris Clark who is moving to NJ by singing our traditional “A Place on the Risers for You.”  He will be missed on the front row and with us at shows and contests. 

In other news: John Hohl was in OC and brought greetings to the chorus Friday nite. In the quartet contest, one contestant sang “End of the Road” which John wrote and arranged with lyrics by Scott Werner.  This Thursday, October 10, he will re-enter Holy Cross Hospital in Ft Lauderdale for another cancer surgery. After his last surgery, more cancer was detected in his second adrenal gland... so that is being removed in hopes of being cancer free. He will live thereafter on supplements.

In less serious news, Peter Hubbard’s HuckleberrySin Pie which he entered in the Del Ray pie baking contest on Saturday didn’t get the gold medal.  So – he will try again next year!!

And Randall Eliason flew himself to OC for the weekend.  He was happy to avoid the traffic the rest of us had to combat.

There was a lot of Harmonizer advertising in the convention printed program and on the “jumbotron” in the main hall about our 2014 Youth Harmony event and also about our 2014 show with Ambassadors in Harmony, June 21^st, at George Mason University Center for the Arts.  Mike Kelly was instrumental in providing the “jumbotron” service.  Scipio Garling created a number of our ads for the weekend – including a fun shout-out from him and Josh Roots on the screen.

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 65^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd.)

Looking Back on the October 1^st Chapter Meeting

This Tuesday’s work session before district contest was fueled by a fantastic extra Thursday nite rehearsal on Sept. 26^th at First Baptist Church.  Director Joe Cerutti was working in Nashville, so associate director Tony Colosimo was in charge.  He teamed up with choreographer Carlos Barillo to make it a profitable work session.  Assistant director Terry Reynolds and riser coach Chuck McKeever were up front too as helpers and to keep the evening rolling.

Assistant director Will Cox did the warm ups, assistant director Mike Kelly with help from Doug White had the sound and mics ready, and operations vp Bob Rhome coordinated the move in, truck unload and reloading, and announcements.

It was great to have special forces guys, Mike Wallen and Sean Devine, present with us. We all used our black coats and gold scarves and the front row practiced with the props.

Major announcement were about Ocean City:  chorus call time is 6:30 pm Friday, Oct. 4^th at the Convention Center, Rooms 206 and 206.  Bring uniform and make up kits to dress after warm ups and some drills.

Thanks to music vp Brad Jones and librarian Bob Mattes for extra efforts to get together some special holiday music so our many guests can sing with us on Tuesday nites.  (But YeEd also suggests all of us need to be aware of helping guests that are invited to stand next to us on the risers.  Help them with the warm up words, help’em find the music, help’em know about coffee break and where the restrooms are.  Introduce them to other guys at break.)

Kudos to producer Greg Tepe for coordinating the Harmonizer “Let Us Entertain You” performances for about 120 guests at three retirement communities on Sept. 29^th.  Assistant director Terry Reynolds directed the performances of the mini-chorus.

Thank you to: Drew Fuller, Troy Hillier, Ken Fess, Bruce Lauther, Steve Murane,Bob Blair, Chris Yates, Chris Buechler, Carl Kauffmann, Dick Dangel, Brian Ammerman, John Oswald Greene, Dave Welter, Gerry Fuller, Bob Rhome, Mike Schwartz, Brad Jones, Chuck Powell,  Clyde Crusenberry, Dean Rust, Alan Wile, Randy Lazear, Don Dillingham and Frank Fedarko.

This series of shows is part of a chapter outreach in Alexandria to provide entertainment for seniors. They were funded by a gift from the Alexandria Performing Arts Association when they closed their doors  – money that was provided for this very purpose. Joe Cerutti Sr. is coordinator for the chapter.

On Tuesday nite, Oct. 1^st, director Joe Cerutti was on tap to do the warm ups and kick off the important rehearsal prior to the fall district chorus contest appearance.  We spent a little time on some holiday music first thing, and then got our coats and scarves and back on the risers to refresh and ignite the excitement of the package.  There are 100 guys planning to be on stage in Ocean City Friday nite Oct. 4^th.  As mentioned above, chorus call is at 6:30 pm.

Mid evening, ops vp Bob Rhome conducted the chapter meeting beginning with reminders of tasks to accomplish during break.

President Alan Wile congratulated Joe on the review of his Joe’s book. Congrats to Joe:  His book “Visions of Excellence: A Dialog with the Finest Directors from the Barbershop Harmony Society” was reviewed by Dr. Scott Dorsey (ACDA's Director of Education) in the November issue of the Choral Journal (ACDA's monthly publication). If you want a copy, let Joe know.

Alan also reported that Jon Abel and Burt Steuve are doing better with their health issues.

Finally, Alan offered encouragement for the dozen or more members who have been hit by the government shutdown today.

Assistant director Terry Reynolds repeated the chorus call time on Friday nite in OC – 6:30 pm at the convention center.  Bring uniform and makeup to change after we do some warm up and reviews.

Quartet promotion chair Calvin Schnure called up the 10 Harmonizers singing in quartets this weekend – first round on Fri. nite at 5:30 pm.  President Wile assisted and presented each quartet with a card and financial support from the chapter.  A Harmo salute to all!

MAYHEM  - Matt Fellows, Pookie Dingle, Mike Pinto, Ken White

YOUTH RECLAMATION PROJECT – Mike Wallen, Roger Tarpy, Hardman Jones, Vic Owen

ACME CHORD COMPANY – Dan O’Brien, Chris Susalka, Paul Grimes, Eric Wallen

THE MONORAIL FOUR – Kellen Hertz, Phil Ferguson, Bobby Seay VI, Andrew Havens

Ken Fess, chair of Normandy trip in 2014, spoke about latest details with promise to publish an email to all.

Secretary Chris Buecher presented member renewal materials to Dave Kohls and his 3 year membership card, and a 32 year renewal card to Joe Wagovich.

Membership vp Mark Klostermeyer with help from Ken White welcomed a long line of guests including first timers, friends of members and prospective members, and singers visiting from other chapters.

After coffee break, we were treated to a demo set from THE MONORAIL FOUR.

And then back to work on the cost set.  Joe invited the guys who are singing with us this coming weekend and who did not sing in Toronto to come up front for a round of applause – Tom Griffith, Ken Fess, Bob Wachter, Rusty Orvik and Todd Ryktarsyk.

Joe also thanked the chorus men and their families for the extra efforts to make this coming Friday nite’s appearance work so well.  He was excited about the chorus enthusiasm and dedication.

We ended the extra warm evening with the usual KTWWS and then a push to get sound equipment and props into the Harmo truck for the trip to OC. Risers and rest to storage in Durante. 

A good crowd of guys made it over to the afterglow.

In other news, Cuevas Adamson, “house mother” for the Harmonizers at Durant years ago, died on Sept. 25^th in Texas.  She helped us make Durant our home and welcomed the chorus guys, attended our events and family gatherings and stood up for us when needed.

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 65^th year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd.)