Monday, October 27, 2008

October 2008, #2

Happy Halloween!

This Saturday is the Catholic holy day of All Saints' Day (All Hallows' Day). The previous day is All Hallows' Eve, from which comes the name Halloween. In 5th century Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31st. On that day, it was thought that spirits from all those who had died during the previous year would roam the land searching for a living body to inhabit during the coming year. People would dress up in scary costumes and parade around noisily so that no spirit would enter their body.

There was also a custom in 9th century Europe that became part of the Halloween tradition. People would do what was called souling by traveling from village to village and collecting small cakes filled with currents. In exchange for the cakes, they promised to pray for the deceased relatives of those who baked the cakes.

The Jack-O-Lantern also seems to have come from Irish folklore. The story is that Jack, a drunkard and generally nasty guy, tricked the Devil into climbing a tree and then trapped him there. When Jack died, he was not allowed to enter Heaven because of his bad deeds during his life. He was not
allowed to enter Hell because of the trick he played on the Devil. The Devil gave him a turnip with a glowing ember in it to light Jack's way through the darkness. When Irish immigrants came to America, they found pumpkins to be more plentiful than turnips, so their "Jack's Lanterns" were made from hollowed out pumpkins.

Halloween Anthem?

For the past 40 years or so, the following song is often played on the radio or at parties during Halloween time. This clip shows Bobby "Boris" Pickett singing the song that he originated. This performance, in 2006, was his last before he passed away.











Novice Quartet Contest

There will be a novice quartet contest during our chorus rehearsal on Tuesday, October 28th. This is a "just for fun" event so plan to participate. There will be time for practicing on Tuesday. The only rule is that no more than 2 members of your quartet can be members of a registered quartet. Pick a name for the group and be prepared to sing one song. This is a good chance to get your feet wet if you haven't done much quartet singing.


December Dinner Meeting


This year's dinner meeting will be held on Saturday, December 13th at Anthe's on the Lake, 4315 Manchester Road. There will be a cash bar at 6 and dinner will be at 7. Members are free and guests are $20. Menu choices with sign-up sheets will be available at rehearsals on November 4th, 11th and 18th. The deadline is December 5th. 2009 officers will be installed at this meeting and the BOTY will be awarded.(fill out your nominee form ASAP)


Chapter Member Bio Forms


If you have filled out your bio form, bring it to the next rehearsal. An envelope will be provided for collection. There will also be blank copies of the form available. You can take one home and fill it out at your leisure.


Birt
hdays
Since there were no chapter members celebrating birthdays between October 27th and November 10th (next bulletin), let's honor a famous American who was born on October 27th, 1858. That would be Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States, who served from 1901 to 1909. When Roosevelt ran for re-election in 1904, his main campaign song was "A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight".


The Songs
We Sing

Here are Stan and Ollie doing an old favorite. Our "frontline" guys would look great doing this choreography. How about a "Foreign Legion" number in some future show?







More Halloween Barbershop

If you still want more Halloween songs, here are the Dapper Dans at Disneyland doing a Halloween set.










Come On Down!!

If you haven't been to a chorus rehearsal lately, you are invited to join us soon. Look at how much fun we had at the last rehearsal. Click on the picture below.

Rehearsal-10/21/08