Convention Extra-2

And Then There Were Ten

The judges have now selected the top 10 quartets from the 20 groups that were competing in the semifinals. Congratulations to The Allies (JAD) (shown competing on the right) for making it to that lofty level. They will be vying with the other nine quartets in the finals on Saturday night.

It's Not All About Singing (but mostly)

We have taken some time away from the Convention Center to explore the wonderful city of Philadelphia. Here are a few pictures of what we have seen.

Below is the home of Betsy Ross.

We also visited the Liberty Bell location, which is undergoing some new construction.












The downtown area of Philadelphia is an interesting mix of modern and older architecture.

Note the "reflection" photo below.

Bring On The Choruses

Friday morning at 10:00, the chorus competition will begin. There will be 27 of the Society's top groups going for the gold. Among them will be our own JAD choruses, The Alliance and The Southern Gateway Chorus. By the end of the day, we will know which groups came out on top.

Convention Extra-1

The Competition Has Begun

Sue and I successfully negotiated our train trip and arrived here in Philadelphia about 3:00 pm on Tuesday. We took a taxi from the station to our hotel and got checked in. We joined the Stone family, Ray, Mary and Melanie and the five of us had dinner together at a nearby restaurant.

There is a whole lot of great barbershop singing going on here in Philadelphia. And I'm not talking about just the hotel lobbies, restaurants and street corners. The Collegiate competition concluded last night. Swedish Match (SNOBS) edged JAD Champs Prestige to win the gold. The scores for these two quartets were 998 and 996, respectively. That means averages of 82.3 and 82.2. Talk about close competitions. For all scores, see the BHS Home site.


Today, we watched the first part of the quartet quarterfinals. That included both The Allies and Hot Air Buffoons from our District. Tonight is part two. By that time, the field will be narrowed from 51 to 20 for the semis tomorrow. As always, there will be some excellent quartets that will not advance.

More updates will be coming soon.

June, 2010, #2

Philadelphia, Here We Come!

Lovers of barbershop singing, from both within and outside of the Society are converging on Philadelphia this week for the 2010 International Convention. What a great place to be on the upcoming July 4th weekend. Sue and I, along with several other Akron Chapter members, family and friends will be there.

If today's Bulletin issue seems a little shorter than usual, there is a reason. I plan to have some special International Report issues that will come directly from the Convention. A notification will be sent to let you know that these "Philadelphia Stories" are online. If any of those Chapter members that are at International have a short (100 words or less) article about their convention activities, please send them to the Bulletin email address, derbytown08@gmail.com., or give them to me directly in writing.

___________________________________________________________________

Radio

In the 2010 Show, the chorus sang the song "Radio" and the lyrics mentioned a list of classic radio programs. If you would like to hear more old radio shows, in mp3 format, just click on the Old Time Radio link in the Hot Links section at the top right of the Bulletin page. If I may, I recommend starting with the "Death from the Deep" episode of "The Shadow" from March 28, 1954. It even has a commercial with an Akron connection.

_________________________________________________________

Birthdays
Charlie Horning-6/28
George Bachmann, Jr-7/1
Virgil Koppes-7/4
Larry Steele-7/4
Dan Nichols-7/7

___________________________________________________________________

What O. C. Cash Forgot To Tell Us

1. Go figure: If the quartet is stubborn and wins, it has guts. If it is stubborn and loses, it's dumb.

2. The three other parts can reform, but a bass is forever.

3. There is a pessimist in your chapter who thinks the old days were better. You know who I mean. You also know the optimist who believes that things are getting better. Trust me on this one, they're both wrong.

4. No member of the chorus is completely useless - he can always be used as a horrible example.

5. The amount of food prepared for an Afterglow, as a percentage of the guest's requirements, is either 84 percent or 192 percent.

6. When a barbershopper tells you, "I'm as good a singer as you are", it means that he thinks he is better.

7. We spend our lives buying new-stuff and throwing away old-stuff. Exception: we never throw away an old pitchpipe. Interesting.

8. The talent of a tenor is inversely proportionate to the weight of his music bag.

9. No quartet or chorus will ever do "Down Our Way" well. A classic case of "no respect for the too familiar."

10. Give pause to joining a chapter that has the local nursing homes singing for them.

___________________________________________________________________

Quartet Activity

Clear Choice

June 14-sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and a vocal arrangement of "Taps" at the dedication of a new flagpole at the Our Lady of the Elms Athletic Complex in Bath. It was a very fitting Flag Day activity.

June 17-did a 30 minute show from the gazebo on the Medina Square and entertained the crowd of about 2000 with strolling and singing from 6-8. The occasion was the annual ice cream festival of the Medina County Board of Developmental Disabilities.

June 24-provided the musical entertainment at the Berea Masonic Temple for a meeting of The Order of The Eastern Star. Worthy Grand Warder, Vivian Chrisopulos was the guest of honor. We sang "Sweet (Vivian) Adeline" to her and since she was of Irish descent, we added "My Wild Irish Rose". Our "organ recital" was included in this performance. We hadn't used it for some time, but it turned out that corn still sells well in most parts of Ohio.

July 11-Dan, Ray, Jim and Bill will be singing at the amphitheater of Tuscora Park in New Philadelphia at 7:00 pm. The evening is billed as "Barbershop in the Park" and will include both The Schoenbrunn Valley Chorus and a Chapter quartet, a group from Sweet Adelines, and the 2010 International Seniors Bronze Medal quartet, Lightly Seasoned.

All Chapter quartets are encouraged to submit information about past and/or future performances for inclusion in The Bulletin.

____________________________________________________

Getting To Know Us

Click on the Featured Chorus link in the top right of the Bulletin page to find out about another group of barbershoppers.


________________________________________________________

The Philadelphia BHS Chapter

________________________________________________________