ISLAND CITY CHORUS

GREATER MONTREAL CHAPTER

SPEBSQSA Inc.

The Little Chorus that could!

MINI PITCH

Date: April 28, 2003

The West Island Chronicle really is going to run a story on the preparations for the International Convention. Bob Ebers has been doing a great job getting publicity for the Convention and the events surrounding it.

A photographer will come to rehearsal tonight for a photo of the chorus and the story will be appearing in the Wednesday May 7th Issue.

Please wear regular clothes.

The Harmonet is a microcosm of the barbershop world, with members from around the world and all of the different organisations, so it isn't surprising that the questions raised about the up coming International Convention cover the waterfront.

One of the latest issues is SARS. People are concerned for their own health, and for that of their families. We have all seen the unreasonable fears that can be raised as the result of the unknown, and SARS is the unknown.

Because many of us are in touch with people who are either coming to the Convention, or are considering it, here is some information that you can use to help calm the fears that people may have.

The illness usually begins with a fever (measured temperature greater than 100.4°F [>38.0°C]). The fever is sometimes associated with chills or other symptoms, including headache, general feeling of discomfort and body aches. Some people also experience mild respiratory symptoms at the outset.

After 2 to 7 days, SARS patients may develop a dry, non-productive cough that might be accompanied by or progress to the point where insufficient oxygen is getting to the blood.

The primary way that SARS appears to spread is by close person-to-person contact. Potential ways in which SARS can be spread include touching the skin of other people or objects that are contaminated with infectious droplets and then touching your eye(s), nose, or mouth.

Information to date suggests that people are most likely to be infectious when they have symptoms, such as fever or cough. However, it is not known how long before or after their symptoms begin that patients with SARS might be able to transmit the disease to others.

Scientists at CDC and other laboratories have detected a previously unrecognised coronavirus in patients with SARS. This new coronavirus is the leading hypothesis for the cause of SARS; however, other viruses are still under investigation as potential causes.

Get your souvenir lapel pin for the 2003 International Convention. They are on sale for $7.50 CDN or $5.00 US. This is going to be a major fundraiser for the Chapter, and Ron Schurman has already sent out letters to the Presidents of all NED Chapters, encouraging them to send in orders. Replies are already coming in.

If you need a pin, or will be going somewhere that you can sell some of these pins, ask Ron Schurman, Murray Phillips, or Steve Wheaton for some. The money we raise will be very helpful in financing the extras we want to do during the Convention.

Plans are underway for the 6^th Annual "One Step at a Time" Walk of Hope so please mark your calendars now. The Missing Children's Network Canada, in collaboration with CJAD/MIX 96, is proud to announce that its annual Walk of Hope will be held on Saturday, May 31st, 2003 at Centennial Park in Beaconsfield, 288 Beaconsfield Blvd. This is a great opportunity to be seen by the media. Let’s help raise funds for the Missing Children's Network and help raise awareness of barbershopping in general.

Pledge forms are available from Alan MacKenzie.

This coming Thursday, the people in charge of committees and activities will meet to share their progress. Things are coming along well and with less than three months to go, we are on schedule. We will have a great Convention!

During convention week, we are recommending that all volunteers, except those needing their cars for the job they are doing, use public transportation. As you know, parking downtown is expensive. We will have a very limited number of parking discount coupons. If you, or one of your volunteers really needs parking, let Stan Blicker know.

We are still accumulating the reserve of volunteers needed to make this a successful convention.

Do you have any friends that would like to see what goes on at our Conventions? Suggest that they volunteer.

Remember that we will need everyone's total commitment the week of the Contest. The email to volunteers asking for their shirt size has been sent and we are in the process of ordering the volunteer shirts for the people who will be helping us with the Convention.

Practice is something we do at home, every day, between rehearsals!

Rehearsal is where we reinforce what we have been practising every day!