We hit the contest stage in Brattleboro, VT by storm!

Friday started out just fine, with our scheduled departure at 1:30 PM. Even with the students blocking Décarie, we made it off the island without too much trouble. The trip was semi-uneventful. Jason/Jon/ Jacob Rose had left his costume on his bed, but with much luck, Jeffery Mance got him into a costume for the weekend. [Jonathon says he may never bring his costume again!]

We stopped at the border and got through, travelling on to Lebanon, NH. After the appropriate purchases the Sunshine Bar and Grill opened, and a good time was being had by all.

We arrived in Brattleboro at 7:00 PM, having taken more time on the road than anticipated. After checking into the Quality Inn, we went to the quartet contest. The Cavaliers win the Mountain Division Quartet Contest

We missed seeing Andy Doré, Dan Deon, Andrew Wheaton, and Steve Wheaton, The Cavaliers win the Mountain Division Quartet Championship! Congratulations, Guys. A well deserved win.

The bus driver had some problem with his log and we couldn't stay more than an hour at the contest, but we saw six quartets. There were a couple of really young guys singing, and that is encouraging.

Dinner Friday night was excellent with many of the group going for steak at the "Steak Out," which was close to the hotel. The rest of us went to "Panda North," a Chinese restaurant with an eclectic menu, but fabulous food and beautiful presentation. It was a delightful surprise for a small town.

Saturday morning we enjoyed the complimentary breakfast in the Dabha Restaurant in the hotel and started to warm-up and get into contest mode. We had a room in the hotel, and our risers, so we were comfortable and the acoustics were dead, which prepared us for the stage.

At 11:30 AM, we moved to the Brattleboro Middle School, which was the marshalling area for the choruses. We had checked out of our hotel, and loaded the bus and we used the buses provided by our convention hosts, Springfield [who did a great job. Thanks to them!] We did a bit more warming up and we were firmly in contest mode, even to Murray being cranky J .

After the final warm-up room, we had our pictures taken, got on the bus and went to the Latchis Theatre where the contest was being held. After a short wait on the bus, while Saratoga Spring Chapter sang, it was our turn. We felt good about our chances of doing well, and seeing the hard work pay off.

It was an intense six and a half minutes. Beautiful Dreamer went very well, and Give My Regards to Broadway went almost exactly according to plan, so we felt good getting off the stage, and joining the rest of the audience for the remaining choruses.

The awards for charitable donations were made, and we received a Gold level award for local donations.

Lots of other awards were made including the Mountain Division Barbershopper of the Year, Walter Lane. Walter has been Mister Membership for several years, and is a most deserving winner. The trophy is named after Wally Mance, the father of Jeffery and grandfather of Rob and Matthew.

It was a close contest, but in the end the Greater Montreal Chapter's Island City Chorus won 1. Most Improved Chorus, 2. Small Chorus Champions, and 3. Mountain Division Champions, and 4. qualified for District in Halifax.

The score were very consistent, and we know where we can improve on them, which will be necessary if we are to maintain our position at District. Burlington and Saratoga are hot on our heels.

We went to a shopping centre near the theatre and spread out to find food. Several went to a Subway, some went for pizza, and others went to the Price Chopper and got salads, chicken pot pie, wraps, sandwiches, etc. We arrived back at the theatre at 6:00 PM and warmed up again. We practised the national anthems with Manchester's Silk City Chorus and then hit the stage. The anthems went pretty well, and then we had our spot.

We sang pretty well, and Bert Brossoit had the audience in the palm of his hand, as he explained we were making a break for the border with all the hardware!

Sometimes things go really well, and sometimes they don't. We made great time until the Canadian Border. Some undeclared booze caused a delay, and several sorry members left behind their beverages for destruction. L

After the spirits recovered [a bad pun] the singing started up again, and the trip continued uneventfully to the Church where everyone disembarked from the bus, leaving Grumpy, our bus driver to logout.

The risers were returned to the cupboard, and everyone left for home, to gather once again on Monday to savour the success, and to start to build toward another one in Halifax. Congratulations and thanks to Rob Mance and Morgan Lacroix for their tutelage!

We are starting again tonight, working on the Barber Pole Cat program. All members who are interested in learning, or helping to teach are welcome to join in.

Bert Brossoit, Show Chairman extraordinaire, has given out show tickets to those who pre-ordered, and he wants to receive money for the tickets already sold.

Lets fill the program with business card ads, quarter pages, half pages… well you get the idea. Alan Kenley has agreed to be the advertising co-ordinator, and we need to talk to companies, our dentist, barber, you name it.

This will be a joint show, with the West Island Sweet Adeline Chorus and will feature Commonly Unique and our 2004 International Quartet Champions, Gotcha!.

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

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