COMING UP - ROB'S REQUIRED EVENTS* Saturday, February 5, 2005 Great Northern Harmony Workshop, Champlain College, Longueuil, QC April 8-10, 2005 Western Regional Convention Albany NY area (Location to be determined) Saturday, May 28, 2005 Annual Show Salle Pierre Mercure (UQAM) with 2004 GOLD MEDALLISTS Gotcha! September 23-25, 2005 Fall Forward 2005 Ermitage St-Croix, Pierrefonds September 30 - October 2, 2005 District Convention and Contest, Halifax, NS Early May 2006, Mountain Division Contest ß New October 6-8, 2006 Fall Forward 2006 Ermitage St-Croix, Pierrefonds [Thanksgiving Weekend] October 20-22, 2006 District Convention and Contest Providence, RI April 13-15, 2007 Western Regional Convention Albany NY area (Location to be determined) October 12-14, 2007 Fall Forward 2007 Ermitage St-Croix, Pierrefonds October 19-21, 2007 District Convention and Contest Montreal, Quebec *NOTE: It is your duty to inform Rob as soon as you know you will miss any rehearsal or event.

COMING UP - OPTIONAL, BUT FUN and EDUCATIONAL EVENTS Saturday, January 15, 2005 Installation and Awards Night Cote St-Luc Barbeque, Cote de Liesse, ß NEW July 3-10, 2005 67th Annual SPEBSQSA International Convention Salt Lake City, Utah September 2 - 5, 2005 Lake George Barbershop Quartet Festival Details to follow

All members of the Chapter should be registered for the Saturday, February 5, 2005 Great Northern Harmony Workshop at Champlain College, Longueuil, QC. We are going to be coached by Kevin Keller, former baritone of Cheers, a Music Judge, sings with the Ambassadors of Harmony (current International Chorus Champs), and all around good guy. It will be a fun event, and ALL MEMBERS MUST ATTEND.

You will also have a chance to chose another half day course to further your musical education. The course material was sent by email, and copies have been available at Chapter meetings.

Please ensure that your registration is in to Steve Wheaton by January 10, 2005 at the latest!

We are going to be on the look out for men who can sing. Our Membership team of Bert Brossoit and Bob Ebers will be thinking up ways to attract men to our rehearsals.

It will be up to all of us to make sure that the environment they come to is an attractive one, where they can see us having fun, learning new songs and generally enjoying this hobby of ours. That shouldn't be much of a stretch for any of us.

In the meantime, think about men that you know who can sing. Invite them to come on a Monday evening and see what we do.

We have received word that Ted Hanna, one of the founding members of the Montreal Chapter, and a driving force in barbershopping in Quebec, is in poor health.

He is confined to bed and is unable to take phone calls. Email messages can be sent to Ted through his son, Mark Hanna.

His email address is mark.hanna@sympatico.ca.

Our 50 year member, Alex Walker is a great supporter of the chapter, and attends as many events as he can.

I am sure he would appreciate receiving a phone call, or a note in the mail. His co-ordinates are as follows:

A T Walker
11 Rue Cedar
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC H9B 1Z1
(514) 684-6826

1. WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may cause you to wake up with breath that could knock a buzzard off a garbage truck at 100 yards.
2. WARNING: Consumption of alcohol is a major factor in dancing like a jerk.
3. WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell the same boring story over and over again until your friends want to smash your head in.
4. WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may cause you to thay shings like thish.
5. WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may cause you to tell the boss what you really think while photocopying your butt at the office Christmas party.
6. WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe that ex-lovers are really dying for you to telephone them at four in the morning.
7. WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may leave you wondering what ever happened to your pants anyway.
8. WARNING: Consumption of alcohol is the leading cause of inexplicable rug burn on the forehead.
9. WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may create the illusion that you are tougher, handsomer and smarter than some really, really big guy named "Psycho."
10. WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may lead you to believe you're invisible (or invincible).
11. WARNING: Consumption of alcohol may lead you to think people are laughing with you.

The Mini-Pitch is available on the Chapter Website. http://www.nedistrict.org/montreal/

You can also read the Mini-Pitch at http://www.nedistrict.org/montreal/Pitch.htm. It is available in HTML (web page), Word document format or PDF (readable with Abobe Acrobat Reader.) Check it out.

Here is our current repertoire list: [mp3] means that the mp3 file is on the Members' Only web site

Articles for the Mini-Pitch can be sent by email to imphillips@videotron.ca for future issues. Thanks for your contributions.

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

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