News of the Cheshiremen!

2005 News - and Where We Sang...


Tuesday Dec. 20	Holiday Caroling on Main Street Keene! Holiday Caroling at Genesis & The Woodward - Elder Homes
Saturday Dec. 17	Caroling Performance at Colony Mill Marketplace - Keene
Thursday Dec. 15	Rindge Senior Holiday Dinner at the Meetinghouse/UCC Church
Wednesday Dec. 14	Keene Chamber of Commerce Holiday Gala - hosted at Ocean Nat'l Bank
Tuesday Dec. 13	Holiday Caroling at Langdon Place & Prospect Place - Elder Homes
Sunday Dec. 11	Annual Holiday Concert at the UCC Church
Sunday Dec. 11	Holiday Sing at Cedarcrest with Santa Claus and his helpers
Sunday Dec. 4	Holiday Sing at Maplewood Home in Westmoreland
Friday Dec. 2	Christmas Tree Lighting, Keene Central Square, Holiday Sing-Along
Sunday Nov. 27	Church of the Nazarene - Performance of Appreciation
Saturday Nov. 26	Turners Falls, Mass. - Recording Session with the Keene American Legion Band
Saturday October 15	53rd Annual Show of the Keene Cheshiremen / "Singing the Blues Away on Gilligan's Island"
Tuesday September 27	"You Can Sing Too" Special Open House Guest Night 2 Another grand night out with the boys! Singing our hearts away... that's all! Many thanks to our new guests for returning again this week and for trying Barbershop! Updated 12/15: Our fourth quarter enrollment has added 9 new members! Welcome and thank you for experiencing barbershop! This is fun! You newbie's are GREAT!
Friday September 23 New Hampshire Day at the	The Big E - Eastern States Exposition - W. Springfield, Mass. 75th Anniversary for New Hampshire at the Big E - NH Day - NH Building What a great fair tradition... New Hampshire represented in all its glory... The Avenue of States... NH Day at the Big E... and again, TWO 1-hour performances by the Keene Cheshiremen! What a fun time! A beautiful day, lots of things to see and do in the NH Building... and that good ol' barbershop harmony! Great combinations... NH really shined! The Keene Cheshiremen once again enjoyed performing twice for the exhibitors and visitors of New Hampshire at the Big E. The first "show" at 1 PM began upstairs on the balcony, continued within the NH Visitors Bureau booth at the entrance and finished in the rear of the building, singing many of our current repertoire - plus a special serenade to Audra Paquette, Miss New Hampshire 2005. She is a gem! Our second show at 4 PM was on-stage outside... and included a quartet demonstration... and a special serenade to "Ribby" - the collegiate baseball team mascot of the Keene Swamp Bats, who made a special surprise visit! As usual, the audience was wonderful and we appreciate their kind and generous applause. Truth be told - the Big E is always a great place to perform and everyone always LOVES us! We love singing and performing there too! Many thanks to Gail McWilliam Jellie, Director of the Division of Agricultural Development, for allowing and inviting us to perform on NH Day at the Big E. We had a great time ... and hope you enjoyed us too! New Hampshire at its best! Great job everyone!
Wednesday September 21	Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce "Business After Hours" at Stonewall Farm A quick pick-up double quartet provided entertainment at this month's gathering at the beautiful Stonewall Farm in the Education Center building. Many thanks to Kathy Harrington, Development Director of Stonewall Farm, for her hospitality... we enjoyed singing for the business folk of Keene and the Monadnock Region - who gathered for good food, song, drink and atmosphere. Not much business talk... Right?... It was "after hours!"
Tuesday September 20	"You Can Sing Too" Special Open House Guest Night 1 An incredible night! Fourteen guests joined us on the risers and sang barbershop harmony! Many for the very first time! And what an amazing sound - they ALL did a superb job and we sounded GREAT! Thank you, gentlemen, for visiting and we look forward to seeing you next week ... and, well, every week! We would love to have you join the Cheshiremen! And we hope we can provide you with enough compelling reasons to join us in harmony and fellowship, weekly! Roger, alone, is worth the trip, right? Seriously, though, we very much enjoyed your participation and sharing our love of barbershop harmony with you. We hope you'll find the same satisfaction and enjoyment! Join us in song!
Saturday September 10	Brattleboro Memorial Hospital - 14th Annual Health Fair What a glorious sunny day! Lots of people! (Great Barbecue! - loved the lobster!) Again this year we truly enjoyed singing for the Brattleboro community at the hospital's annual Health Fair. There seemed no shortage of people this year as the weather was absolutely perfect! Not too hot or cool! Last year, the entire event was rained out - and we were never rescheduled to perform at the make-up date :-( We sounded great! And the folks loved us! Too bad many of the booth dwellers (folks running the various stations with health info and demos, screening) were so busy (that's great!) and could not take a break and hear us up close and personal. We tried to sing louder (doesn't work)! Many thanks again to "Wendy" and hospital for having us back! We enjoy this venue!
Sunday August 28	Sunday Service - Keene UCC Church Such a rainy morning but what beautiful music! The Cheshiremen delivered their annual "Thank You" singing message to the Congregation of the UCC in Keene by performing the music program for the service. "As usual... brought tears to my eyes..." reported one regular Sunday UCC church-goer. "You all sound so great... beautiful... we love it when you sing here." said another. The Cheshiremen are incredibly grateful to the Keene UCC for allowing their facilities to house the Cheshiremen every week for their rehearsals and meetings. Every year, for just one summer performance, we provide the choral music to the congregation to express our gratitude... and we would LOVE to sing at any other time they wish... maybe even at another Sunday during the year... (hint, hint). Many thanks to Dr. Jay and Rev. "Woody" of the Keene UCC for accommodating the Cheshiremen throughout the year! And working with Renea was delightful! Our heartfelt thanks to you all!
Friday, Sat., Sun. August 12,13,14	Northeastern District of the Barbershop Harmony Society Harmony College at Fitchburg State College Twenty-one members, or about 55% of our active membership attended the learning weekend of educational classes, coaching and performances.
	PRESS RELEASE - AUGUST 24 Local Barbershoppers Attend College That would be Harmony College and barbershop singers, not the hair cutting profession. This year, 21 members of the Keene Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, the Keene Cheshiremen, attended Harmony College Northeast, held August 12-14 at Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts. The long weekend of musical education and fun was hosted by the Society’s Northeastern District. This level of participation represented over half of the Chapter’s active regular membership and sets an all-time record for the chapter. Four of those members attended the Harmony Explosion camp – 3 students, all from Hillsboro-Deering High School, and one adult, as chaperone. The “Explosion” camp is the District’s educational and recreational harmony camp for high school youth. At Harmony College Northeast, students can learn to become better singers and more informed musicians, plus there’s a chance to revel in the barbershop sound and camaraderie. The college experience brings courses of musical education, planning, performance, and generally celebrates and increases the awareness of this unique barbershop musical style. A popular and important course offered each year is the all-day Vocal Boot Camp course taught by Steve Tramack, director of the Nashua chapter’s Granite Statesmen barbershop chorus. His instructional program blends informational lectures about singing technique and anatomy with active, small group vocal workshops focused on the basics of producing a quality sound. Other courses offered and attended by Keene Cheshiremen included: Creating a Visual Package, Make ‘Em Laugh!, Sight Reading & Singing, How to Earn a Standing Ovation, Can That Chorus Dance?, Woodshedding and Tag Singing, The Singing Sensation (or, What it FEELS Like to Sing with Resonance and Proper Placement), and, Sing a Stack of Songs. One other all-day course offering, Quartet Coaching, allowed organized chapter quartets to sing and perform before a coaching staff that included members of international champion barbershop quartets. Techniques for improving delivery and stage presence were shared as well as strategies to engage the listener, relax, and have more fun. The Saturday night show featured no less than five international level guest quartets, include this year’s number one gold medal winners at the International Convention, the quartet “Realtime”. The show opened with the Harmony Explosion Chorus of High School singers and included several District favorite quartets. After the show, many enjoyed a fun-filled pizza party and an Afterglow with more singing well into the night. Attending these types of schools makes one a better, more motivated singer and is a wonderful celebration of what the Barbershop Harmony Society and this unique American musical style is all about. The Keene Cheshiremen Chorus is a 53-year young Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society and an icon in the Monadnock region. They meet every Tuesday evening from 7 to 9:30 at the Keene UCC church, at the head of the square (during renovations, they meet at the Church of the Nazarene, on Maple Ave., only through Sept. 13^th). A nationwide membership recruitment drive “You Can Sing Too!” is now underway – for men of all ages, any and all professions, who love to sing or would like to sing better. The Keene chapter’s special open house guest night will be Tuesday, September 20^th at the UCC church. For more information, please visit their web site at www.cheshiremen.org or call 1-877-31B-SHOP.

Thurs-Sat. August 11,12,13	Northeastern District of the Barbershop Harmony Society Harmony Explosion at Fitchburg State College. The Keene Chapter sponsored three members this year, all students from Hillsboro-Deering High School, to this 3-day extravaganza for young men in harmony. About 90 high school students from throughout the District attended. Their classes, instruction, rehearsals and camaraderie culminated in a BEST-ever performance Saturday night at the college's Weston Auditorium. They had FUN! Zombies, they were!

Tues. Aug. 9	Summer Concert at the Saxtons River Playhouse Under the bright lights and cohorting with crickets... yes, we sang... Bob M and Allan T in FINE form?

Saturday, Aug. 6	Town of Francestown: Summer Concert and Ice Cream Social

Sunday, July 24	Swamp Bats Game! Chapter Quartet "Junction 1-3-5" sings the National Anthem before a record crowd at Alumni Filed for the start of the NECBL Divisional championship game between the Keene Swamp Bats and the Vermont Mountaineers!

Thursday, July 21	Keene, NH: Chautauqua Festival at Keene State College Annual Pre-Show Music Program as requested/invited by the NH Humanities Council. 1905 America Reinvents Itself

Tuesday, July 19	Frost Free Library: Summer Concert Series, on the lawn… Great turnout and another beautiful "Mary Lou"...

Tuesday, July 12	For a Dear Old Friend at Langdon Place: Surprise Sing to Bill Jones, prior to rehearsal... Love ya, Bill!

Saturday, July 9	Stoddard Olde Home Days: Performance on the Stymest front lawn.

July 8 & 9 July 15, 16, 17	"The Music Man" returns! Keene Cheshiremen Chapter Quartet "STATELINE" appears in local Turners Falls, MA production at the Shea Theatre. Move over, Buffalo Bills!

Mon. - Sunday July 4 - 10	International Convention in Salt Lake City, UT Northeastern District's "Men in Black" win 1st GOLD in the Collegiate Contest... "REALTIME" wins GOLD in quartet competition - they're coming to Harmony College 2005 !!!!!!!! Keene Wins in PROBE's First Annual Poster & Flyer Contest First for Holiday Poster 2004 First for Valentine's Day Poster 2005 Congrats to Steve Salamin! VP of Marketing & PR!

Sat. June 25	District Summit Meeting - UCANSING2 Campaign - Lowell, Mass. Attended by Steve Salamin & Pete Ketcham

Mon. June 13	Swamp Bats Game - Keene Chamber of Commerce Night Cheshiremen booth encourages MEN to SING!

Sun. June 12	Annual Fireman’s Memorial Service 9AM Keene Fire Department

Mon. May 30	Rindge Veterans Memorial Park dedication Rindge Veterans Association

Tues. May 17	Mary Jo Ray’s 110th Birthday Bash at Maplewood

Fri/Sat, May 8/9	Barbershop Harmony Society Divisional Spring Quartet & Chorus Competition and Grand Finale “American A Cappella” Show Brattleboro, VT ... with support by non-competing, different division chapter, Keene, NH (see award received Aug 13th) under "Awards"

Sat. Apr. 23	VT State Emblem Assoc. - Bellows Falls VT

Sun. Apr. 3	UCC Capital Campaign Kickoff Dinner at KSC Mabel Brown Room Evening's Music Entertainment by the Cheshiremen!

Friday March 11, 2005	Barbershop Harmony Society ... ... releases the NEW LOGO!

Monday February 14, 2005 Valentine's Day!	A Keene Sentinel reporter and photographer rendezvous with one of six Singing Valentines groups at a strategic location to capture "a special moment" in the day. Read more in their article....which appeared the next day!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW!

Saturday Feb 12 2005	Keene Cheshiremen Chapter Quartet "JUNCTION 1-3-5" appears in local Lions Club production at the Colonial Theatre, downtown Keene. Move over, Buffalo Bills!

Saturday January 22 2005	53rd Annual Installation Dinner at the Pub Restaurant, Keene District VP Walt Lane Inducts New Slate of Keene Chapter Officers Snowy Backdrop, Winter Wonderland!
	Oh, What a Night... Late in January... in Ought - Five! Yes... Unbelievable and true... The show went on ... with over 50 brave and curious Cheshiremen and guests braving the cold, harsh mother Nature in what will be labeled THE GREAT BLIZZARD of 2005... to bear witness and share in officially recognizing the installation of the Keene Chapter officers for 2005 and to learn who would be honored as Barbershopper of the Year 2004! The program began early and we compressed the night's agenda through dinner in order that we get a chance to make the trek home before the worst of the storm.