Date: September 11, 2000

District in Providence. (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.) Those who missed last Monday's rehearsal missed a great one. It was so good, that Rob Mance suggested we tell those not in attendance that the District Contest and Convention has been moved to Providence, RI. Since we will all be working to make the contest the best in recent memory, here in Montréal, I guess the cat is out of the bag. It sure is fun when you are performing well!

Don't forget the singouts Tuesday and Saturday! We are going to Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pierrefonds for 6:30 pm on Tuesday. We will be fed and then will entertain the church members. More details will be provided on Monday evening. A map to the church is available, if you didn't get one last Monday.

On Saturday we will be singing at the wedding reception of Oryst Gudz' daughter Laura. The reception is at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, 1228 Sherbrooke Street West, and we need to be there at 12:00 noon to change and warm up. We will be singing at 12:30 pm. More information will be available on Monday evening.

Membership starts with ME! It's as easy as 1-2-3. This is the time of year when people are focused on doing new things, and getting ready to pick up on the things they haven't been doing all summer. Take the time to ask a friend to come and share our hobby. They will need to be motivated and able to sing, obviously, but the rewards are many and fun. Sharing is a good thing, so let's do it. It's as Easy as 1-2-3.

That's Entertainment. Ron Schurman has obtained 100 Entertainment Books 2001 for us to sell. These offer excellent savings at restaurants, movies, dry cleaners, and many other locations in the Montreal area. We are among the first to be out selling, so see Ron TONIGHT, and pick up a couple of Entertainment Books to sell.

Do your part! Sell some chocolate. John Clendinneng is the man in charge of Chocolate Bar sales, and he wants you to bring in your money. Jerry Silverberg has a few more bags more since the first batch went so quickly. If you haven't already picked up a bag of these delicious milk chocolate and almond bars, do it tonight. There are only a very few left. They sell for only $2.00 and John will be glad to get you out earning money. Part of the profit goes to your account to pay for retreats and other expenses.

Start a monthly payment plan now. Don't forget the easiest way to pay is in small instalments. The $14 Monthly payment hardly hurts. (Nor does the $42.00 quarterly payment, if you prefer that.) This is encouraged for all members of the Chapter. If you pay $14.00 at the first rehearsal every month, you save a couple of dollars, and make the payment process painless. Start NOW. Post-dated cheques payable to Island City Chorus can be given to Ray Watkins, Chapter Treasurer. All members who have just paid dues for June 30, 2000 should start to pay $14 per month NOW. This helps us with our current cash flow problems, and makes the bite less painful.

Still NEEDED- bright ideas. The Chapter is in need of funds, and good fund raising ideas. Obviously singing is an ideal way to raise money. If you know of a group that is looking for some excellent entertainment at a reasonable price, refer them to Alan Kenley at 514-341-7171.

Please talk to Jerry Silverberg about other fund raising ideas you may have. Since the show didn't quite bring in as much as we budgeted, we need to have some successful fundraisers.

Here is our current repertoire list:

The First Chorus Contests

By 1952, a new facet in Barbershop competition was gaining steam--chorus contests. In the summer of 1952, both the Land O'Lakes District and the Johnny Appleseed District held chorus contests with more than 1,000 barbershoppers and members of their families attending each. These were not the first chorus contests in those districts but they were indications of the growing enthusiasm. Others of the 14 districts had chorus contests scheduled for the late summer and early fall months. The first Michigan District chorus contest was held in July of 1952 with nine choruses competing and roughly 2,100 barbershoppers and their families attending.

The first international chorus contest was held in Detroit at the 1953 convention. The winners, the Great Lakes Chorus of Grand Rapids, Michigan, were acclaimed the "1953 International Convention Championship Chorus." Fifteen other choruses competed, and the affair was considered a big success. It was an experiment to test the popularity of the chorus contest idea, but not all districts were represented, so it was not until 1954 in Washington, D.C., that the winning chorus, the Singing Capital Chorus of the host chapter, could be crowned the "SPEBSQSA International Chorus Champions." Some 889 men in 23 choruses were involved in that contest, which from then on became an official part of the annual convention program.

--From Heritage of Harmony, edited by Val Hicks, published by SPEBSQSA, 1988, for the 50th anniversary of the Society

Did you know?: The International Convention and Contest, here in Montreal will mark the 50^th Anniversary of the Chorus Contest at International. One more thing to make Montreal International 2003 special.

The Proposal

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

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