Date: February 26, 2001 Passing of a Legend - Lou Perry 1911-2001

Bring out your guests. Next Monday evening will be special, since it will be the first Official Guest Night we have had in a while. Jerry Silverberg is asking everyone to invite at least three people to come. If you have a good prospect, offer to pick him up and bring him to the rehearsal. Now is the time to contact the people who were good singers, but dropped out because they were discouraged by the quality of our musical product. They will be pleasantly surprised, and may want to rejoin.

Ask the men in your church choir, your barber, your auto mechanic, your dentist, your vet, …. You get the idea.

A Barbershop Legend is lost to us. Last Wednesday, Lou Perry, one of the greatest barbershoppers of all time succumbed to ending stage leukaemia. He was ninety years old. Lou was one of barbershops most prolific and talented arrangers. He also collaborated in writing several barbershop standards. His arrangements are excellent and have the feel and sound of what barbershop is all about. He arranged many songs for The Boston Common and other champions. His songs and arrangements will live on as a memorial to a talented and gentle man.

Chapter Logo nearly done. The Board saw the proposed logo, and unanimously agreed to adopt the proposed design, with very minor modifications. We may get to see the final version on Monday.

Division Contest News! We will be participating in the Granite and Pine Division Contest in order to qualify for District Convention. This is necessary because the Mountain Division contest falls at the start of Passover, and we wanted to permit all members to participate. Transportation and other arrangements are to come soon.

Get your Show tickets, now. Tickets are available from John Clendinneng for the June 9, 2001 show, Steppin' Out. This will be at the same great hall we used last year. As we did last year, tickets are given when a cheque is received. A post-dated cheque works, and you can trade cash and cheques before the show in exchange.

New Show songs. The Music Team was busy and has completed the selection of songs for the show. In addition to the other songs in our current repertoire, the new contest medley and Orange Colored Sky and Words (It's only) [made popular by the Bee Gees] will be added. Music and learning tapes/CDs will be available very soon for these as well.

Joker's Wild Retiring on our show. We have learned with sadness, that 1994 International Champions, Joker's Wild will be retiring. The good news is they will be appearing on our show, and that this will be their final performance.

Songs for ARCIM. We will be singing at ARCIM on Saturday, March 31 and April 1, 2001. The songs we will sing are: Go Tell It on the Mountain, You'll never walk alone, I only have eyes For You, Love me (and the World is Mine), I'm Beginning to see the light. Details as to time and location will follow.

Wanted - Music Librarian. We are looking for someone to take on the position of Music Librarian. Bud Robar has decided to devote his time to the South Shore Chapter, where he is VP, Music and Performance. Ron Dawson assisted Bud, but he has been away ill, as you know. If you are interested, speak to Alan Kenley, our VP, Music and Performance.

Quartet Co-ordinator STILL needed. Here is a request from VP, Music & Performance, Alan Kenley: "We are going to get serious about quartetting and I have asked the section leaders to work with anyone who would like to be in a quartet. Our goal is to have at least four competing quartets at Division 2002. This could mean guys who are in a quartet now could possibly be singing in 2 quartets for contest. I would like to find a co-ordinator for this project. Someone who has the time, knows a little about quartetting and could put in a major effort to make this

work. Let's see if we get any volunteers."

Christmas CD We are ready to start serious work on the Christmas CD which will feature the Barbershop Choruses and quartets of the Montreal Area. We are looking for a CD co-ordinator to work with the Music Team to contact the other choruses and quartets and arrange music selection, recording dates and location. Rob Mance will produce the CD.

Pay-as-you-go Joe - The total dues for a regular member of the Greater Montreal Chapter are $180.00 per year. We pay our dues either once a year for the coming year on our renewal date, or we can use the Pay-as-you-go-Joe system. The $15 Monthly or $45.00 quarterly payment hardly hurts. This is encouraged for all members of the Chapter. Post-dated cheques payable to Island City Chorus can be given to Ray Watkins, Chapter Treasurer.

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

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