ISLAND CITY CHORUS

GREATER MONTREAL CHAPTER

Northeastern District

SPEBSQSA Inc.

The Little Chorus that could!

MINI PITCH

Date: August 18, 2003 Volume 2003 - 34

The string is over. Until last Tuesday, the Montreal Expos had never lost a game when the chorus, or one of the chapter quartets, sung the National Anthems before a game.

The winning streak ended, August 12, 2003, when the Expos lost to the Colorado Rockies, 6 - 3. The game Went 11 innings with a 3 run homer by Greg Norton being the difference. Vlad Guerrero drove in all 3 Expos runs. Oh, yes, we did sing very well by the way….

The photos we received on Tuesday of our Olympic Stadium appearance on June 23 were excellent, and got passed around. Unfortunately, they did not get brought home.

If you have them, please call me (514) 993-4673 as soon as possible, If they aren't found, we will have to get replacements.

Hi all. A lot of people have been asking how Rob is doing. There really is not much new info to report. He is home and glad to be there. Enjoying every minute with Sue and Ryan and trying to cope with the pain in his back and the rest of it.

Unfortunately, we really have no good news to report. Just kind of making it through day by day.

Thanks, again, to all of you for the love and support. I will try to get more info posted more often.

The Wheaton's annual chocolate and salad party was held on Saturday, August 16, 2003. Lots and lots of people were there, enjoying a great day in the sun. Lots of kids enjoyed a day in the pool, splashing the adults. Singing was heard everywhere.

Steve and Addie have invited 150 or so friends to a party at their home, for the past 12 years, and their backyard becomes the scene of a swimming barbershopping eating festival for the day.

The decision from the House of Delegates meeting in Fitchberg, prior to Harmony College NorthEast was disappointing for our Chapter. The House of Delegates voted 23-15 to approve the Regional Convention concept in spite of the concerns of the Mountain Division Chapters, most of who were against the Regional concept.

Rob Mance represented the Chapter. He asked many excellent questions, but received no answers to those questions. The financial implications for the district were a small savings in costs that would easily be covered by raising the fee for Division contests by $5.00 US.

The issue of timing was also not discussed in any detail.

Rob noted that the committee presented the idea "as the only possible course of action" after studying "everything". Cost and timing of the contests so that there were no conflicts, were given as the two primary motivations for changing the status quo.

Every person to rise after the initial proposal was opposed to the idea, and very strongly opposed.

Rob reported, "It seems that many choruses had instructed their delegate to vote a certain way before hand as several did not seem comfortable with how they were voting. And, this is my largest concern, having delegates vote in a predestined manner makes the debate useless. With the executive members tipping the balance, the vote came out to 23-15."

Suggestions have been made that we should investigate joining the Ontario District.

The second major decision that was to be made at the House of Delegates meeting was whether or not the 2005 District Contest and Convention would be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Our Chapter was neutral on the issue with most members feeling that it would be a positive experience.

"Hi folks,

"I just got a call from Bob Johnson, Jr. that his father, Bob Johnson, former Director of Music Education and Services died this morning. He had been failing for the last three months, during which he had a number of strokes.

"Bob, Jr. said there would be no funeral service and only the immediately family will gather in Tucson. He said he will call me back concerning donations in memory of his dad. I will let you know as soon as I hear from him. I thought you would like to know, though, of his passing. Bob made a major impact on Society musical activities. He will long be remembered by those of us who were fortunate enough to know him.

"In "Seventh" Heaven,

"Joe Liles, Editor of Music SPEBSQSA, INC."

I have not been checking the Harmonet as much lately but I felt a need to post something about

Bob Netherton. For those of you that do not know, Bob was the tenor of The Citations quartet from Louisville Kentucky. The Citations have had a huge impact on the society, even though a lot of you may not realize that.

The members of The Citations are Bob Netherton (tenor), Jim Miller (lead), Bill Meyers (bass) and Ken Buckner (baritone). The four men were all directors of the Louisville Thoroughbreds chorus. They helped the TBreds become the only chorus to win 7 International Championships. That record stood for years and still to this day, only the Vocal Majority holds more championships than the TBreds.

Being two years old, I remember listening to dad, "uncle Jimmy", "uncle Bill" and "uncle Nutsy" singing in the basement as I would fall asleep. To this day, I still call them by those names. I will not run the bios of each individual member of The Citations but I will say that the following quartets would have either not existed or would not have been as successful without their roots in this barbershop hobby -

• The Bluegrass Student Union (1978 International Champs)
• The Interstate Rivals (1987 International Champs)
• The Harrington Brothers (2 time International medalists)
• The Second Edition (1989 International Champs)
• Keepsake (1992 International Champs)
• The Gas House Gang (1993 International Champs)
• Marquis (1995 International Champs)
• Revival (1997 International Champs)
• Platinum (2000 International Champs)
• The Barons (current Senior Champions)

Either directly or indirectly, The Citations had a hand in some way in making those quartets what they were and are. There are lots of other people and quartets that they inspired but as you can see, there is quite a legacy.

On a personal note, Bob Netherton was the man that taught me how to sing tenor. I was 14 years old, I joined the TBreds and stood right next to him. My dad (Ken Buckner) said, "Kipper, just do what he does." I have been trying to do what he does for over 20 years and while I have had success...I am still trying but falling short of Bob Netherton. And I am damn proud to say that one day, I hope to be as good a tenor and man as my "uncle Nutsy!"

Quartetting songs for this week: Black Magic and Mary Lou

Repertoire: Overture, If I had My Way Dear, Roses of Picardy, Several others [Sectional We'll Meet Again, Summertime] (Choreo) Sixteen Tons, Orange Coloured Sky

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

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