ISLAND CITY CHORUS

GREATER MONTREAL CHAPTER

SPEBSQSA Inc.

The Little Chorus that could!

MINI PITCH

Date: January 27, 2003 Congratulations to BOTY Alan Kenley!

It was a snowy night outside but warm and friendly inside, as Charlie Church tenor of High Voltage and member of Burlington VT Chapter installed the officers for 2003 at le Vieux Kitzbühl. Charlie did a great job and was accompanied by his wife, Pat Heise.

Our multi-member Pensionaires Quartet won the Raymond MacLeod Memorial Quartetting Trophy for their contributions to the Chapter and the Community. The members include: Rudy Flaig, Alex Walker, Ron Schurman, Ron Dawson, John Briffett, Walter Mueller, Al Mahoney, and Bert Larsen. Well done, guys.

Richard Frenette presented the 2002 Barbershopper of the Year Award to Alan Kenley. Alan was recognised for his hard work for the chapter working on all elements of the music and performance. He was very gracious in his acceptance, acknowledging the contributions of others, but he is an excellent choice as BOTY. He challenges everyone in the Chapter to be a top candidate in 2003.

Key of Eh? sang in "new" and "old" configurations, with new lead, Alan Kenley and former lead Jeffery Mance.

This was followed by dancing and conversation and all in all was an excellent evening, but we missed having some of our members there to share the night's festivities.

Our March Show will be a matinee on Sunday, March 23, 2003, starting at 2:00 PM. It will be without intermission, so the show will last about 90 minutes. The Gas House Gang are going to be our guest quartet. They are one of the best show quartets ever, celebrating the 10^th anniversary of their gold medal performances in Calgary this year.

At a time when our membership is waning we each need to become even more involved in the activities of the chorus especially the two major events that are almost upon us. Our show and the International competition.

We need every member to be at the top of the list for barbershopper of the year in 2003.

We have placed an ad in Chanter, the magazine of the Alliance des Chorales du Québec, telling about the show. It will appear in the February issue.

Alan Kenley is Chairman of the Show, and asks for your support. "As show chairman I need your help to:

"1) Sell tickets
"2) Sell advertising
"3) Suggest/ find an emcee ( I will ask a magician friend of mine )
"4) Suggest and find props for the theatre and stage
"5) Suggest accoutrements to our outfits in keeping with the magic theme
"6) Help in any other way you can. Take charge of the lunch, help with setup , risers, design program book, cleanup etc, etc etc.

"Please see me on Monday night to get the show on the road. We only have 7 weeks to go. I know time is short, but we can do it and do it well with everyone's full support."

Have you signed up to sing? Have you sold a Singing Valentine? Are you ready to go?

St. Valentines Day is on a Friday this year, and that means we will be delivering songs of love to the workplaces of people from all over Montreal. It is a wonderful experience, and highly recommended for every member. See Stan Blicker to sign in.

The opportunity to see the look of surprise, pleasure and love that comes with the delivery of two love songs, a rose, a box of chocolates and a card are priceless.

Let's make this another big success.

The International Convention is going to take place in a little less than six months. We are starting to accumulate the reserve of volunteers needed to make this a successful convention. The committee members agreed that we would place an ad in Chanter, the magazine of the Alliance des Chorales du Québec. This is sent to all the choruses and many of the singers who are members of the Alliance, including ARCIM. The ad will appear in the February issue along with an article on Barbershop competitions by Rob Mance.

On Monday please discuss your volunteer role for the International Competition with Alan Kenley. Remember, we will need everyone's total commitment the week of the Contest. As volunteer chairman for this event he needs to recruit a minimum of 350 volunteers. We have about half that number at the present time. So on Monday he needs the sign up sheets for anyone who haven't handed their's in yet. If you know of any former members, friends and acquaintances who would like to see an International Convention from the inside, we can offer them a fun week and a souvenir shirt for their time and effort.

The Seniors Quartet Contest is the competitive highlight of SPEBSQSA's Mid-Winter Convention, held this weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The Top Five quartets were:
827 5^th 68.9 Sound Association
828 4^th 69.0 City Slickers
831 3^rd 69.2 Auld Lang Syne
841 2^nd 70.1 Gym Class
855 1^st 71.2 The BARONS

So far no word on the NED entry, Close Encounters of the Seventh Kind.

John Hohl, our many time coach and friend sings baritone with Auld Lang Syne, and Ken Buckner, Chairman of the International Events Committee is the baritone of the Barons. Congratulations to them and their quartet mates.

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

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