eNews
from the Far Western District of the Barbershop Harmony Society.

May 9, 2008

In This Issue


NCWH/NCENN Contests - May 17

The last of the 2008 Division contests takes place next weekend in Stockton where 24 quartets and 17 choruses are scheduled to compete. WOW! That sounds more like a Fall District contest. Delta College in Stockton is the place to be on May 17.

The contests will be held in the Warren Atherton Auditorium which is a terrific facility. See the links below for driving directions and the campus map. The best lots to park in are L1, L3, H2 and C1. Overnight parking is not allowed.

The Quartet Contest starts at 10:30am and the Chorus Contest at 6:15pm with an afterglow planned at the Holiday Inn just eight or so blocks away. The Contests Order Of Appearance is posted on the FWD Website Home Page, but check back in a couple days in case there is any adjustment.

Driving directions to Delta College
Map to Delta College
Campus Map (Auditorium on right in blue)
Map to Holiday Inn(Afterglow)

If you need lodging, many places are shown at Stockton Lodging. Delta College is just below the area marked Lincoln Village on the upper left.

There are lots of low to moderate cost restaurants near the college, so meals are convenient. Directly across Pacific Street from Delta College is Sherwood Mall which has many food options (Sherwood Mall Food). Webberstown Mall just south of Sherwood Mall has more food options (Webberstown Mall Food). There are lots of restaurants within a mile of the campus.

Please join us for a full day of barbershop harmony, whether on stage or in impromptu quartets in every hallway.


NorCal Barbershop Events

Every Spring NorCal members await the call to these fun events. If you aren't from NorCal, well, you can come too.

On the June 6-8 weekend it's Barbershop Campout time again at Lake Francis, which is North East of Sacramento in the boonies somewhere between Marysville and Grass Valley. It's a great time of woodshedding, Saturday night potluck, and quartet contest. All the details and driving instructions are at Campout Flyer

On Tuesday June 10 it's the "SOMEWHAT SERIOUS" INTERCHAPTER QUARTET CONTEST AND BEAN FEED held by the Nevada-Placer chapter in Auburn, CA. It starts with a beans, hot dogs, chips, and drinks feed (donations greatly encouraged), then lots of socializing and forming of quartets, and then the contest. It's a very popular event and you can find all the details on the SSIQC and BF Flyer.


Harmony College West - July 18-20

Harmony College West will be held at the University of Redlands this year. We're repeating the same POD coaching for quartets that has been so popular. We have a great lineup of individual classes too.

If you can arrive before 3pm on that Friday, we have early bird classes that you won't want to miss.

Our special guest quartets this year are the 2005 Gold Medallist quartet Realtime and the 2007 College Silver Medallist quartet The Crush.

We have a deadline for registration this year of June 16, so you need to register soon—before the date slips by. After that the price goes up $25 per person and will be on a space available basis. Harmony College West is a valid chapter expense and many chapters subsidize their member's attendance. Check with your chapter officers to see if that is available to you.

Go to Harmony College West 2008 right now for all the details.


Membership Workshops

Far Western District Membership history

Our society is an aging one and our membership is declining because of it. The following table shows the count of Far Western District members that paid dues in each of the years. The only uptick was in 2002 and after that it's been down every year.
YearMembers
2001    3649
20023701
20033445
20043407
20053364
20063242
20073213
20083093

Workshops

It is pretty clear that we need to take some action to reverse this trend. One way is to commit yourself to inviting every man you meet to a chapter meeting. Another way is to commit your chapter to hold a Membership Workshop where as a team you develop plans to grow your chapter. Even better would be to host a multi-chapter workshop so that your whole barbershop neighborhood is working together to grow.

Clark Abrahamson, FWD Member Services Chairman, has prepared a Membership Workshop plan. You can read about it at Membership Workshop Overview and you can email Clark at clarka@calweb.com.


Attention Chapter Secretaries

Members of your chapter without E-mail will not receive this information and we ask you to print this and share it with them.


DateEvent
5/10Singing For Life Blood Drive
5/17NCENN/NCWH Convention - Stockton
6/29-7/06International Convention - Nashville
7/18-7/20Harmony College West - Redlands
7/29-8/3Harmony University - St. Joseph, MO
9/26-9/28Youth Harmony Camp - Pollock Pines
10/9-10/12Fall District Convention - Bakersfield
10/30-11/02Pan Pacific Convention - Honolulu
11/15NorCal COTS
11/22SoCal COTS
01/25-02/01International Mid-Winter Convention - Pasadena
03/19-22/09Spring District Prelims Contest and Convention - Las Vegas, NV

Important Links

BHS ebiz website
BHS Original Members Only - CJ-20 registration
BHS Main website

FWD Website
FWD Directory
FWD Members Only
FWD Calendar
FWD Youth In Harmony