from the Far Western District of the Barbershop Harmony Society. January 3,2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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In This Issue
Join In The Fun - Chapter ShowsA barbershop chapter near you may have a really terrific show soon. Below are the shows currently listed in the FWD calendar over the next six weeks. The complete district Calendar is at FWD Calendar. If your chapter show is listed, but without any details, go to Submit Show Details to provide the requested information.
The baton has been passedWe have a new District President and several new Vice Presidents at the top of our district org chart. Our Go-To men are now:
Hello, This is Harold Hill CallingThis is what your BHS chapter contact for the Operation Harold Hill program will hear when he answers his phone one day. It will be shortly after he enrolls in the program and "Harold" could be calling from anywhere in the society. Harold will quickly share his real name and that his job is to mentor your chapter during your recruiting programs of 2012. Harold will already have a lot of information about your chapter, but he'll be asking lots of additional questions as he zeros in on your chapter's culture and needs. Everyone can review the fourteen recruiting programs the society has documented at www.operationharoldhill.com/. If your chapter has some other recruiting program you prefer, then Harold is prepared to help you with that too. So get your chapter fired up to be excited recruiters and watch your chapter grow in 2012. If you are a chapter officer and your chapter has registered officers on the society's ebiz site, you can go right now to the www.operationharoldhill.com/ to get the process started for your chapter. We've made it extremely easy to enroll. You can probably do it in less than 60 seconds. For a very short time, both 2011 and 2012 elected chapter officers may enroll their chapter. If your 2012 officers have not yet been reported, now is a very good time to do it. Keith Eckhardt
Operation Harold Hill Admin Webmaster
2012 Job OneAt the start of this New Year we should all look back a bit and see what we've accomplished, but also look forward to new and challenging goals. Looking back: I personally want to thank every one of you who earned a Man of Note in 2011. You are the men who love our sport so much that you share it with others. Looking forward: I urge every one, as you go about your every day's duties this year, be ever mindful that 99.4% of people on earth like to sing, so your field of potential singers/members is endless. Simply make it your personal resolution to encourage them to sing with us. Be a "singer bringer". (I really like the Singer Bringer slogan because it doesn't say, invite them and hope they come by!) One can never know what that sharing will produce. Take a look around the Society a bit and you'll notice that all of the movers and shakers in our Society were once ignorant of our fun. They are now judges, singing on world stages, directing, and administering decisions for our future. Someone once invited them, and somebody once invited you. The sales profession teaches; never pre judge a potential client, so adopt that thinking as you walk, roll, hobble, limp or whatever -- and talk. I love the section on Caring of your Voice on page 8 of the Society's Information Manual for Quartets that states. "As a singer, you are fortunate to have your instrument with you at all times. And what an instrument it is! You are able to produce a variety of sounds in a wide range of tones. The spectrum of messages and emotion you can convey is truly staggering." Share that with your new potential. Almost lastly, and most importantly as we talk with men about singing in 2012, try out our newly discovered method of keeping control of your conversation with the question; "Soo - WHERE do you LIKE to do YOUR singing?" That question opens up the topic and assumes most people sing somewhere, which they do, even if it's only with the car radio or in the shower. If those two favorite replies come up, your answer is; "That's the reason I sing with a group of men. My non-soloist voice can blend in with the others to make a unit sound in 4 part, a cappella harmony. We have a lot of fun singing and performing together. Give me your card and we can talk more later." Get his telephone # and call him later to invite him to your next meeting. (Giving him your card or flyer allows him to pre judge what he doesn't know!) Rehearse this technique for 5 minutes at your regular chapter meetings with each other. You'll keep your resolution alive throughout the year and become a successful "singer bringer". Lastly, I strongly encourage your chapter to enroll in the new 2012 Operation Harold Hill recruiting program launching TODAY and take part in the fun. Go to www.operationharoldhill.com/ to check it out, then click the link on the left to sign up.
Have a Happy New Year,
Tucson Mid-Winter Golf and Tour s- Jan 17-19You are invited to come to Tucson and join us for a fun day of golf and camaraderie with fellow barbershoppers on Wednesday, Jan 18. The course is a championship track that the University of Arizona calls home and honed the skills of Jim Furyk, Lorena Ochoa, and Annika Sorenstam. Check out our attached flyer. Reasonably priced rental clubs available. Sign up for golf and other fun events at our web site at Tucson Golf, Tours, and Excursions. For more info, call me at the number below.
Larry Castriotta
FWD Youth Choruses reign at Mid-Winter in Tucson - Jan 21Fifteen youth choruses are signed up for Tucson! Five of those are from the Far Western District!
If you live anywhere near the San Francisco Bay area (or will be in the area then) you can participate in a show and encouraging send-off to the Pacific Standard youth chorus. It's on Jan 15 and all the details are at Pacific Standard Send-Off. Are you sure you can't make it to mid-Winter this year? Check out the full mid-Winter Schedule.
SoCal Quartet Novice - Jan 28You can still be a part of the 50th Annual SoCal Novice Contest! Saturday January 28, 2012 The 50th Annual Southern California Novice Quartet Contest will be held in Orange on Saturday, January 28, 2011. The event will start at 7:00 pm at the Village Theatre, 1140 N. Tustin Street, Orange, CA 92868. This year's contest, sponsored by the Orange Quartet Chapter, carries forward the tradition established by the Westminster Chapter. As of January 1 there is still room for additional competing quartets, and the registration deadline has been extended to accept additional entries on a first come, first served basis. Barbershoppers of all experience levels, and from anywhere, are welcome! Competing quartets do not need to be Society-registered, though all four members should be current SPEBSQSA members. The entry fee is $25 for each competing quartet. Scoring will follow standard Society methods and quartets will receive an evaluation to help members see their strong points and opportunities for improvement. As in years past, a handicapping system will be used based on quartet members' past experience in competition. For those who show up to watch, it's a great way to see and support the talents of your fellow barbershoppers! Audience tickets can now be purchased online (print-and-mail ordering also available). General seating sections are priced at $10 and $15 for adults, half price for children under 12. Competitors do not need to purchase audience tickets for themselves. Please visit the Orange Chapter Website at: orange.harmonize.com for quartet rules and registration, and audience ticket purchases. Inquiries can also be made to orangequartets@gmail.com or (714) 442-8500.
Regards
Mark Sheldon
NorCal Quartet Novice - Feb 25Help Celebrate The Year Of The Quartet by registering your quartet for the NorCal Novice contest. Everything thing both quartets and audience alike need to know is on the NorCal Novice Quartet Contest website.
Inaugural Quartet Harmony Platoon at March FWD Convention - Mar 8-9Over Thanksgiving weekend a new event was announced for the March FWD convention in Ontario CA: Quartet Harmony Platoon. By the December 16 deadline to apply, 60 FWD singers had signed up. Any additional applicants must be put on a waiting list. What is the Platoon? You can come and see the end result on Friday afternoon, March 9, at 3:00 in the spring convention headquarters Holiday Inn Express in Ontario: the Finals contest and show. The 60 men will have spent two months learning four songs from high quality learning tracks. Then they will have enjoyed the prior 24 hours of fun singing in various combinations and eventually competed with one of 15 quartets in a preliminary contest. Judges for the contest are drawn from the ranks of prior District quartet champs, including 139th Street, TNT, Gotcha, Western Union and Revival. Additional platoons are likely to be scheduled for the Division contest weekend in Sacramento in May, and the fall District convention in Arizona. Watch for details so you can sign up. Is there life after Ontario for the Platoon participants? Yes! Many guys will sign up to attend the second annual Harmony Brigade in August in Reno NV. This is a 3-day event, so there is more time to sing more songs and have more fun. You can apply for this yourself. Just go to their website: www.highsierrahb.org And look for the Ontario Platoon guys to come back to your chapter and share the fun. They are likely to start teaching one of more of the four songs, giving you a chance to sing in a quartet. We call it our One-Song-Four program. Putting the Q in BHS
Bill Kane
Spring Convention- March 8-11, 2012It's time to register for the Spring Convention in Ontario. Yes, it's the Ontario in California. To register for the convention go to Spring Convention Website. If your quartet or chorus is competing, you will also have to register on the ebiz website where you choose the Contest Entry link along the top of the page, then choose Contest Entry again in the drop down list.
Division ConventionsThey'll be here before you know it. Mark your calendars.
Sign up NOW for the High Sierra Harmony BrigadeHappy New Year from the High Sierra Harmony Brigade! Hope you spent some quality holiday time with family and friends and are looking forward to a wonderful 2012 filled with lots of great singing. Speaking of great singing with family/friends, if you are looking for a unique experience to do so in 2012, please consider registering for the 2nd annual High Sierra Harmony Brigade to be held August 24-26, 2012 in Reno, NV. Registrations are open through February 1st, 2012 and applications can be obtained at www.highsierrahb.org. Please visit the site to see what all the excitement is about and talk to your Barbershop Brothers who attended in 2011. It’s a Barbershop singing experience like no other. Don’t wait to experience it yourself as parts are filling up fast. Singing Through Life! David Queen, President
High Sierra Harmony Brigade
Chapter Leader Monthly To Do
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