Singing Valentines Stories 2007The stories below are from FWD quartet's experiences while delivering Singing Valentines. If you have a heart warming story to share, please send it to webmaster@spebsqsafwd.org Newer stories will be added at the top, so come back frequently to catch up on recent entries.
White Mountains, AZJoel won our Pine Tones Singing Valentine by correctly answering a trivia question on the radio after we sang. (The trivia question was: "What is the name of the quartet that just sang?") The radio host asked Joel if he had a sweetheart to deliver the Valentine to; Joel replied that he didn't, but that he would send it to his mother who meant the world to him. We drove out to the mobile park where they live, and after a cell phone call to Joel we were able to establish which travel trailer they lived in (the one with the old beat-up white Ford truck in front). After the call, we joked that maybe we could have just "phoned it in" and had her come out to our vehicle for the card and rose (that could open a whole new market of "drive-thru Singing Valentines"), but we knocked on the door. A small dog was barking, but after a minute a 30ish-looking woman with jet-black hair came out. I asked if she was Margaret, and she said she was "Maggie". Joel followed her out the door to their front deck. We asked if they would like us to sing inside or out on the front porch, and they said the porch would be fine (it had stopped snowing, and the sun was out, so we were OK with that; plus, I don't think 6 people would have fit in that small a trailer with all the stuff we could only imagine they must have jammed in there with their little dog.) We dutifully delivered our two songs, rose, and card from Joel....Half-way through the first song, "Let Me Call You Sweetheart", Maggie began tearing up and Joel gave her a small hug--we had determined early on that Maggie certainly wasn't Joel's mother!!! They both thanked us for coming as we made our exit. I think we were glad for the way it had worked out: that Joel had phoned in that morning remembering our quartet's name to deliver a Singing Valentine to his real sweetheart, Maggie. (We couldn't figure out why he hadn't acknowledged her as his sweetheart on the radio, but that's Joel's story to tell--or perhaps NOT tell). We also understood that Joel may never be able to afford the $35 fee to order a Singing Valentine, so we felt that this truly was a special, perhaps "once-in-a-lifetime" event for both Maggie and Joel.
Everett Peterson, Tenor White Mountains, AZA teacher was getting married at the Snowflake Justice Court and asked us to surprise his new bride-to-be with a Singing Valentine as they exited the Court House at 4:00 PM. We arrived a bit early and sat in the car until the appointed hour. The snow had stopped, but it was a bit chilly, so we went inside the lobby and established that the couple was indeed in the court room. We had just sat down to wait when the door opened and the judge stuck his head out the door and announced that they needed two witnesses for the ceremony. So we entered the court room and the Tenor (Everett) and Bari (Denny) of the Pine Tones agreed to witness, Lead (Lloyd) would serve as the audience, and I agreed to take pictures of the ceremony. Immediately following the brief ceremony we sang our two Valentine songs to the new bride before signing the marriage certificate. It was truly a memorable event for all concerned.
Doc Dockendorf Los Angeles Metro, CAAnother wild Valentine’s Day with the evil emperor at the wheel of his freeway flyer was as exciting as it was emotional as the Docs on the Rocks Quartet (Bruce Beyne, Mike Martin, Don Duperon and John Saffery) traveled over 200 miles criss-crossing the county from Redondo Beach to Norwalk and Monterey Park and from Downtown LA to Century City to Paramount to Palos Verdes delivering approximately 20 singing Valentines. Riding with John at the wheel is a roller coaster adventure as he multi-tasks with electronic gadgets, Map Quest, other drivers and his ever-active cell telephone. We kicked off from John’s home at 7:45 AM singing to over fifty 3rd graders where his daughters go to school. It was a day of happy tears and red faced embarrassment. One in particular was for a young service manager (Nelson) at Sopps Chevrolet whose sweetheart sent the gift. He kept backing away as we sang to him and we following him all the while till he had his back to the wall and no place else to go. All of his buddies followed him around the service area as we sang giving him a big round of applause when we had finished. Along the way we had the pleasure of singing to the wives of both John and Bruce. Another delivery was to a children’s dance group in Paramount where we altered the songs to something more upbeat as some of the kids tap-danced along as we sang. Two deliveries were made at the Long Beach Marriott as we delivered our songs and an extra special large bouquet of roses to a lady manager there. Delivered a singing Valentine to the lady barkeep there as well in addition to some songs from our repertoire for her and some of the patrons. The always-gracious Pauline Stoltenberg had us come in and sing to a ladies group she was entertaining at her home. Most all the ladies we sang to through the day teared up a bit in response to the thought of the singing gift from their loved ones. It is always amazing to see what an impact you can have on another person and in such a nice way. We ended the day in the Palos Verdes area as we sang to a large orchestra under the direction of Tom Scanlon. We made an extra effort to be certain to sing our songs as well as we could so he wouldn’t make us do them over as directors are inclined to do. It so happened that John Saffery had played for him twenty years earlier. Our day wrapped up at 9:00 PM but I’m certain we would have done more if there were more to do. We all felt really good about the day and all the positive emotions and humor it brought, not just to the recipients, but to us as well. Las Vegas, NV
Highlights From My Participation In The Singing Valentines Promotion Like many of us, this was my first time being involved in the actual singing of the Singing Valentines. I want to thank anyone that was involved with putting the extra quartet together that allowed me to sing. Where else can you take 3 bases and 1 lead (baritone want-to-be) and come up with four part harmony that actually sounds pretty good, other than in our beloved barbershop style? With so many to pick from (I understand that we did around 17 Valentines) it's hard to pick out just one or two that stuck out, but I'll try anyway. I think we had the most fun singing at a school. We went to a Private Academy (grade school ages) to sing to a gentleman whose name on the card read "Honey Buns". He turned out to be the physical education teacher. Not wanting to embarrass him in front of his class any more than we were already going to, our leader just showed him the card and asked him to verify that he was the name indicated. He kind of smiled and said that yes, he was 'Honey Buns' and that it was the nickname that his wife used for him. He got his class to sit and listen to our performance (as did some dozen or so more adults who saw us come in and followed to see who was going to be the recipient of our talent). They all loved the music. His entire class lined up to shake our hands and thanked us for the songs. As we were being lead back out thru the building, our little parade must have been making a good bit of noise. It attracted a group of four teachers who had adjoining classrooms. It wasn't hard to figure out what we were there for and they were excited to learn that one of their staff had received the Singing Valentine. The four of us sort of looked at each other and decided to do a little PR work. We had the teachers bring their four classes out into the hall and we performed for them (along with all the front office staff that heard us and came to listen). We were rewarded with a group attentive kids who loved the music and we were each given a really tasty sugar cookie as a reward. I truly believe that our little bit extra at this stop will result in a few more seats filled at our next show. The entire day was filled with people that were appreciative of what we presented to them; who shed tears of joy; and gave out lots of hugs and kisses. BUT, we did have one exception. One of our last Valentines was to be delivered to a young lady at a hair salon down in Boulder City. Our arrival took the employees a bit by surprise and the young lady that was to be the recipient was duly embarrassed. She took the card and the rose with a kind of numb look on her face and just kind of stared at us while we started singing to her. As we started the second song, she decided to open the card. I don't know whose name was at the bottom but I do know that I'm glad that I wasn't him (or her). Our 'Young Lady's' eyes seemed to turn black right in front of us. She was MAD. She was able to maintain her composure thru our last number and thanked us but I can guarantee you that the sender of this particular Singing Valentine was not going to be real happy with the results. In the end, it was a long day with lots of driving, lots of singing and lots of time with some friends. I left the house at 6am and got home a little after 9pm. I was so tired; my wife said that I was fast asleep just 5 minutes after sitting down on the couch. In spite of all that (or because of it) I can't wait to do it again next year. I had a ball Marin, CAThe day's activities kicked off in the AM with the Rumanian Road Runners (Kling, Reitzel, Goerke & Montenegro) doing a 45 minute rehearsal on the way to their gig in Martinez. By the time this group of Mutts and Jeffs reached their destination they had pretty well mastered their 3 song repertoire (minus a tag or so).
Q: Why did we go way over there? Besides, the gentleman that hired us to sing to his wife had just waited seven years to get her into the USA from Rumania and he wanted to give her something memorably and uniquely American!! During the mid-day hours the Music Maniacs (Robinson, Lee, Hanchette & Elkjer) visited three more venues to deliver their Valentine greetings. Elkjer then detached himself to join Engan, Kling & Northup to form the Heartthrob Harmonizers to deliver a surprise Valentine to one very happy gentlemen in an office on Bel Marin Keyes Boulevard. After a pit stop at Stan's for soup and salad, it was on to Alma Via in San Rafael as PM faded into evening. At this venue the latter four were coupled up with Paul Goldsmith, to form a new Harmony Express to chug through the dining room to entertain Bok and his gals and pals. Finally, this Ice Cream Socialist Six headed downtown to the Rafael Theatre for a gala ice cream social and screening of "The Music Man" with Robert Preston & Shirley Jones. This event was sponsored by The Marin Literacy Program to benefit the San Rafael Public Library and the Marin County Free Library. After a half hour or so of singing at the social; Kling, Northup, Goldsmith & Elkjer took the stage in the theatre to entertain the movie goers prior to the film. Ice Cream, Lida Rose & Coney Island filled the bill nicely for the near capacity house. Notables observed at the event included Greg Brockbank, Mayor Al Boro and Dena Higgins, the chairperson. Tucson, AZDesert Gold, with Don Smith replacing Jack Dennis, our Lead with the flu, delivered 14 paid Valentines and a few "gifts" along the way. And, some of you may have seen us on KGUN news! They sent a camera-man to one of our office deliveries. We didn't get to see it, because we were still out singing until 9:00pm. One gift was for Paul Kriegshauser's wife (Mrs. "K") and her Kindergarten class at the OMOS school. She liked it, and the kids did, too. Then we went accross the way to the OMOS office lobby and sang for the Music Director (CRN -- can't remember name), who had us come in and sing for the entire staff. Sister (CRN) came and hugged us all, proclaiming she was Sister (CRN) and safe to hug. I assured her that I was also "safe" -- and harmless, as well. Anyway, they seemed to appreciate having a sample of what goes on in the OMOS Hall every Tuesday night. Since we were in the neighborhood, we went over to "Beetle-Juice" Street and sang for Lois and Fred Koch. I think the two lovers sitting on the couch were "touched". I know the singers were! Oh, -- and of course Lois had cookies! We sang at schools, offices and homes. Our last Valentine was delivered at O'Shaughnessy's Irish Pub & Song Hall. After we sang to the recipient, we sang "My Wild Irish Rose". Dan Reidy was there with his Optimist Club. How'd it go, Dan? Singing Valentines is one of my favorite activities. It's great fun to do, promotes our hobby and is a good fund-raiser for the Chapter. This year we had all the business three quartets could handle. We need more quartets to get back to the over 100 Valentines we've had in the past. Let's start forming them for next year! Ed Johnson, Bass, Desert Gold, and "the Pres." San Francisco, CAAfter delivering a singing valentine to a restaurant in the Stonestown Mall, our "Bayside" quartet from the Cable Car Chorus decided to drop one off to our beloved director Angela Surachi, who lives nearby. But the only parking space we found near her apartment had our car sticking 5 feet into a red zone. We decided to chance it anyway, and started walking just as a motorized metermaid came toward us. We knew instantly what to do. We stopped her and sang Let Me Call you Sweetheart. It completely melted her and saved us from a parking ticket. Tom Carter Cathedral City, CAWell, my quartet had an assignment from a wife to her husband which we delivered to his office. She gave me the address and assured me that his office was located on the north side of the interstate. Fortunately it was our last gig. We crossed over the bridge to the north side, found an address near what we needed, continued a couple of blocks only to find that the numbers were going down instead of up. We turned around, looked into a couple of other office buildings and strip malls, and verified that we would have to recross the interstate, to find the number, which we did, about 2 or 3 miles south. Within the compound we found Building B and the office marked '105'. But, the office address she had given me was 'B-105220'. I went into the '105' office and asked if they knew where '105220' could be found. And, I asked the man if his name is 'Kenny', the husband of our client. He said "NO, but the address is here, this is a postal mail box company." The wife had given us the mailing address of Kenny's company, not even on the same street as his office. He let me use his phone book, I called Kenny's company and the nice receptionist at this large land development company gave me directions, "...back across the interstate, turn left and then right...", I did not tell her why or what or who I was. We drove right to the office building, entered the main lobby and the receptionist looked up and said to our Bari, "BILL!!!". It seems that Bill's wife had been a Sweet Ad with the receptionist. We explained who and what we were about, she unplugged herself from the telephone console saying, "I wouldn't miss this for the world!", and with two other women who happened by, escorted us through a maze of office cubes to the conference room where Kenny was giving a presentation to 3 other people (clients?) with a projector and a table full of papers, et cetera. They were all seated and only his back was to us. His clients all looked up at us, over his shoulders and he wondered. "What...?" Without excusing ourselves for the interruption, I presented his rose and the card from his wife that we had prepared with her sentiments (and a flyer for our show), then we sang our two songs. Kenny was suitably embarrassed and pleased. His clients were delighted. A group of employees had assembled to listen outside the open door of the conference room. We made a prompt exit from the conference room and found ourselves with an audience of about 20 or 25 people, for whom we sang Coney, and then left. The woman to whom we sang, just before Kenny, was his mother in law, our client's mom, to whom we had sung three years ago. Again, like last time, she was in tears and very, very pleased. We did not know that this was a 'repeat' until we reached the door of her Draperies shop. Her employees were beaming, with us, as they were in on the surprise, in order to prevent Lily from leaving early or going out on an errand. Another very fun one was susrprising my own wife at her work place in the midst of her crew of about 15 women, each of whom, she said, felt like we were singing just to them individually. Are Valentines fun, or what? In Harmony, Terry Mann In A Chord, Tenor Coachella Valley SandBlasters Chorus, Bass Las Vegas, NVThis was my first Valentines Day sing. My stories are only from the Tenor point of view: We had our list of Valentines to deliver and one of the address's was to 620 Shadow Ln which turned out to be Valley Hospital here in Las Vegas. We took a look at the detail sheet and the recipient was in the maternity ward with an annotation that she had just had a baby. When we found her room we surrounded her bed and I asked about the baby and where it was. Well we had come into the room and stood right in front of her newborn girl who was sound asleep. Well we sang our songs as softly and as sweetly as we could. We left a tear filled mother, a new grand mother and a still sleeping baby. On the way out we stopped at the nurses station and did an encore. I don't know who had the best time, us being around a new life or those we sang to. One of our calls took us to a Doctors office where we had to wait a few minutes for the recipient, his wife. When she showed up the Doctor brought her into the waiting room. Well we started singing and by the end of the first song she was ready to cry. When we started "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" a patient in the waiting room grabbed a tissue and she started crying while the Doctor and his wife started dancing. Through the window to the office we saw a man holding his IV bag come out and watch us sing. It was great. We went to an athletic club to sing. While waiting for some of the slower members of our quartet I held the door for customers who weren't used to someone in a Tux at the front door, I got a couple of funny looks and told them we were adding some extra class to the gym. We went into the pool and sang to a water aerobics instructor. We barely started the first song when she grabbed a towel and started wiping her eyes. When we sang "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" she sang with us with a smile. When we finished she went up to our Bass and smilingly scolded him for missing class that morning, he chuckled and said he had been busy all morning. These are a few of the memories I made that day. I hope yours are just as wonderful. Rand Preston San Francisco, CAThe San Francisco Gold quartet sang 14 Singing Valentines and the last one, at 9:00 PM, was the sweetest. When we arrived in the building, the donor brought us to a side room in the hallway of the business building. He asked us to wait three minutes, and then step out and approach the stairs at the end of the hall, singing our first number. We waited the three minutes and stepped out. We found ourselves singing to two men sitting on the steps, the donor a step above his valentine with his arms around his shoulders. As we sang, the love between the two was so obvious and gentle. The songs, as usual, were apparently totally appropriate to their feelings, and a tear or two appeared. Love is love, and always beautiful. Jerry Lester Pasadena, CAThe four of us had been chorus members for about a year. Our director, faithful to his motto: “Sing well and have fun”, was always about encouraging us to enjoy the Barbershop harmony experience. During our practice breaks he would remind us that the epitome of enjoying the barbershop experience is singing in a quartet. The four of us decided to test his recommendation. We’ve been singing together for about a year as a quartet and had the privilege of singing as a Valentine’s Day quartet this year. We arrived at a rather dark residence, the occupants obviously not expecting visitors. As we approached the dark porch, a shadow passed the front window while we were deciding whether to knock or ring. The door swung open and the tall man of the house seemed a bit relieved to see that the four men on the porch had not arrived with malicious intent. (Perhaps it was the red shirts and black suspenders or maybe the rose and card in our tenor’s hand.) We introduced ourselves and informed him of the purpose for which we were visiting his home. He immediately invited us in and introduced us to his wife, Nellie. Nellie showed us into the family room expressing her total surprise. She was flustered and obviously nervous as any lady of the house would be. (She had four strange guests in her home and she was totally unprepared. If she had known we were coming she would have knocked herself out cleaning, straightening and primping for hours prior to our arrival. Instead she just had to receive us as she was, in pajamas, slippers and without makeup.) Her husband called for his daughter to come quickly and would not allow us to sing to Nellie until his daughter also arrived. We sang our first song as Nellie sat in front of us somewhat in shock but obviously enjoying the harmony. Her husband grabbed a camcorder and now our visit would be digitized for years to come. As we sang our second song, Nellie was overwhelmed with emotion, realizing that her son had thought so affectionately of his mother that he’d planned such an event. Tears came to her eyes and our lead singer had to look elsewhere in the house as he sang to avoid an emotional breakdown in the middle of the song. Of course we ended with “Wait ‘til the Sun Shines Nellie” because we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to combine such a coincidence of names. After some hugs of appreciation we excused ourselves, walking with more pep in our step than when we arrived. Our director was right, as always. The quartet experience is the epitome of enjoying the barbershop singing experience. As we continue to strive to “sing well and have fun”, we are overwhelmed and humbled by the realization that our fun has been transformed into precious family memories of love and appreciation that will live on in the hearts of a mother and her son. Written from a baritone perspective,
Larry Mellinger Placerville, CAOur local Carrows restaurant hired our quartet Heart Sent to sing for their customers. We were to sing one song and give a rose and card to a "cute couple" on each side of the restaurant. However, the supervisor had selected tables for us, so we first went to a booth with a couple that had mentioned they were celebrating their 53rd Wedding anniversary. When I told them that Carrows had selected them to receive a Singing Valentine, the woman almost broke into tears right then. We started singing I Love You Truly and the tears did flow. And the man was totally stoic the whole time. Then we were directed to a booth with five people, including three women. We were glad we had extra roses in the car and we sang Let Me Call You Sweetheart to this family that was clearly three generations. Why can't we have Valentines day more often? Keith Eckhardt San Luis Obispo, CAWe delivered a valentine to Uptown Hair Salon in Paso Robles. As we were leaving a lady came from the office next door. She heard our presentation through the wall and bought one for her husband. The husband was so impressed, he in turn bought one for her. We had another one in between, but we didn't skip a beat.
Jim Hawkins Bay Area, CA (NorCal)My quartet, the "Good Guys" did a full day of Singing Valentines yesterday. What a high! We sang for a number of "corporate" gigs...the Voices in Harmony has three levels of SV (the personal, the personal that has to be delivered at a certain time, and the corporate gigs.) All were fun. However, the one that we delivered to a choir director (we were hired by her husband) was the most fun. We ended up serenading her in front of her class of about 50 choir students. Such rapt attention! And the choir director was totally surprised! So much so, that the class enjoyed the "joke" on her! And I do believe that we "planted the seeds" of Barbershop to these high school singing students. In my opinion, this is an idea that we (the Society) should further develop, i.e. getting to know the spouses of all of the choir directors in our local area, and then getting them to hire us, to deliver SV to their spouses (or Sweethearts). Isn't that a great idea? That way, we get a "two-fer"...we deliver a SV, and the students get to hear some Barbershop! Cheers, Paul Engel Nevada-Placer, CASee the Online Story from this chapter. Bay Area, CA (NorCal)Dan Beaudoin (tenor) is singing with the Uncalled Four on a busy day of valentines! After performing one set, another spectator at the gig asks if we can sing for a private party at 7:30 that night! Being good Barbershoppers, we take the gig! There we perform a long set featuring Dan and sing to 4 birthday well-wishers. A great example of using one performance to leverage another. Of course we mention the May 19th annual show!
STORY #2: A Valentine message posted to the Uncalled Four website: "Gentlemen, Thank you for making my Valentines Day gift from my sweetheart Juan be a most memorable one to last an entire life time. I enjoyed and was touched by your beautiful voices, What a treat for the entire office." Ross "Rusty" Orvik San Francisco, CAThe San Francisco Cable Car Chorus has been doing singing valentines for years, but this year decided to donate some to nursing homes. I picked one out of the phone book, called to set a time, and my quartet went over. The son of the director had sung with our chorus 20 years ago! One of the patients could not speak audibly, but she was singing along with us. It warmed the cockles of our hearts. Fred Merrick Placerville, CAI was in a pickup quartet we appropriately named Heart Sent, with 15 paid deliveries. The day's really special delivery started with the librarian at Union Mine High School. There were dozens of students studying at tables and several assistant librarians that listened in with lots of applause for each song. As we walked away I suggested we visit the new vocal music teacher and sing her a song. At her door stood a boy student whom we greeted, only to discover that he attended our recent Youth Harmony Camp and that he had started a quartet at the school. WOW! In the classroom was a girl's chorus and the teacher brightened and asked if they could sing for US? Well, sure!! It was nicely done with two-part singing. Then we asked to sing for them and the teacher sent a girl to the next room to invite more students in. Of course we sang Let Me Call You Sweetheart to around 20 young women who smiled and giggled the whole time. We only got 30 feet from the building when another girl stopped us to ask us "professional singers" if we would be willing to listen to her girl friend sing. The singer is going to audition for a part soon and she wanted some coaching. We listened and our tenor just happens to be a retired singing judge, so he gave her some hints about feeling her music and letting it "move" her. And to relax and enjoy her singing. We could hear and see the improvement the second time through. Then the basketball coach showed up and hired us to sing for his wife just before tip-off of the big game that night. So now we're almost off campus, but decide to look over their theater. Half way down that walk we meet a very charming, upbeat girl who tells us that she and her mom formed a duet and are taking gigs in the area. Terrific, another teen singer. In the theater we met the Drama Teacher and chatted a bit. Then Kirk, the student that formed a quartet and who had been following us everywhere, asked if we would sing to his girlfriend. So down we go to her class where the teacher pointed her out. Kirk didn't come in with us, so the girl was vacillating from small smiles to kind of an OH OH look. Then Kirk came in and she suddenly brightened. Oh good. When the applause died down the teacher smilingly complained that she was jealous. So we said we'd sing to her too. But first she had to gather three more teachers, who all beamed through the song. Wow, what a time that was. We took off for our other gigs, then returned at 7pm for the basket ball game. We had to wait for one game to finish and the warm-up time for the next game. Then the announcer grabbed the mike and introduced us. Next he asked the coach's wife to join us on the floor. The moment we stared singing the gym went pin-drop quiet and you'd have thought just the five of us were there. And the applause at the end was like we'd just made the winning score at the end of a game. Our driver for the day decided to stay for the game and he handed me his car keys. We were almost back to where the rest of us left our cars and a policeman pulled us over. The first thing he said was "Did you guys just sing at the police station?" I agreed that we had and I started worrying that we were going to be arrested for embarasing the officer. But no, we had a headlight out and he sent us on our way. What a terrific day. Is there any better job then out delivering love?
Keith Eckhardt for Heart Sent TucsonEastsiders Quartet delivered 8 Singing Valentines and covered 160 miles in Tucson on Valentine's Day 2007. Our favorite was delivered to the wife of an Iowa Barbershopper who's wife has been living and working in Tucson until he is able to join her in September. She was used to this kind of "surprise" from her hubby but we still managed to get her water works going. Our most unusual one this year was delivered to a male who works in a heavy manufacturing plant that fabricates replacement parts for commercial turf maintenance equipment. We were scheduled to deliver the Valentine at the start of his break period. What we didn't know ahead of time, what that the "break area" is just a couple of tables and chairs in a corner of the factory production area. We walked in, carrying a rose and dressed in our Valentine's Red blazers and tossed hearts ties, passing through, noisy, oily metal milling machines and unshaven, greasy onlookers. So with huge milling machines humming in the background, we sang a couple of love songs to this fellow with his greasy work mates taking their smoke breaks along side. He seemed quite pleased and the machinists seemed to tolerate our intrusion. It took us until we reached our next destination to exhale all the second hand smoke and factory fumes!
Roy Ireland Davis-VacavilleOne of the highlights of our sing out was to sing to a 99 year old church choir member. She will be 100 this coming April. While we sang to her, she directed us just as though she was the Choir Director, and with a smile on her face. Harry Baertschi Palomar- PacificOur quartet started a song inside a doctor's office, and immediately an inside door opened, and a doctor appeared with a phone handset to his ear. He placed the phone so that he could pick up the sound of our song, and when we were finished, he beamed, and said, (with a European accent) "you have just been heard in Belgrade, Serbia !"
- Jerry Mills Pre-Valentines Appetizer[Editor] It's January 12 and this was too good a story to exclude. I know this story doesn't qualify as a 2007 singing valentine, but at least I got to share it with one more barbershopper. My name is John McDougald, and I am a member of the Sedona, AZ chapter. I am also a dual member of the Elgin, IL chapter where I was Director for seven years before I retired to Sedona. I am also a 50 year member of the Society. I estimate that I have participated in about 450 singing valentines over the past 30 years. I am sure that you will receive lots of wonderful singing valentine stories this year (Sedona has decided to take a year off from that program), but I decided to send you my best story ever. It took place in Streamwood, IL in 2001. Elgin had booked about 130 valentines with seven quartets. Unfortunately, one quartet could only sing the first half of the day and another could only sing the second half of the day, so I ended up singing tenor in both quartets. I was booked for a total of 32 valentines to be covered in a 14 hour period. The day went extremely well, and the scheduling and routing was excellent. I picked up my second quartet about 2:00 p.m. in the afternoon, and off we went. It was about 9:30 p.m. when we arrived at a private residence to perform what would be my 32nd valentine of the day. As we pulled in the driveway, a gentleman came out of the front door to greet us. He said, "I have a special favor to ask. I ordered this singing valentine for my wife and my daughter. Both of them are deaf. Would it be all right if I stand in the middle of the quartet while you are singing and sign the songs to my wife and daughter?" Of course the answer was "yes." I personally was mentally and physically exhausted, but somehow the quartet was able to summon the emotional strength to complete our two song set, The Story of a Rose and Let Me Call You Sweetheart. smiles on the faces of his wife and daughter while we sang and he signed is a picture that will never be erased from my memory. My exhaustion was gone, and I was blessed with a cherished new insight about the beauty of singing, even for those who cannot hear. John McDougald Secretary, Sedona AZ Chapter |
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