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A Summary of our 2007 Christmas Performances
by Bob Robson
We were working on our Christmas music by early October and
for the most part it was in very good shape for our Christmas gigs. In fact, we got off to a real early start by
singing for the Starbuck’s Christmas promotional meetings on Wed., Oct. 11/07. About 10 of our singers – a slightly
augmented VLQ – sang carols for an hour at the Sheraton Cavalier Hotel for a
group of about 150 managers of the Starbuck’s western Canada
organization. It was a noisy affair, but
we were fairly well paid for our efforts.
Some people actually did stop and have a listen to our music.
Next up was the VLQ (actually about 15 singers) at the McDougall
United Church
dinner. After being well fed we put on
about a 45 minute package of a variety of tunes from our western, formal and
Christmas sets. Emery Cherot was the
organizer of this event – thanks, Emery.
Christmas shows are becoming quite a regular part of our
annual calendar. This year, under the
leadership of Blake Sinclair, we put on “Christmas With The Western Hospitality
Singers” on Saturday, Dec. 01 at the Southwood
United Church. It was fairly well attended with over 200
patrons. Guest performers were the top
three singers (Annika Odegard, Kevin
Majeski and Andrea Geeraert)
from our Calgary High School Idol show and they were very well received. Our own chapter quartets were a bit decimated
due to some unforeseen events – with Ian Harrop of 4 ‘N’ Affair away visiting
an ailing father and with the two Robs of Time Lines present but not in singing
mode because of winter bugs). We did
still have Chinook Country, West Side and the Buzz, all
of whom were in fine voice. Thanks Blake
and all others who helped make this event a success.
We missed out on our annual performance for the Knox / CBC
carol fest, but we will get back there next year.
Thursday, Dec. 06 saw a VLQ perform over the lunch hour for
a fund raiser for the Mustard Seed.
Thanks to Fred Janzen for organizing this event.
Our busiest day singing day was Monday, Dec. 10. For about the 10th year running,
we performed for Units 57 and 58 at the Rockyview
Hospital. Every year about July we get a phone call asking
us to commit to this performance. It has
become a tradition and even though it is a different group of patients every
year, our music is always much appreciated.
This year we had well over 20 singers.
Thanks to all who were able to bring some Christmas cheer to these
shut-ins.
After a bit of a hassle getting out of the new parkade, we
journeyed over to the Grace Lutheran Apartments and did about 40 minutes worth
of singing for the residents there (including my dear Mommy, who has been one
of our most consistent fans for many, many years). After the show we were served refreshments. Obviously not enough refreshments – since 15
or so of us managed to find Greco’s pizza and watering hole on 17th
Avenue SW.
After eating, imbibing and singing for a while, it seemed a fitting end
to a busy evening.
One of our newest groups of fans is the Northmount Kiwanis
Club. They were a sponsor for our Calgary
High School program in the spring
and in return we performed for the Club’s 50th anniversary
dinner. They liked our music so much
that we were invited to sing at their Christmas dinner at the Quality
Inn Airport
on Wednesday, Dec. 12. It was a small
group but their appreciation was enthusiastic and resulted in an standing
ovation for us after our performance of a mix of western, formal and Christmas
tunes. And, we were fairly well paid for our efforts.
One more VLQ performance took place on Thrusday, Dec. 13 –
this one for the Universal Rehabilitation Service Centre at the Acadia
Recreation Centre. Thanks to James for
organizing this one – and for organizing most of the VLQ events for the whole
year.
A REVIEW OF OUR 2006 HIGHLIGHTS ACTIVITIES
Submitted by Bob Robson
We
were fortunate to add four new members during 2006 – Jose Silva
joined us in January, followed by John Terry in May, Mike Nichols in
September and John Volpini in November. In addition, Steve Webb
came back to the fold in October and was ready for the November
Christmas show. And, let’s also not forget that in late
2005, Don Mueller joined up.
Four
events in February/06 included the weekend (Feb .04) with Charlie
Metzger who put on a modified Director of the Future class for our
section leaders. Singing Valentines saw two quartets spend the
day spreading good cheer to many happy recipients of these special
Valentines greetings. A VLQ sang for a gathering of country
dancers at the Pitch ’n’ Hitch on Feb. 25 and we had a
guest night with about a half dozen guests on Feb. 27.
The
highlight for March was the two coaching sessions with Marty Lovick,
one on Sunday, March 19 and one on the following day, Monday, March
20. Mike Nichols was also involved in these coaching sessions,
which included about 16 to 18 singers at each session.
April
3 saw about 20 singers go out to Airdrie to sing at the Bethany care
facility. We were joined by the Trademark quartet to put on a 40
minute show for the folks there.
Early
May was showtime at the Bow Valley Christian Church. May 3rd was
dress rehearsal followed by a two night show on May 05 and 06.
Show theme was western (From Crude to Dude) with a script written by
Randy. Our show quartet was Vocal Magic, Evergreen District
Quartet Champs. Vocal Magic also did a visit and short demo for
the Calgary Boys Choir on the afternoon of May 06.
The
annual 6-chorus night (or alternately called the inter-chorus night)
was hosted by Rhythm of the Rockies at the NE Legion on May 17.
Yet
another May function was the Division III Convention, held in Medicine
Hat on the May 26-28 weekend. WHS regained the Division chorus
champs title and Trademark won the quartet contest. Second place
in the quartet contest was Timelines (Fulton, Sinclair, Peters and
Macdonald) and third place (as well as seniors quartet champs) was
Chinook Country (Robson, Peters, Cherot and Thexton). WHS was
very happy to get back to the 70% scoring level.
One
event in June was the performance for the Respirados on June 12, where
we had 19 singers, 3 quartets and sang 10 songs for these folks.
Our
almost annual performance for the Stampede pre-parade volunteers was
scheduled for Thursday, July 6. A good turnout of singers was
thwarted by the weather man when not one nasty thunderstorm occurred,
but two, shut down most of the entertainment. We did manage to
stay dry in the big tent and sang a few songs while we were in line for
the barbequed burgers and the free libations.
Our summer break lasted for over 5 weeks, from July 6 to August 14.
A
summer social was hosted by Randy and Leslie on Saturday, August 19,
with an excellent turnout of WHS men and their significant
others. An interesting and eclectic group put on some unique
performances after the potluck dinner.
September
23 saw us enjoying a golf day and a pot luck dinner. Thanks to
Joe and Kay Massey for hosting this event. It partially coincided
with the 20th anniversary of the inception of WHS. Two trophies
were dusted off and updated – with the Chapter President plaque
being given to Steve Webb for his three years as chapter president
(2002-03-04) and then passed on to Rob Macdonald for his year in
2005. The Show Chairman plaque had not been updated for a few
years and the honorees were: Greg Speilman, Rob Fulton, Jay Newman and
Rob Macdonald for their work on the 2002, 2003 and 2004 shows.
Then
it was time to travel to Spokane for the 2006 Evergreen District
Convention on the September 29-31 weekend. WHS was represented in
the chorus contest by 22 singers and also two quartets (Timelines and
Chinook Country) in the quartet contest. It is always good to see
our peers and barbershop friends at a District Convention.
Our
fall guest nights took on a different twist in October, when we tried
three consecutive guest nights on Oct. 16, 23 and 30. Up to 6 or 8
guests showed up over the three nights.
Late
October saw us involved with the Division III coaching weekend and
retreat (Oct. 27-29) at Sylvan Lake. About 90 barbershoppers took
part in the weekend and were coached by Charlie Metzger, Jack Lyon,
Mike Nichols and Randy Peters. A Saturday night show was held at
the Gospel Chapel in the town of Sylvan Lake and a snow storm helped
end the weekend a little earlier than the scheduled Sunday noon ending
time. All in all, it was a very productive and informative
weekend for 4 choruses and 8 quartets.
A
November Christmas show on Sunday, November 26 saw us at a new venue
(First Church of the Nazarene) with some new show guests – namely
the Calgary Boys Choir and Riverwind. The weather man was not
cooperating with the -30 temperatures, but our audience was excellent,
providing us with a near sellout. This was a show with lots of variety
and singers of all ages. It ended with a two song finale by WHS
and the Calgary Boys Choir directed by Paul Grindlay of the boys
choir. Thanks goes out to Al Stichbury and Bob Cooper for their
work in organizing this show and to Rob Macdonald for his work in
producing the show and also thanks to Diane and Laurie Freedman for
hosting the afterglow in their home.
Three
more Christmas performances rounded out our year. Dec. 04 saw 22
of our singers do two songs as part of the CBC Knox CarolFest and then
on Dec. 11 our annual performance for the Unit 57/58 at the Rockyview
Hospital was followed by a performance for the Respirados.
As
we look back on 2006 we can see how full and busy it was. The end
of the reign of Director Randy will be a significant event for
2006. He has been our only musical director since our inception
in 1986 and we are extremely indebted to him for his endless efforts in
being our musical leader. We cannot thank him enough for all that
he had done for Western Hospitality Singers and the Calgary Foothills
Chapter.
PREZ REPORTS ON THE SHOW - May 25, 2006
Submitted by Bob Robson
Our 2006 annual show (May 5 and
6, 2006) was by all accounts quite successful.
As usual, in the two weeks or so prior to showtime, there was much
trepidation, but in our typical WHS fashion, it all came together and turned
out to be a show which garnered many compliments by our regular show patrons. As a bonus, we earned standing ovations on
both nights!!
Our venue was the Bow Valley
Christian Church, which we have used 3 or 4 times in the past. Even though it is far from perfect, it suits
us fairly well. It remains to be seen if
we will use this venue in future years.
A big round of thanks goes to
James Thexton who consented to be show chairman and got us organized early in
the year. He managed to get a solid team
of chorus members to take on the major duties of the show organization and
administration.
Also garnering our thanks and
appreciation is Director Randy who took it upon himself (with a bit of guidance
from Rob Fulton) to write a script,
which became entitled: “From Crude to Dude – a Cowboys’ Tale”. The storyline for the show (first half) was
about cowboys who are tempted to give up the ‘crude on the range’ life style
for a ‘dude on the ranch’ life style.
Fortunately, the cowboys see the light and decide to remain on the
range. For this scripted show, WHS was
represented by 19 singers, of which 17 sang in quartets – quite a remarkable
feat in itself.
Our headline quartet, Vocal Magic
(current Evergreen District quartet champs) from the Seattle
area did an excellent job for us. Not
only did they perform well on the show, but they went out of their way to get
many of our singers involved in singing tags throughout the weekend. The even managed to spend a bit of time with
the Calgary Boys Choir on Saturday afternoon.
The weekend ended with an
afterglow at the Best Western in motel village.
About 70 people were in attendance and a good time was had by all.
Now it’s time to begin planning
for a 2007 show. A few important
questions that need some immediate thought are:
do we use the same venue; do we attempt another time consuming scripted
first half; do we begin to bring in some other local singing groups; do we make
an effort to have a youth outreach to showcase choirs from the Calgary
area?
Lots to consider – why not take a
minute to let someone on our chapter board know your thoughts on these issues?
WHS New – From the Prez! - April 3, 2006
Submitted by Bob Robson
Well, here is my first
contribution to the new WHS News section of our web-site. Let me start off by thanking Ian Harrop for
all of his work on our website. Since he
came back singing with us in December, he has been tireless in keeping our
website up to date since our previous webmaster, Steve Webb-master, is taking a
break. So, thanks to the outgoing Steve
and welcome and thanks to Ian. This idea
of a WHS News section is very timely and I encourage everyone to make some
contributions. Let’s capture some of the
recent and current ideas, thoughts, history, etc. for our chapter.
Earlier tonight we sang for the
folks at the Airdrie Bethany. They
seemed to very much enjoy our music – even though they are not always enthusiastic
in their response, you can see them smiling and enjoying. Thanks to the 18 or so WHS-ers who turned out
for this performance. Thanks also to the
new quartet – Four-N-Affair (Beudeker, Harrop, Silva and Freedman)
- for making their debut. A big thank
you also goes to North Forty (the Robertson Bros. Doug and Kevin plus Mike
Nichols and Doug Marwood). It is unusual
that we have to import a quartet to help us in a performance, but with a number
of our chapter quartets in a state of flux, and with some show repertoire not
quite ready, North Forty certainly helped us out and sang very well in doing
so. Thanks also to Ian Harrop for
offering to transport risers – Randy and Ian loaded risers, while Ian and I unloaded
them back at the church.
Other Stuff - April 3, 2006
Submitted by Bob Robson
Two events that have yet to be
recorded for 2006 are the Charlie Metzger weekend and the Marty Lovick
coaching.
Charlie Metzger from the Greater
Vancouver Chapter spent a Saturday (February 04/06) with our sections
leaders. Charlie led about 8 or 9 men
from our chorus in a modified Director of the Future class, in which some
basics of directing and being a musical leader were presented. It was very beneficial and once we get back
to regular section practices, our section leaders might get the opportunity to
use some of the directing skills that they picked up that day.
WHS had two coaching sessions
with Marty Lovick on March 19 and 20.
Marty spent about two and a half hours each evening with us while we
were honing the presentation package that was mainly designed by another recent
coach – Mike Nichols. We are very
appreciative of the work that was done by Mike, Marty, Randy and Rob during
these two sessions. We have lots left to
do for our contest package, but the plan is now in place and ready for some
polishing.
Our Another Almost Newest Quartet - April 1, 2006
Submitted by Randy PetersA seniors quartet has been organized to compete in
the Division III contest in Medicine Hat. Although we are barely old enough to
do this, Bob Robson - tenor, Emery Cherot - baritone, James Thexton - bass, and
Randy Peters - lead, are currently preparing "It's Time To Sing Sweet Adeline
Again" and "Back In My Home Town" for the contest. Who knows, we may be ready to
sing one of them on the show! The name of the quartet is "Chinook Country"...a
highly regional name but easy to get registered. We...er....haven't had a
practice yet but Emery is nailing down the baritone as I type...I'm
sure.
"Timelines" had its first real rehearsal this week
Thursday. This new quartet is made up of Rob Fulton - tenor, Rob Macdonald -
bass, Blake Sinclair - lead, and Randy Peters - baritone. We hope to learn and
perform a wide variety of music in the four-part style and are planning to
compete at the Division III contest in Medicine Hat. We had an opportunity to
sing for Marty Lovick for a short while during his visit and were encouraged by
his encouragement, which we found encouraging. We hope to be a regular feature at
chapter and chorus events.
Western Hospitality has published a newsletter
over the years but of late the interest in a regular newsletter has fallen off.
This may have been caused by our recent addiction to instant electronic
communication for almost everything else we do. Unfortunately one of the
casualties of the not having a newsletter is we loose out on recording what we
have done, what were our successes and our failures, what did we celebrate and
what did we learn.
In an effort to revive the keeping of these records
and satisfy our desire for instant gratification through electronic
communication, this
new news section has been created. Its a place where articles can be
easily placed, as well as read. A place where the history Western Hospitality
Singers can be stored.
All members Western Hospitality Singers of are welcome to write
articles and have them posted here, in fact its encouraged. If you are
a member and have some thoughts that you would like to share with our
group, and as this is a public forum, maybe the of the world - then
this is the place to do it. To have your story or news article
posted here just email it to our web-master....
Ian Harrop