Hatter Chatter - Mad Hatter Chorus

The Danbury Mad Hatter Barbershop Chorus
Hatter
Chatter
Newsletter of the Danbury Chapter, Yankee Division, Northeastern District of the Barbershop Harmony Society
Meeting every Tuesday, 7:15 p.m. at Church of Christ, 90 Clapboard Ridge Road, Danbury, Connecticut
Volume 22 Number 6
www.madhatterchorus.org
Late-summer 2015
Harmony College Reflections
Home Away from Home - by Andy Bayer
I’ve made the time for so MANY years to be a student at
Harmony College Northeast that I’ve actually lost track of
exactly how many years I have been in attendance. However,
I can attest to the fact that regardless of whether you are a
beginner or veteran barbershopper, there are courses for you!
This year I decided to challenge myself by participating in the
adult chorus. Prior to our weekend program, I received both
the sheet music and learning tracks “in the (e-)mail” and set
out to learn both songs. This was a challenge for me----not
just due to the varying rhythms and notes; those I can
eventually master (?), It’s the darn words! However much of
a challenge it had been to commit them to my feeble memory,
it was well worth the effort!
Our world class director from Harmony University, Donny
Rose, was outstanding. In just between three and four hours
time (two major instructional rehearsals), he was able to set a
professional, respectful, warm and supportive “esprit de
corps” among this good-size group of performers. In addition,
he knew what he wanted from our execution (in a good way!)
of each song and, more importantly, how to get us to
internalize the emotional mood and perform each with
enthusiasm and joy. It was truly a highly enjoyable and nonthreatening part of the weekend!
In addition, I took several courses including “Find your
Funny” (Nooooo, Dr. Bob did not teach that one), Audacity
Training, and private voice instruction. FYF was intended to
develop patience and acceptance in the quartet performer,
teach him/her how to “go with the flow” of the unexpected
audience reaction or performer error and make lemonade out
of potential lemons. It was entertaining and instructive.
Audacity Training introduced the participant to an on-line
program that allows one to record one’s own voice along with
another voice (learning track voice?) on a different track so
that one can hear either the congruence or blend.
Continued on the next page
Worchester State University – home of
Harmony College Northeast.
Top Ten Reasons for Attending Harmony
College - by Art Cilley
Now that David Letterman has retired from late night
television, who knows when we will see another top ten list
again? Well, in case you were worried about that, here’s my
list of the top ten reasons to attend Harmony College.
10. The campus – Relive your college days. The dorm, dining
hall, campus center, and classroom buildings are all new and
easy to walk to once you find the campus in Worcester (bring
GPS). You stay in a suite with as many as five other guys that
includes four bedrooms (two doubles, two singles), two
showers, two bathrooms, a kitchen with a refrigerator and a
sitting area. The worst part about the dorm is pronouncing its
name, Wasylean hall. Some people want to say Wesleyan. I
privately refer to it with a German-style W in which case it
comes out close to Vaseline.
9. The courses – There’s always something to learn. You
choose not only the subject matter but also the length of the
Saturday classes (all day, two three-hour periods, or four 1.5
hour periods). Subjects include sight reading, private voice
lessons, barbershop music theory, arranging, directing,
presentation, sound engineering (Daryl’s course), quartet
coaching and more. Even if you have taken all of them,
there’s always singing with the adult chorus.
Continued on the next page
Home Away from Home
– A. Bayer
Continued from previous page
Audacity Training introduced the participant to an on-line
program that allows one to record one’s own voice along with
another voice (learning track voice?) on a different track so
that one can hear either the congruence or blend.
This has a lot of potential to help the performer improve pitch,
vowel matching, blend, etc. Unfortunately, I had to leave this
course early due to the Adult Chorus mic check and could not
personally experience the hands-on demo portion of the class.
The private voice instruction was highly beneficial and
provided me with specific practices that will help improve my
voice resonance and breath control. All of the courses were
well worth the price of admission!
I would like to highlight, as well, both the opening session and
Saturday (following lunch) session, the first with the main
speaker, Amy Englehardt, and the second with the teaching
quartet, Masterpiece. They were both entertaining and
insightful and definitely NOT a waste of time!
Finally, although you may have heard this so many times
before, the Saturday night show was spectacular. It was
incredible to hear all of the performers, especially the “kids,”
our next barbershopper generation in whose hands the future
of our hobby rests. It was truly reassuring to know that this is
not a dying craft. If you don’t have a home away from home,
consider making this one yours every August!
It is
educational, heart-warming, and downright FUN!!
Top Ten Reasons
– A. Cilley
Continued from previous page
8. Late night singing – Practice what you learn. Spontaneous
singing occurs throughout the weekend but my favorite time is
Friday night. It’s like a giant inter-chapter get together where
you can sing with old friends or people you don’t know, from
quartets to large groups to everything in between. Choose a
Polecat from either of the two collections of old favorites, or
sing any society arrangement or Harmony Brigade selection
that four or more singers know or are willing to woodshed.
Sleep can wait until you get home on Sunday.
7. BHS leaders and legends – Meet the people you hear about
who are experts at what they do.
Talk to
Society/District/Division officers (like Bob Bradley), chapter
presidents and directors, arrangers, coaches, judges, and
administrators. Ask them why and how they do what they do.
You will gain a better understanding of all the organization
and talent necessary to support barbershop singing and may
even want to volunteer someday.
6. HXNE enthusiasm – See what the Society is doing to
promote our hobby to the next generation.
Harmony
Explosion is a program for high school men and women that
runs separately from but concurrently with Harmony College.
Our chapter has a scholarship fund to sponsor Danbury area
students who want to attend. Once you experience their
enthusiasm for this four day program, it may change the way
you think about the future health of barbershop singing.
5. Adult chorus – Perform two songs in the Saturday evening
concert. Join fellow barbershoppers from our district to learn
and rehearse new songs under the direction of some of the
Society’s best arm-flappers.
Mad Hatters who have
participated say they like singing for directors who often lead
award-winning choruses in International competition.
4. Mad Hatter pride – Represent our chorus at this popular
District event. When we show up at meals, classes and the
Saturday night show in our summer blue shirts, other
barbershoppers know that we care about our chapter and are
striving to improve and grow. You never know when
someone will move to our area or mention our chorus to a
friend who lives here.
3. Top quartets - Learn from the guys who have won it all. On
Friday night, each member of the headline quartet for that year
holds a class on How to Be a Better _______ for his voice
part. The entire quartet also participates in a Q&A dialog
during one of the General Sessions on Saturday. You may
even be able to sing with some of them during the course of
the weekend. The three years I have gone to HCNE, the
headline quartets were Acoustix, Crossroads and Masterpiece.
Everyone can learn something from gold medal winners like
that.
2. The Saturday Night Show – Be amazed at how good
barbershop singing can be. This year’s show included
performances by the men’s, women’s and combined HXNE
choruses, the 2014 NED quartet and 2014 BHS International
Collegiate quartet champs, the Adult Chorus, the 2014 Sweet
Adeline International quartet champs (Lovenotes) and the
2012 BHS International quartet champs (Masterpiece). It’s
not just the singing either. The enthusiasm, energy and
excitement are all exceptional.
And the Number One reason to attend Harmony College is: Be
Inspired. Each year I come away thinking the show was the
best yet. How can it be equaled next time? The weekend can
make attendees want to improve their own singing, do
something to help their chapter, find a new member or bring a
guest to a rehearsal, sell more ads for the Annual Show, or be
a better more active barbershopper generally. At least it does
for me. If you have not been to one yet, please consider trying
it next year and see what it does for you!
Baritone Deep Thought
Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
-2-
Harmony College
A Different Experience for Everyone - by Robert
Golenbock
After four hours of sleep, Jimmy and I dragged ourselves to
the car and bid farewell to HCNE 2015. Of course no one
heard us because everyone was asleep! I sure hope everyone
who attended had as much fun as I did.
Harmony College is an opportunity to see old friends, to hear
great performances, to sing with A-level performers, to learn
aspects of our passion (C'mon, you all know the word hobby
never really fit.), to improve at what we consider important,
whether it's singing technique, performance, or administration.
My experience at HCNE will always be different from
everyone else's. But since you asked, here's my story:
For the last several years Harmony College starts with a twohour ride with Jimmy Hopper. We sing with learning tracks,
we listen to Sinatra, we talk about our families. We checked
in, found the incredible outdoor barbecue, talked to old friends
from around the District.
After the general meeting, where we learned a song in 20
minutes, I got to hang out with master arranger Tom Gentry,
who led a small group in woodshedding. Of course the day
was far from over. I found enough other guys to spend
another two hours singing. Blue Moon met up to serenade a
small group willing to listen to our set. Were we good? At
that hour everything sounds great!
The next morning Worcester State served an excellent
breakfast. We had another general session so we could hear
Masterpiece up close and personal. My first class was with a
professional singer-comedian teaching Finding the Funny. We
never laughed harder! My next class was helping Daryl get
the sound system ready for the big show. Daryl is such a font
of knowledge. While we didn't have the time to do a formal
class, it was still a great experience.
Lunch was incredible -- one of the four or five best meals we
had that day. After lunch I took a private voice lesson with
Debra Lynn and then spent some time talking to Matt Mercier,
who has been a District champ and International competitor
many times. Masterpiece answered questions and sang for us
again. Afterwards I tried not to eat too much dinner.
Saturday night is always about the show. Daryl saved us
special seats with him by the sound booth, where we heard an
amazing group of young men and women shock us with their
performances after only three days of actual rehearsal. The
adult chorus sang two songs (They got two short rehearsals!).
The headliners were last years's Sweet Adelines Queens, Love
Notes, and the 2013 BHS International champions,
Masterpiece.
If we had gone home at that point, we would have had our
money's worth. But, of course, there was more to come. We
gathered for the pizza party, where the Mad Hatters did their
share of singing. As the party moved to the dorm, I got to sing
for a few more hours surrounded by people talking, listening,
eating, drinking, and singing as loud as they could (I'm talking
to you, SUREFIRE!).
from Hunterdon Harmonizers”In Tune”
Bridgewater Fair
By John Bradley
On Saturday, August 12, the Danbury Mad Hatter Barbershop
Chorus performed at the 64th Annual Bridgewater Country
Fair. It was the chorus’ first appearance at the fair in many
years.
Gathering at Walt Barolow’s house, the chorus members were
taxied to the venue by golf carts driven by Walt and his father,
John. I was a little nervous riding in a cart driven by a
baritone, but I was assured he had sufficint insurance.
Traveling Men sang a tag over the fair’s loud speaker to
announce our performance that was attended by a good crowd
of friends, family, former chorus members and curious fair
attendees. We were scheduled to perform simultaneously with
the Pony Pull in the North Ring rght next to the bandstand, but
the Pull was postponed.
So after we finished singing, I walkd over and watched some
little horses pull a few tons of conrcrete about 20 yeards.
Reminded me of a typical day at work.
I made a quick tour of the fair after the Pony Pull, stopping a
little while at the Tractor Mac Show, then taking in the Hot
Dog Pig Racing event.
Continued on the next page
-3-
Fair
Bethel Health Care
Continued from the previous page
By Dick Zang
I also had a chance to visit cows and rabbits, inspect
vegetables and fruit and watch little kids bounce around inside
some big plastic inflated “hamster wheels.”
The Mad Hatters found a new venue in a familiar location in
Bethel on Thursday night, August 20th. We are used to
singing at the Cascades rehab facility, but this time we walked
to the other end of the building to sing for a welcoming group
at Bethel Health Care.
It was a good perfrmance and a lot of fun on a beautiful
summer afernoon.
We put on a good show with Lee Smeriglio again handling the
emcee chores and solid quartet presentations by two quartets,
in spite of deft personnel changes. The audience, including a
good number of the staff, enjoyed the show and are looking
forward to seeing us again.
Wedding or barbershop event? Picture by John Bradley.
Bethel Health Care audience. Submitted by Danny Anderson.
Inter-Chapter Night
Mad Hatters on stage. Picture by John Bradley
By John Bradley and Dick Zang
On Tuedsay evening, August 25, the Mad Hatters hosted an
inter-chapter night. There were 75 singers from Danbury,
Poughkeepsie (the Newyorkers); Hartford (the Insurance City
Chorus); Bridgeport (Coastal Chordsmen); Central
Connecticut; and Waterbury-Derby.
After the group sing and choruses, the organized quartets sang,
in order: Take Four from Bridgeport, Sound Policy from
Hartford, then the Danbury quartets Real Chemistry, Traveling
Men, Kismet, and Surefire!
Mingling with the audience. Picture by John Bradley
The pick-up quartet contest followed. Appearing, in order:
The Leftovers; Give and Take Four (3rd place - 202.1 points);
The Hummeroids (1st place - 211.6 points); Mount Rushmore
or Less (with Andy); Refresher Course; We Don't Know But It
Sounded Good (with Art); The Rolling Tones (2nd place 195.3 points); Half Fast; Everything Nice; Bill's Boys. No
typo, the third place quartet had more points than the second
place quartet. That’s barbershop!.
-4-
Pictures From Inter-chapter Night
Take Four from Bridgeport
Representatives of the Poughkeepsie Newyorkers
Yum!
Representatives of the Insurance City Chorus
SUREFIRE! a hands down favorite
Danbury’s Traveling Men with Joe filling in for Wynn
All pictures by John Bradley.
-5-
Three Things
On Satuday, August 15, the
Mad Hatters had an all-day
coaching session with Kirk
Young,
Kirk has worked at the Barbershop Harmony Society
headquarters as a Music Specialist. He sang with the quartet,
The Management, with whom he won his first Northeastern
District Championship. Kirk also sang with Matt in Club 406.
He is an accomplished arranger and a Certified Music
Category Judge.
After each coaching session, chorus members are encouraged
to submit three things they learned during the session, and/or
three things they feel should be passed on to barbershoppers
who could not attend the session. Following is a listing of
“three things” submitted by the chorus members.
Singing a swing rhythm is more about feeling than
counting. Think “late” and “lazy” (or laid back) for a
change. Don’t push the beat.
Every note, but especially a held note, needs a destination.
Make sure it goes somewhere.
If you can’t make it all the way to a scheduled breath,
take a short catch breath but do it without disturbing the
ensemble.
Breathe silently. Stop singing and resume singing without
being noticeable.
Make sure your chest is lifted when you sing because it
allows the breathing mechanism to work properly... as
opposed to when the chest is lowered and collapsed.
Treat the notes that you sing like calligraphy... if you let
the pen rest, you get a giant ink spot on the page... if you
let a note rest, the audience loses interest.
Treat the key change as a relaxing epiphany, not like a
driving force to "get it."
Move around to regain you singer's posture when your
body starts sagging.
Move your feet to become one with the rhythm.
Move your hands with the music to smooth out the sound.
Proper alignment for a singer is with a lifted chest and the
ear is in line with the shoulder.
Octaves are in tune when the higher octave note is slightly
higher in pitch.
Singing is connected word sounds.
Breathe on the vowel to be sung
Smile from the eye
Know your notes!
The Mad Hatters also had a coaching session over Skype with
Realtime’s John Newell.
Thanks to Jim Hopper for
transcribing the notes taken by Daryl Bornstein during the
coaching session.
“ May I Never Love Again”
In order to make the lyrics have a natural flow and to
avoid accenting each note, first speak the lyrics to
discover how you want to sing them.
Conduct up beats while singing to help sustain pitch.
Get your body and face involved in the song- physicality
is important.
To aid in learning proper breathing technique, bend your
knees and hug a tree with your arms outstretched.
Place your hands behind your head to help relax your
neck muscles.
Have a relaxed tongue while singing. Stick your
forefinger under your chin while singing. If you feel your
tongue pressing down, it isn't relaxed.
“Driving Me Crazy”
To feel and sing to a consistent beat snap your fingers on
beats two and four.
Get your voice inside the tempo and don't try to push it.
Keep it laid back.
Back off on the volume a bit an sing more easily.
Ringing a chord has nothing to do with volume.
Keep the sound going through all words by extending and
sustaining the vowels. Don't clip any words.
Feel each note coming out of your mouth and your nose
to produce a more pointed, forward, and resonant sound.
General comments.
The physical gestures greatly helped our singing. The
challenge is to turn these breathing and singing techniques into
habits that we always do without thinking about them.
Breathe the same way without having to hug the tree. Stay up
in pitch without moving our arms up. We seem to focus much
better for a coach than we do for Joe. Let's give Joe the same
focus and effort.
Kirk Young coaching the Mad Hatters.
Picture by John Bradley
-6-
The President’s Podium
is greater and the time spent with other chapters is more
rewarding.
By Danny Anderson
I was just on Groupanizer and it was wonderful
to see that most members had logged on this
weekend and there were many on today. It is
apparent that this is a useful tool. I applaud each of you for
using this tool and I want to thank Joe Hudson for maintaining
the site.
The Saturday coaching session was a long but rewarding day.
I appreciate the early sessions where we were reminded of the
proper standing and breathing techniques. It was amazing to
hear the difference in our sound when we put those techniques
into practice. Now we have to remember not to fall back into
our old slouching positions.
As we moved to the rhythm of the song, it became apparent to
all that this “white boy” could not move and sing at the same
time. This is a challenge that I must work on along with
others. When we do feel the rhythm, we will not be rushing
the song or going slower. Joe did a good job Tuesday night
reminding us of the timing issues. Our watching Joe’s
directions will help keep us all singing together and not some
of us running faster than others. This is a work in progress,
and we have made great strides. Keep up the good work!
All reports that I heard said that Harmony College was once
again a success. I am sorry that a health issue kept me from
attending.
Emails to the Editors
Please e-mail your questions and
comments to either the Hatter editor, John
Bradley, at jbrad1313@earthlink.net, or
the Chatter editor, Dick Zang, at jezang@charter.net. If your
e-mail appears, you will receive an autographed picture of
our 2008 Yankee Division Bulletin Editors Award
My musical director always tells us to mark our music where
we have to take a breath, but I’m not sure how to mark it. Is
there a special symbol used to indicate breaths?
Peter from Preston
Pete,
You need to mark your music with a breath mark, or luftpause.
This is a symbol used in musical notation that directs the
performer of the music passage to take a breath (for wind
instruments and vocalists), or to make a slight pause (for nonwind instruments). For bowed instruments, it means to lift the
bow. The symbol is usually placed above the staff and at the
ends of phrases. Its function is analogous to the comma in
several written languages. Indeed, the two symbols look
identical.
As I write this article, we are on the verge of several important
singing engagements. We have been working to gain access
into these different venues where we can perform for “live”
audiences and possibly entice others to join our organization.
We will be singing at the Bridgewater Fair, The Taste of
Danbury and the Newtown Arts Festival. Two of these venues
are new opportunities to perform for the chorus. I encourage
each member to commit to attend, come prepared to perform
and then spend some time after the performance visiting with
the audience. Make sure you have business cards with you.
Take a few minutes and reread the Standing Ovation Report of
our annual show before attending these performances.
Repeatedly, the report states that it would be good to see some
engagement with the audience through the songs. Joe and
others keep telling us the same thing. Show that we are
enjoying the songs ourselves, smile, and move and watch the
director.
The time for competition is quickly approaching. We need to
attend each rehearsal leading up to the competition. Each
week we will be building upon what we learned the previous
week. If you do have to miss please contact your section
leader so he can provide you with any changes made or other
information you might need to know.
A big thank you to each member who provided items for the
inner chapter night. Each year that we do this, the attendance
Barbershop Dictionary
Gut-Buster
A robust up-tune.
Hang Ten
Standing on the risers with ten toes over the edge.
Honker
a person who sings loudly and/or in a garish manner, often a
bass singer.
Leaner
A person that does not have the courage or ability to sing on
his/her own, or is not well rehearsed in the music.
Overtone
A harmonic produced by proper intonation, tuning, and vowel
formation.
Patter
A verbose variation on the theme of a refrain as in "Down Our
Way", also jokes and stuff between songs.
Ping
Focused, bright ringing sound.
Scissors Movement
Two voice parts that cross each other, while the other two
voice sustain, leading to an inversion of the chord.
-7-
Quartet Corner
News from our chorus quartets
Traveling Men – by Wynn Gadkar-Wilcox
As summer trips to Hawaii, India, Cape Cod,
and Las Vegas wind down, the Traveling Men have just
returned to their usual pre-contest rehearsal schedule of
rehearsing twice a week.
The Adult chorus was the highlight of the classes. Donny
Rose was our director and with all kudos to Joe, he was a lot
of fun.
In a little over three hours he had us singing two new songs
off paper with choreography. If you have never sung with the
mixed group of men and women you are missing a new
dimension to our hobby. The women know their notes and
words and take to movement while singing better that we do.
The Traveling gentlemen are challenging themselves this year
with more difficult repertoire, requiring even more rehearsal.
They aid the tenor notes and the men add to the bass. Women
hold there own with any lead or baritione. For those who
have heard the “Honeymooners” you can understand the blend
of voices that can occur with male and female singers.
They are grateful to Jimmy Hopper and Joe Hudson for filling
in for absent members at several gigs this past month, and
look forward to upcoming coaching sessions with Joe Hudson,
Daryl Bernstein, and Steve Delehanty early this fall.
The physics of barbershop was a course that everyone should
take as it explains in terms that all can understand why the
sound sounds as we make it sound, why notes lock and ring
and how sound waves behave.
Repertoire Notes
""The Long and Winding Road" is a ballad
written by Paul McCartney (credited to
Lennon–McCartney) from the Beatles' album,
Let It Be. It became the group's 20th and last number-one song
in the United States in June 1970, and was the last single
released by the quartet.
While the released version of the song was very successful,
the post-production modifications by producer Phil Spector
angered McCartney to the point that when he made his case in
court for breaking up the Beatles as a legal entity, he cited the
treatment of "The Long and Winding Road" as one of six
reasons for doing so.
New versions of the song with simpler instrumentation were
subsequently released by both the Beatles and McCartney.
"The Long and Winding Road" brought the curtain down on
the Beatles' seven consecutive years of domination in America
that began with "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in 1964.
The food is always good, company always fine and the AC is
always on high. It took a shivering night to find that the fan
could be turned down. In the room next to me was the new
president of the Montreal chorus who was teaching me “ O
Canada” in French. Since then, I learned that Kirk Young
does a mean French version also.
Saturday’s show is worth the weekend price. The kids are
always terrific and mist fills most the the eyes in the audience.
The girls did “Pitch Perfect” and “Bruno Marrs,” the guys did
flips around the “Walls of Jericho” and both reprised Grease
with the best of them.
Sunday was our Board meeting and the talk was of the kids
and thanks to Antonio Lombardi and Ed Fritzen for putting on
a weekend to remember.
For those who did not attend, shame on you. I always think
that this event is the premier gathering that is done in NED, so
next year sing with the adults and take a course or two to learn
your craft and enjoy seeing the future of your hobby. Watch
great quartets such as Masterpiece, Lovenotes, the Academy
and Timepiece perform, and go for the kids.
District Dirt
By Robert Bradley
“You can no longer take the pillow
home with you.” With this announcement, Harmony College
Northeast took off.
When our quartet cannot all make it for coaching, I am stuck
at the school looking at courses to fill the day as I have to be
there anyway for Board meetings and House Of Delegate
meetings. This year I have to say to the other three guys that I
had a great time without them.
Barbershoppers attending class
during Harmony College Northeast.
-8-
August Board of
Directors Meeting
This month only – the abbreviated non-quorum version!
Reach over 1,500 men, women and
youth - singers, supporters, chapter
officers and committee chairs, and
those friends and lovers of barbershop
with a Display Ad or Line Listing ad
in the NED's 2015 Fall District
Convention & Contest Program!
Meeting called to order by Danny “Where the heck is
everyone?” Anderson at 6:15pm on August 4, 2015 at the
Church of Christ building.
For quartets, chapters, choruses,
members, affiliates and friends of
barbershop harmony!
Respectfully submitted by Robert
Golenbock, Secretary.
Secretary’s Report: I can’t tell you what the Board really
thought about the report! No quorum!
Treasurer’s Report: The money’s still there, but most of the
Board disappeared.
Membership Report: Don Sutherland is moving to Vermont to
be with family.
VP Public Relations: probably on a boat.
Music Committee: Wouldn’t you like to know.
Old Business: Here’s what we can tell you. We will be in the
same venue for our next Annual Show on 5/7/2016. Next year
we will use vouchers that can be exchanged for actual tickets.
People will need to call before a certain date so we can tell
Westconn how many comp tickets we need and who gets
them. We also need to put a list of the songs and the quartets
into our show book.
New Business: We haven’t finished the old business. We are
having an Inter-chapter night.
Members Present: Wouldn’t that have been ironic?
Officers Present: D. Anderson, J. Hopper, A. Bayer, D.
DeMarche, R. Golenbock, E. Ness.
Meeting never actually adjourned because we didn’t have a
quorum to vote on it. We did kind of drift off at 7:06pm.
Next meeting is September 1, 2015.
If you are a man who has some quartetting experience, the
ability and the willingness to master twelve songs word and
note perfect in about four to four and a half months, then this
will be a richly rewarding experience for you. You will
receive high quality learning tracks and music charts for each
of the twelve songs, and you will have an amazingly fun
quartet experience. Contact: president@nehb.net
-9-
Ye Olde Joke Boarde
Submitted by the Unknown Barbershopper
A barbershop baritone was in love with two women and could not decide which of them to marry. Finally he went to a marriage
counselor. When asked to describe his two loves, he noted that one was a great poet and the other made delicious pancakes.
"Oh," said the counselor, "I see what the problem is. You can't decide whether to marry for batter or verse."
...
Mitch, a hard-shell Southern Baptist and a barbershop baritone, loved to sneak away to the race track. One day he was there betting
on the ponies and nearly losing his shirt when he noticed this priest who stepped out onto the track and blessed the forehead of one of
the horses lining up for the 4th race. Lo and behold, this horse - a very long shot - won the race. Mitch was most interested to see
what the priest did the next race.
Sure enough, he watched the priest step out onto the tract as the 5th race horses lined up, and placed this blessing on the forehead of
one of the horses. Mitch made a beeline for the window and placed a small bet on the horse. Again, even though another long shot,
the horse the priest had blessed won the race. Mitch collected his winning and anxiously waited to see which horse the priest
bestowed his blessing on for the 6th race.
The priest showed, blessed a horse, Mitch bet on it, and it won! Mitch was elated! As the day went on, the priest continued blessing
one of the horses, and it always came in first. Mitch began to pull in some serious money, and by the last race, he knew his wildest
dreams were going to come true.
He made a quick stop at the ATM, withdrew big money and awaited the priest’s blessing that would tell him which horse to bet on.
True to his pattern, the priest stepped out onto the track before the last race and blessed the forehead, eyes, ears and hooves of one of
the horses. Mitchell bet every cent, and watched the horse come in dead last. Mitchell was dumbfounded. He made his way to the
track and when he found the priest, he demanded, “What happened, Father? All day you blessed horses and they won. The last race,
you blessed a horse and he lost. Now I’ve lost my savings, thanks to you!!”
The priest nodded wisely and said, “That’s the problem with you Protestantsm you can’t tell the difference between a simple blessing
and the Last Rites.”
Current Mad Hatter Repertoire
Regular Repertoire
Tonight, Tonight
Come Go With Me
Where Is Love
Daydream
Happy Together
Blue Velvet
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Shenandoah
Bye-Bye, Love
You Were Only A Splinter As I Slid
Down The Bannister Of Life
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Beach Boys Medley
My Every Day Silver Is Plastic
Patriotic/Inspirational
God Bless America
I Believe
Lord's Prayer
Star-Spangled Banner
This Land Is Your Land/
America the Beautiful Medley
Contest
Drivin' Me Crazy
May I Never Love Again
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The Danbury, CT Chapter
SPEBSQSA
104 Lexington Blvd, Bethel, CT 06801
203-744-9480
President:
Danny Anderson
Musical Director:
Joseph Hudson
Assistant Director:
Wynn Gadkar-Wilcox
Director Emeritus:
Don Sutherland
Membership VP:
Andy Bayer
Public Relations VP:
Art Cilley
Music VP:
Jim Hopper
Secretary:
Robert Golenbock
Treasurer:
Dickson DeMarche
Program VP
Vacant
Member at Large:
Peter Daubner
Member at Large:
Walter Barlow
Member at Large:
Wynn Gadkar-Wilcox
Immediate Past President Robert Bradley
Uniform Chairman:
Andy Bayer
Harmony Foundation
Chairman:
Danny Anderson
Music Librarian:
Peter Daubner
Sunshine Chairman:
Don Smith
Package Show Chairman: Dick Walter
Chorus Manager:
Robert Golenbock
The Hatter Chatter
Serving the Mad Hatter community since last Tuesday
John Bradley, Hatter Editor
Dick Zang, Chatter Editor
39 Beekman Drive
2 Camelot Crest
Lake Carmel, NY 10512
Sandy Hook, CT 06482
Jbrad1313@earthlink.net
jezang@charter.net
Proofreader: Miss Taralily
The editors of the Hatter Chatter welcome
submissions from all chapter members and friends
of the Mad Hatters. E-mail, mail, paper airplane
us your thoughts, observations, opinions, singing
tips and whatevers, and we’ll turn them into
Pulitzer Prize copy
Mark Your Calendars
Sing Out
September 12, Taste Of Danbury, City Center, Danbury
Green (186 Main Street, Danbury, CT). Warm-up 1:30
pm, sing, 2:00 pm.
Sing Out
Saturday September 19, 2015, Newtown Arts Festival, Fairfield Hills
Campus (Mile Hill Road), Newtown, CT. Warm-up at 10:00am,
Perform at 10:30am.
NED Convention 2015
October 16 – 18. Sheraton Burlington Hotel & Conference
Center (870 Williston Road, Burlington, VT). Quartet Contest
on Friday night, Chorus Contest on Saturday.
Annual Show
May 7 2016, WCSU Visual and Performing Arts Center, 43
Lake Avenue Ext., Danbury, CT. Details to be announced.
August Milestones
Birthdays:
2 - Bette Zlamany
3 - Ron Keith
8 - Bob Connolley
8 - Joanne Zang
13 - Jim Hopper
18 - Frank Fehling
28 - David McKee
Wedding Anniversaries:
1 - Dick and Joanne Zang
7 - Wynn and Sujata Gadkar-Wilcox
8 - Dan and Patricia Griffin
8 - Paul and Janet Just
15 - Art and Susan Roberts
17 - Jim and Marti Hopper
31 - Charlie and Carol Rosa
Inter-chapter night. Picture by John Bradley
Mad Hatters practicing advanced singing techniques.
Picture by John Bradley
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