Thursday Night Practice, July 30, 2009

Local veteran honored with French medal. So read the title of an article in the July 30th edition of the Chillicothe Gazette. That veteran was our own Chester Collins. According to the Gazette, Chester...was among 10 Ohio veterans who traveled to Columbus Wednesday to receive an award created by Napoleon Bonaparte that is considered one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a foreigner by the French government. Chester was presented with the Knight of the Legion of Honor medal during a ceremony at the Ohio Statehouse. The honor was created by Napoleon to be presented to "Those who have achieved remarkable deeds for France." Chester is 87 and proud of his service to his country. The members of the chorus are proud to have Chester sing lead with us. We also thank him for his service to our country.

Last night we had 7 guys singing. Thankfully we had a tenor. We sang quite a few Barberpole Cats. We did Paul Hixon's favorite, Wait Til The Sun Shines Nelly. Paul almost knows all the words! We also practiced I Believe, Shenandoah, and Oh How I Miss Her. We closed with Keep The Whole World Singing, and then sang a few tags. It was a good night!

Dusty Rhodes was also in attendance, joining in on a couple of songs and offering valuable performance advice. We're always glad to have Dusty join us.

Thursday Night Practice, July 23, 2009

There were only five of us, but we sang. We did most of the Barberpole Cat songs. We all took turns singing different parts. Some we did OK on, others, not so well. We sang a couple of tags, and concluded practice by 9:30, an early night for us. We did have a woman stop by and ask about the chorus, based on our event being listed in the Gazette. She was checking us out for someone she knows who has sung bass with other Barbershop groups. We encouraged her to tell her friend we'd love to have him join us.

Thursday Night Practice, July 16, 2009

We got a jump on Christmas at this practice. We sang thru every song in the Yuletide Favorites Songbook. We had the learning CD, so we sang along. Jingle, Jingle, Jingle, Jingle! I think I got it right this time. I can't remember what else we sang, but we must have done Shenandoah, or Gene would have been very disappointed! We sang a few tags with me trying melody. Not too good! Dusty Rhoades joined us, adding to our enjoyment of the evening. We're hoping to have a couple more chorus members join us for next Thursday's practice.

Thursday Night Practice, July 9, 2009

Well, we met. As you can see, we're down to five guys plus me taking the picture. So we had a VLQ practice. Hopefully we'll do better in attendance next week, July 16.

Chorus Sings National Anthem in front of Courthouse

Picture: From left to right, Dan Lusher, Mark Hatfield, Chester Collins, Paul Hixon, Mark Poyet, Bob Cook, and Gene Hoyet (the lone Baritone) The Chorus sang the National Anthem in front of the Ross County Courthouse on Sunday night at 7 p.m., before the Concert by the Great Seal of Ohio Band and after VFW Post 108 Color Guard Presented the Colors. The band played 5 selections and then the Chorus sang: Down Our Way, Shenandoah, My Wild Irish Rose, and Keep the Whole World Singing. And on one song the event MC, Mr. Allen Richmond, joined in singing with the chorus. The chorus then listened to the remainder of the Band's program. For me the highlight of the Band Concert was the piccolo solo on John Phillip Sousa's The Stars and Stripes Forever. The young lady playing the piccolo did an outstanding job.

Thursday Night Practice, July 2, 2009

It was a small group, but, as usual, we had fun singing. Mark, his other brother Mark, Paul, Gene and Bob attended practice; a VLQ, with a nice sound. We practiced the Star Spangled Banner in preparation for our July 5th performance on the Ross County Courthouse steps. We'll be singing for the start of The Great Seal Band's concert. We'll also do a few other barbershop numbers, since we'll be there, at the band's intermission. We also practiced a few of the Polecats which we don't sing regularly. They're coming along nicely. At Gene's request, we did Shenendoah. Even though it's "only" July, we started practicing some Christmas carols. I'm trying to talk Paul into letting us use the booklets when we sing, since they are such a pretty shade of Christmas green. Mark backed me up, since most Christmas carolers are pictured singing from music they are holding. We'll see.....

Bob Sings with Realtime at Apple Corps 2009

This is certainly the highlight of my very limited Barbershop singing career. At Apple Corps 2009, I got to sing Bass with the 2005 International Barbershop Quartet Champs, Realtime. I was very nervous, but according to Gene Hoyet, who was watching and listening, I did OK. I didn't even think to have Gene take a picture of me. I found this picture on the Real Time web site. For any fellow Barbershoppers who might read this, I can't begin to tell you how much fun Apple Corps is. Plenty of educational opportunities and plenty of singing opportunities. Go if you get a chance!