This first section is addressed to the Music Faculty members of Volusia
County Schools:

Hi, my name is Christopher Baker. I am a barbershop singer in the Surfside
Chorus which is the Daytona Beach Chapter of the Society for the
Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America
[SPEBSQSA], the oldest and largest barbershop harmony organization in the
world. We call it the "Society" for short. I am also the Young Men In
Harmony [YMIH] Coordinator for my Chapter. It is with that hat on that I
address you.

The Sunshine District [the state of Florida], wherein the Daytona Chapter
resides, conducts Youth Music Festivals for public school music students
throughout the state of Florida. The man in charge of this effort is Ned
Fogler. [Some of you may know him. He was born and raised in Deland.] Ned
usually attends the Festivals but he can only be in one place at a time and
won't be able to make our Festival Preview on Friday. These Festivals and
Festival Previews are put on by the Sunshine District at no expense
whatsoever to the local school system. The purpose of the Festivals is to
promote interest and participation in singing among school-age kids.
Generally, Festivals are open to all music students within a school
district from middle to high school. Festivals are for boys and girls. We
have participation from the women's barbershop organization, Sweet Adelines
International, as well. We are not trying to recruit your students away
from their current music activities. It is our purpose to provide exposure
to the wonders of a cappella harmony in the hopes that it will encourage
more participation in your own programs especially among the boys who may
not be as eager to enter choral groups as girls are. It is our contention
that music is a "family value" worth instilling in our future generations.

With that background in mind, I would like to invite you to the Society's
Youth Festival Preview we will be conducting on Friday, March 15th, from 9
AM to Noon, at Spruce Creek High School. We are conducting this Preview at
the behest of your Music Supervisor, Dave Smith. He has already sent you
notices of the event but I want to add my own invitation to those of you
who have not yet decided to attend. It is my understanding that there are
currently 98 Music Teachers in the Volusia County system. I would like to
have every single one of you there on Friday. Why? Because I believe in
this program so strongly that I want as many people as possible to come and
hear what a cappella, 4-part, Barbershop harmony is all about. I want to
get you as excited about it as I am so you won't be able to wait for the
full Youth Festival to be scheduled. Once you've seen our program, you'll
want to get every kid in your school's music program there and the word
will spread when they get back. Your choral program will runneth over once
the participants start telling their friends what they've been up to at the
Festival. I have enough Music Educator packets for 50 teachers and I can
get more if I need them. We want YOU!

So what am I really talking about? What's a Festival all about? In a
nutshell, a Youth Festival is when we get all your music students and music
teachers into one place for a day and teach them to sing 4-part harmony. We
have trained administrators and clinicians from all over the country who
come to the Festival to pass on their knowledge and love of a cappella
singing in the Barbershop style. We do all the work and pay all the
expenses. You and your students have all the fun and a day they'll never
forget!

At the Festival Preview we have planned for you this Friday, our
Administrator will be Karen Bradley. Karen is a public school choral
teacher in Palm Beach County who has known Ned Fogler for years. [Ned loves
to recruit.] She will be bringing a female high school Barbershop quartet
with her called "Sweet Soundsations." They will be assisting in the
demonstration phase of the Preview. Bob Franklin, Lead of the International
Champion "Suntones" quartet, will be bringing up a male high school/college
Barbershop quartet called "Fortissimo" from the South Florida area. They
will also be part of the demonstration of Barbershop harmony. Our featured
quartet will be the Sunshine District Champions, "Autograph", who will also
act as Section Leaders during the faculty participation phase of the
Preview. Our Clinician for this Preview will be Gene O'Dell. Gene is
currently Director of the Surfside Chorus and a Barbershopper with 40 years
experience including International competition. Gene will be the one who
conducts the demonstrations. The demonstration phase of the Preview will
last about an hour. Then comes the fun part. Interested?

The next couple hours will be spent in actually teaching you, the teachers,
two Barbershop songs. You will get an idea of what happens in the Youth
Festival where the students get the same opportunity. Gene is a master of
Barbershop instruction. The process is the fun. The results are the reward.
During the teaching phase, the members of "Autograph" will be your Section
Leaders when we split the group up into voice parts and send them to
separate rooms to learn and polish their part. In Barbershop, the Section
Leader is usually the most accurate musician in their voice part and their
job is to help the Director fine-tune their section. Barbershop is broken
down into four parts: Tenor, Lead, Baritone, and Bass. The women
Barbershoppers use the same terminology. Don't worry about where you fit.
Gene will take care of that on Friday. You'll get lots of Barbershop
details on Friday.

I hope I've given you a compelling glimpse of what we'll be doing on Friday
at Spruce Creek High. As I said in the beginning, this is a wonderful
musical form and we want to "Teach the World to Sing"! Please consider and
reconsider being our guests March 15th. You'll have fun even if you've
always hated Barbershop or never heard of it. Done correctly, it is
amazing! Let us show you how.

Contact Dave Smith in his office if you need more information. He's at:
386-255-6475, extension 2305. Irma Gilliam is the Choral Teacher at Spruce
Creek High and will be our hostess for the Preview. Remember, Friday, March
15th, 9 AM to Noon at Spruce Creek High School. Be there! Thank you for
your attention.

This section is for the Staff and Faculty of the Preview:

The Preview is scheduled for 9 AM to Noon on Friday, March 15th. Spruce
Creek High School is located at:

805 Taylor Road
Port Orange, FL.

Staff and Faculty should be there by 8:30 AM to set-up. Dave Smith will
meet us at that time in front of the auditorium entrance.

To get to Spruce Creek High from the South:

Take I-95 North to Exit 85 [Port Orange/SR 421];
Exit to the far right heading East;
Remain in the far right lane to the first traffic light;
Turn right [South] at the light. [This is Taylor Road.];
Follow Taylor Road .5 miles to the next traffic light;
Turn left [North] at the light. [This is Clyde Morris Blvd.];
Go north on Clyde Morris Blvd. about .2 mile to Spruce Creek High;
Turn right into the first gate and park anywhere;
The Choral Room is inside the double doors and to the right.
It is exactly 1 mile from the I-95 exit to the doors.
If you get lost, my cell phone number is: 386-290-3452.

To get to Spruce Creek High from the North:

Take I-95 to Exit 85 [Port Orange/SR 421];
Turn left under I-95 to go East on SR 421;
Get into the far right lane and stay there to the first traffic light;
Turn right [South] at the light. [This is Taylor Road.];
Follow Taylor Road .5 miles to the next traffic light;
Turn left [North] at the light. [This is Clyde Morris Blvd.];
Go north on Clyde Morris Blvd. about .2 mile to Spruce Creek High;
Turn right into the first gate and park anywhere;
The Choral Room is inside the double doors and to the right.
It is exactly 1 mile from the I-95 exit to the doors.
If you get lost, my cell phone number is: 386-290-3452.

To get to Spruce Creek High from the East:

Take U.S. 1 or Nova Road to Dunlawton Road [SR 421];
Get in the far left lane and go West to Clyde Morris Blvd;
Turn left and go South on Clyde Morris Blvd to Spruce Creek High;
Turn left into the last gate and park anywhere.

To get to Spruce Creek High from the West:

Take SR 415 to Taylor Road [SR 421];
Go East under I-95 to the traffic light;
Turn right going South on Taylor Road;
Follow the From the South directions from there.

For those of you in town, you can also get to Spruce Creek High from the
North by getting onto Clyde Morris and going past Dunlawton to the school.

The west side of the school is the auditorium side and is on Clyde Morris
Blvd. The main entrance of the school is on the south side on Taylor Road.
If you're at the main entrance, you're in the wrong place.

Staff and Faculty for the Preview will meet on the west side at the double
doors with Dave Smith at 8:30 AM on Friday. Attendees will also come in
from that side before 9 AM.

If I've left anything out or if you have any questions, please feel free to
email or call me. My email is above. I also get email at:

barbershopper@...

and my home phone is: 386-426-0754. My cell phone is: 386-290-3452 and is
usually the best place to find me when an event is in progress. I'll
definitely be available there Friday morning if anyone gets lost or stuck.

Local Barbershoppers are also invited to observe the Preview.

I hope to see 98 Volusia County Music Teachers on Friday!

My thanks, to all who make this program possible. It's going to be a blast!

KTWWS!
Christopher

Bass, Surfside Chorus
VP, Program & Chapter Development
Webmaster, www.surfsidechorus.org
Society Member # 280320

Bass, Surftones, www.surftones.net
Bass, Port Orange Harmonizers, www.portorangeharmonizers.org

Sunshine District 2001/2002 Plateau AA Champions
SPEBSQSA. Inc.
Every Tuesday Night in the Community Room at 1900 ET
The Huntington
1704 Huntington Village Circle
Daytona Beach, FL 32118

ICQ #7176473