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1a. BQPA Quartet Festival
Posted by: "Jack W. Martin" jackwmartin@... jmartin303832
Date: Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:20 pm ((PDT))

For those of you who are interested, the below recap of our BQPA
Activities is for you reading pleasure. This write up is also on
the BQPA website http://www.bqpa.com links icon and will include
pictures in the near future.

If ya want a great weekend of fellowship and quartet singing, consider
attending our next quartet festival. Ya just might get hooked!

In harmony
Jack Martin



Barbershop Quartet Preservation Association
Quartet Festival, 10-12 September, 2009
Chicago, Illinois

Another Barbershop Quartet Preservation Association (BQPA) Quartet Festival
ishistory and has proven to be a great success. Over the weekend of 10-12
September, 2009, one hundred and twenty six Quartet Singers and BQPA
supporters attended the semi-annual BQPA/Pioneer Quartet Festival in Elk
Grove Village, a suburb of Chicago IL. People came from the four corners of
North America, to include the US and our fellow barbershoppers from Canada.
There were representatives from the Phoenix and Orange County quartet
chapters, large contingents from the Twin Cities and Milwaukee,and folks
representing over a dozen states and provinces. Thursday evening, attendance
reached 25 or 30, and several newly formed quartets were sharing fellowship
and singing the old songs.

Friday morning there was a golf outing scheduled by Gerry Carroll. Several
of the early arrivals enjoyed this activity. I am not sure of how good the
scores were but Ihear the singing on every tee was a lot of fun. By early
afternoon, another 60-70members and guests arrived generating even more
excitement.

BQPA board member, Jim Gallagher, brought a supply of recently acquired BQPA
logo golf shirts that sold out by Friday evening. The shirts may be obtained
from our online store by following the "links" icon at www.bqpa.com. BQPA
logo pins are available from our treasurer, Herb Langthorp [3 Hits and a
Miss]. The shirts and BQPA pins being worn by our members and supporters
will begin to catch people’s eye and who knows, they might stimulate
interest about what we are doing and the fun we have. We signed up fourteen
new members with our membership growing steadily with each passing month.
Hotel accommodations at the Ramada O'Hare were very adequate and the
festivalhosts, Gerry Carroll and his helpers, did a great job in preparing
for the festival. The staff at the hotel was very accommodating also.

Chicago area guest quartets, “Take Note” and “Tsunami”, warmed up the
audience for Friday's pickup quartet contest. Both quartets were awarded
standing ovation. Sixteen Quartets were selected by randomly pulling names
from sacks todetermine who sang together. This equated to 64 folks getting
involved in this funactivity, with the remainder of the attendees making up
the audience. This pick up quartet contest has been named for the late Jinny
Janis, a regular attendee of the BQPA/Pioneers and one of the founding
singers of the Chordettes. Four judges selected the top three quartets who
sang the most in tune and entertained best. Gold medals with purple lanyards
and individual plaques were presented to the first place winners.

After the contest everyone retired to the “woodshed room” to enjoy some
refreshments and engage in more quarteting. Thanks to our convention host
Gerry Carroll, the Ramada allows us to sell our drinks for $1 and you can
ask Bill Meyers, [Citations, Revival], about the great taste of the
California red. Not sure when the singing room closed down, as I hit the pad
shortly after the witching hour.

Saturday morning found the hotel restaurant overflowing with singers as the
hotel had reduced their prices just for us to $5.00 for a breakfast buffet
of eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes, toast, all kinds of pastries and of
course juice, milk and coffee. At 10:00 AM Saturday, the BQPA'S board of
directors held our general membership meeting with about 70 members in
attendance. It was announced that the Board had adopted a resolution to
discontinue annual dues and survive on donations made by the membership at
our semi-annual quartet festivals. There would remain only a $15.00 BQPA
joining fee. This was accepted by the members with no dissent. No surprise
here! Other discussions and decisions will be covered in the minutes of the
general meeting and disseminated when available.

As Saturday morning passed to mid day another 20 folks joined the festival
to enjoy the singing and the fellowship. Most had lunch in the Ramada's
excellent restaurant. The Spaghetti Warehouse across the street from the
Ramada was a popular spot for the evening meal. Our singing at the Spaghetti
Warehouse was well received by the other diners.

Saturday evening, we assembled in the Ramada's theatre for our annual parade
of quartets show, MC'd by Ray Henders, [Chicago News]. Lynn Hauldren,
[Chordiac Arrest], lined up a wonderful show for our entertainment. First
off were Bitsy and Dick Beck singing as a duet, with Dick playing the
guitar. They were very entertaining and were well received by the 100+
audience. Following was a Minneapolis quartet named “Random Sample” which
regaled us with some great music. We then heard from “Juke Box” a Sweet
Adeline Inc quartet. These gals were on their way to Nashville to compete in
the SAI contest “Good luck ladies, come home with a medal.” Next was our
perennial Chicago performers, “Gad Zooks.” These guys continue to be better
entertainers each time they perform for us. Then came our very own “Three
Hits and a Miss” from the San Antonio area. All are members and active
supporters of the BQPA/Pioneers. They were crowd pleasers as usual. “Chicago
Times” was next with some fine singing and several bits of Ray Henders'
humor. After the show, everyone headed for the woodshed room to share
fellowship and quartet into the wee hours.

Sunday morning found many of the guys in the hotel lobby waiting for the
shuttle to O'Hare Airport. There was a lot of hugging and hand shaking going
on. Most every one was overheard saying things such as “See ya in Tempe or
See ya in April, Great Festival.” The smiling faces indicated that they had
a good time and were looking forward to our next BQPA quartet festival in
the spring of 2010, in Tempe AZ.

In Harmony
Jack Martin, Pres
For the BQPA BOD