The Official Publication of the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Historical Archives Volume 4, No. 1 Living In The Past - And Proud Of It! January 2013 Here’sHere’s ToTo TheThe LosersLosers 139th Street Quartet / Bank Street / Center Stage / Four Rascals / Metropolis / Nighthawks / Pacificaires / Playtonics / Riptide / Roaring 20s / Saturday Evening Post / Sundowners / Vagabonds In This Issue Pages Here’s To The Losers 13-50 Don Beinema 1921-2013 50 Victoria Leigh Soto 3 New York Treasure Hunt 5-6 75 Year Logo Has A Secret 4 SeeSee PagePage 1313 Flat Foot Four Footage Found 6 All articles herein - unless otherwise credited - were written by the editor 2 Volume 4, No. 1 January 2013 Published by the Society Archives Committee of the Barbershop Harmony Society for all those interested in preserving, promoting and educating others as to the rich history of the Barbershop music genre and the organization of men that love it. Society Archives Committee Grady Kerr - Texas (Chairman) Bob Sutton - Virginia Steve D'Ambrosio - Tennessee Bob Davenport - Tennessee Bob Coant - New York Ann McAlexander - Indianapolis, IN Touché Win Crowns Patty Leveille - Tennessee (BHS Staff Liaison) Congratulations to the new 2013 Society Historian / Editor / Layout International Queens of Harmony, Touché - Grady Kerr Patty Cobb Baker, Gina Baker, Jan Anton [email protected] and Kim McCormic. th In November, about 6,000 attended the 66 Proofreaders & Fact Checkers Bob Sutton, Ann McAlexander & Matthew Beals annual Sweet Adeline International With welcomed assists by Leo Larivee Convention in Denver, Colorado. More than 65 quartets and 40 choruses competed in five contests over the course of the week. Touché represents Regions 9, 11, 21 and 24 and hails from Long Beach, Portland, Tampa and DeLand, Florida. All articles herein, unless otherwise credited, are written by the editor and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Society, any District, any historian, the Archives Committee or the editor PRESERVATION Online! All past issues are always available www.barbershop.org/preservation-publication.html The 2013 International Champion Chorus is Society’s Historical North Metro of Region 16, Toronto, Onatrio, Canada - Director, June Dale. Archives Committee 2013 Grady Kerr - Texas (Chairman) Bob Sutton - Virginia PRESERVATION Staff Changes Bob Coant - New York Last issue we accepted the gift of graphic design and layout by Kelly Andrews of Indianapolis. Steve D'Ambrosio - Tennessee Bob Davenport – Tennessee He did a fantastic job. However, we’re just a glutton for Ann McAlexander - Indiana punishment and decided we’d go back to laying it out ourselves again to save time. Apologies to Kelly. Patty Leveille - Tennessee (Staff Liaison) This issue we welcome additions of Matthew Beals and Leo Larivee Visit Our BHS HISTORY Section to our fact checkers / proofreaders. www.barbershop.org/history.html Yes, we need four now! 3 Volume 4, No. 1 January 2013 In Memory of Victoria Leigh Soto Border Patrol / Recruits Win The 2013 Society Mid-Winter Convention was held in Orlando, Florida, January 8-13th at the beautiful Rosen Shingle Creek Resort. The venue was outstanding and received rave reviews from all who attended. Victoria Leigh Soto was the cousin of Our new Seniors Quartet champs for 2013 Noemi Soto Guyton, wife of Brandon are Border Patrol (Bobby Gibson, Bob Guyton, baritone of Four Voices (2002 Fuest, Ron Mason and Alan Baker) from champs) and Crossroads (2009 champs). Mt. Hope, Ontario. Tragically, she was one of the teachers killed in the Sandy Hook, Connecticut Elementary School shootings. On December 14, 2012, Soto was teaching her first grade class when the gunman forced his way into the school and began shooting staff and students. Soto hid several children The Youth Chorus Festival was the best to in a closet, and when he entered her date with The Recruits winning and classroom, Soto told him the children were in receiving the Audience Favorite Award as the auditorium. When several children ran well. They were directed by Jonny Moroni. from their hiding places, he began shooting A highlight was the Champs Deliver! Show the students. Soto was shot after she “threw Friday night with Crossroads, The Buzz and herself in front of her first grade students.” a rare appearance of the retired Gas House Victoria is hailed as a hero. She was 27. Gang (1993 champs) with Brandon Guyton on bari. Also performing that weekend were A Mighty Wind, Lemon Squeezy, Musical Island Boys, Main Street, Rusty Pipes, Masterpiece, Liberty Voices (8-part group from Disneyworld) and current champs Ringmasters. 4 Volume 4, No. 1 January 2013 In Memory of 75 Year Logo Has a Secret Clay Shumard Have you seen the dynamic logo promoting Clason "Clay" the 75th year of our Society? Pretty, isn’t it. We think so. Shumard, age 71, passed away Saturday, But there’s a hidden “Easter Egg” (pardon October 27th after a 7- the video game lingo). year battle with cancer. The logo was designed by Greg Backwell of Clay’s singing career London, Ontario. It is a fitting locale, seeing began in his high as this year’s convention is in his neck of the school’s competition woods. It’s also fitting because he was the choir and continued at the University of tenor of the fabulous Nighthawks quartet of Detroit. He later served as vocalist for the the Ontario District (see special article this Peter Palmer Band. After discovering issue). barbershop singing, he was a member of several quartets in Michigan, Indiana and Look closely at the logo. Do you see it yet? Tennessee, most notably the Vagabonds Greg is a professional graphic artist and has (2nd place at International competition in done many outstanding works of art and 1976). Clay was also the original bari of The trophies over the past 50 years. Ritz before they won the gold in 1991. He also directed the Great Lakes Chorus in You see it now, don’t you? Grand Rapids in the 1970s and 1980s. His “day jobs” included positions with Michigan Greg is famous for hiding little treasurers in Peer Review Organization and most recently his work. This one is no different. with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. There it is, Got it? A memorial service was held on Saturday, th November 17 . Inside the logo nestled in the upper left and right, are the letters “O” and “C”. Of course, he’s paying tribute to our beloved Founder, O.C. Cash. Cool, ain’t it? Now when you wear this logo on a t-shirt or get a souvenir mug from the Society’s Harmony MarketPlace – you’ll be saluting our rich history, our Founder and the 75th year. http://www.harmonymarketplace.com/bahaso75an.html Well played Mr. Backwell, well played. 5 Volume 4, No. 1 January 2013 A Treasure Hunt Beneath the Sidewalks of New York by Matthew Beals Baritone/Historian, Voices of Gotham It all began when I heard the rumor that so shop gold: stacks of original letters, many of us have heard before: Back before telegrams, show programs and brochures all SPEBSQSA was founded, New York City’s pertaining to these contests. Park Commissioner Robert Moses and They were called the American Ballads Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia hosted barbershop quartet contests in Central Park. I Contest for Amateur Barber Shop Quartets and started in 1935 (three years wanted to know more, so I cast my reel out before O.C. Cash founded SPEBSQSA). and got to fishing. Instead of pulling up a Eighty quartets emerged to compete that small bass, I hooked a whale. year, all of them wearing “Gay Nineties” My casual perusing of New York Times attire and singing classic barbershop tunes. articles led me to the deep waters of the New During the final round in Central Park, York Parks Department. There the current 15,000 people attended to hear songs of an tugged me deeper into the murky stacks of old New York that was rapidly fading away. the City’s Municipal Archives. From there a The contest was such a success that it bit of a whirlpool situation came about and became an annual New York tradition into I’ve since been swirling many fathoms deep the late ‘60s. in the Rare Manuscripts Room of the New In the early days of the New York contests - York Public Library. To make a long story even after SPEBSQSA had formed - the New short, I uncovered a treasure trove of barber- York barbershop scene was still the largest in America. In fact, it wasn’t long before O.C. Cash reached out to Moses and LaGuardia and encouraged them to found the New York City Chapter #1. Their amiable relationship reached a fever pitch at the 1940 New York World’s Fair when quartets traveled across the country to The Bay City Four of Brooklyn win the FIRST contest in 1935. Mayor LaGuardia presents shaving mugs. J. Bailey Judges for the 1940 Contest - Robert Moses (2nd from left) Harvey is second from right. He became a contest judge and Mayor LaGuardia (3rd from left). Rupert Hall can be seen Manhattan Chapter director. Behind are Moses, Al Smith and looking on behind Moses. Sig Spaeth (face obscured) Photo Courtesy of New York Public Library 6 Volume 4, No. 1 January 2013 compete in SPEBSQSA’s Trivia Question Resolved – 2nd National Contest for Barber Shop Quartets. Maybe (remember, before we Part of the enjoyment of being your Society called it “International”, it Historian is fielding the many trivia was called “National.”) questions thrown our way. Some are truly After the finals, the trivial (but fun) and some have historic relationship between O.C. relevance. All we try to resolve as best we Cash and the New Harvey’s 1935 Mug can.