Atlantic Gazette

Atlantic
Gazette
Volume 83;
Issue 1
January 2015
The Monthly Newsletter of the
Red Bank Area Chapter
Mid-Atlantic District
Barbershop Harmony Society
In this Issue
An A Cappella Holiday!
Here We Go
A Caroling............3
Long Branch
Mini-Show............4
Party Time 2014.......6
Calendar...................7
by Bruce Hanson
There was no blizzard this year, which right away put things on a better
trajectory than last year’s show. The chorus and the Idles were ready to
rock (around the Christmas Tree) and roll after warming up the two
previous Saturdays with Caroling in Red Bank (see story on page 3) and a
mini-show at the Long Branch Library (story on page 4). So the show was
off to a solid start with the Chorus followed by house quartet, the Surfboard
Santas singing “We Need a Little Christmas.” The chorus returned with
Idle Chatter..............8 some popular holiday songs and were followed by a brief, but colorful,
guest appearance by the “Chorus of the Pacific” led by director Craig “Hula
Hattie” Page (see photo below).
Coming
The Hawaiian high jinks were followed up by house quartet Elves of
in February:
Note performing “I Wish I Could Be Santa Claus” while the risers behind
the curtain were cleared in preparation for a fine and more serious perforFreehold “holiday
mance of both a cappella and accompanied pieces by the Ocean Townflash mob” and
ship Chamber Choir under the direction of Teddy Kernizan who also
more holiday photos provided the piano accompaniment. The Chorus of
Continued on page 2
A Cappella Holiday continued from page 1
the Atlantic’s newest member, Chris Kautz, did double duty, singing bass in the
Ocean Choir as well (see
photo right).
Following MC Dave
Murch’s patented “13 minute intermission,” the Matinee Idles, under the
direction of John Huetz, began the second half with a
dramatic entrance, marching onstage and singing
The final portion
of the show featured traditiona sacred music directed
by
Tom
Cameron and Assistant
Director Kirk Thomson.
The Ocean Choir then
returned to the stage to
join the Chorus in a final
“We Wish You A Merry
Chiristmas. It was a
most enjoyable show.
Show photos by Liz
Hanson and John Huetz.
“Who Can Retell” as the curtain opened. Following the
Idles performance, the Surfboard Santas returned to sing
“Little Saint Nick” and the introduction to “Let it Snow” as
the curtain opened on the
Chorus. Highlights of the second half included a spirited
“12 days of Christmas” competition among audience sections
followed
by
an
appearance of Santa Claus in
Victorian costume.
Atlantic Gazette
January 2015
2
Here We Go A Caroling
By Bruce Hanson
Once again, the Chorus played
its part in kicking off Red Bank’s
holiday shopping season. Thirteen intrepid members (including
the peripatetic Ed Smith) reported
on a raw Saturday afternoon to
croon our holiday repertoire along
with a few other sentimental favorites. After about an hour strolling
up and down Broad street, the
combination of the cold weather
and the electronically enhanced
music from other performers drove
the singers to do what they like
best: singing indoors where both
the temperature and the welcome
would be warm.
steps south on English plaza was
Nails Plus, the next destination, followed by a walk to the Dublin House
where the chorus was surprised to
find an empty canopy out front. A
family with children came out of the
Dublin House which caused the singers to break into
Continued on page 4
Following a route that has been
successful in the past, the carolers first
stopped into New Corner Pizza for a
few songs, then crossed over Front
Street to pack into the tight quarters of
the Sugarrush cupcake shop. Their
next stop was right next door at Leonardo Jewelers where they were welcomed by both staff and customers. It
was then off to the Front Street Trattoria where tables of diners enjoyed a
“Sentimental Journey.” Just a few
Atlantic Gazette
January 2015
3
Here We Go A Caroling continued from page 3
several songs including
“Rudolph.” Then it was
across Monmouth Street
to the Emporium, an Antique center with parallel
stairways in the entry way
which make for great singing – leads and tenors lining the right stairway,
basses and baris on the
left stairway and Craig in
the center to direct. The
great acoustics lent themselves especially to “Lo,
How a Rose.”
A caroling tour of
Red Bank would not be
complete without it’s two
final stops: first the David
Levine Salon on Monmouth Street where “Silent
Night” is always requested, and Tiffany & Co.
where the chorus ended
it’s 3 hour sojurn with
“Feast of Lights Medley” and “Oh, Holy Night.”
Thanks to all those warm stops, it was a pleasant
and festive afternoon.
Long Branch Library Mini-Show
By Bruce Hanson
In
recent years, the chorus has
had successful and satisfying performances at the Middletown Library. But the strategy has been
to go every other year in order to
keep the performances “fresh.”
So, in this “in-between” year, the
Long Branch Library was booked
as an alternate venue. Unfortunately, the day met potential concert-goers with a soaking rain,
which undoubtedly reduced the
size of the audience, but did not
dampen the enthusiasm of those
who came to see the one-hour
program.
Continued on page 5
Atlantic Gazette
January 2015
4
Library Mini-Show continued from page 4
Director Craig Page kicked off the
program with the chorus in gold vests singing a selection of non-holiday repertoire,
including the old favorite “Sentimental Journey”
and new favorites “Rag Time Joe” and
“Bring Back Those Good Old Days.” The
chorus then left the risers and the Elves of
Note quartet (see photo below) stepped out
to sing two songs. In the meantime, the
Matinee Idles did a quick wardrobe change
(to red vests) in the hallway and returned to
the risers to sing under the direction of John
Huetz.
Next the Surfboard Santas (see
photo at right) sang two holiday songs, providing cover for another chorus wardrobe change
into full Class A uniform. The
chorus then returned to sing
some popular holiday songs,
including “Rudolph the Red
Nosed Reindeer, which provided MC Dave Murch with
the opening to tell his
“Rudolph the Red knows rain,
dear” joke, accompanied by
the obligatory groans and catcalls from the chorus.
The program ended
with sacred carols directed by
Kirk Thomson and heartfelt
renditions of “God Bless
America” and “We Wish You a
Merry Christmas.”
All photos by Frank Niemann
Atlantic Gazette
January 2015
5
Party Time 2014
By Chris Papa
was turned over to Jon Greene and party orgaalf a deck of cards was sacrificed and ripped
nizer, Frank Glaz (see photo). The latter had a
up to provide random chits to the 26 chorus
list of printed jokes which he intended to use to
members who braved the cold rain on the night
entertain the troops while the gifts were dissemiof December 16 to attend the annual holiday
nated, which was quickly discarded after the
party at the Ocean Township Recreation Center.
initial joke, dealing with bass singers, was met
Nearly a quarter of the celebrants were members
with loud groans and boos. Then, began the
wild exchange of gifts, with the usual riotous
results and suspenseful opening of mysteriously wrapped packages. Among the more
unusual gifts was the very first one, which
went to Tom De Bruin. The package which
seemed for all the world to be a boxed bottle
of booze turned out to be a fire extinguisher
and was the most traded gift throughout the
night (see photo below). There was, however, plenty of booze: wines, Irish Cream Liqueur, whiskeys, even an unusual jar of
moonshine liquor, all freely traded. A set of
hunting knives was decidedly unusual and
dangerous
in
Jay
Nickel’s hands as he
used them to help cut the
who haven’t been seen at
wrappings off gifts. In a
regular rehearsals for quite a
rare coincidence, Herb
while, so that there were joyVan Note received the
ous reunions abounding.
very gift he had contributThe long-missed fellows ined, a fine sweater, and
cluded: Tony Milillo, Jay
refused to part with it
Nickel,
Robert
Maber,
(see photo at left). There
Ralph Jeffers, Ed Smith
was a cutlery set, ice
and Charlie Rein.
While waiting for the
Continued on page 7
arrival of the catered dinner,
there was plenty of spontaneous group singing which
filled the large hall with clashing harmonies as
each battled to be heard over the other. Only
when young Rob Maber announced that he had
turned 21 years old on the preceding day, did
everyone join in for the united delivery of “Happy
Birthday to You”.
Before the exciting exchange of gifts main
event, the attendees were feted with a dinner of
lasagna, salads, Italian bread and liquid refreshment with a choice of red or white wine, beer or
soda, all topped off with a dessert of cannoli with
coffee.
Although both Jack McDermott and
Charlie Rein were present, the exchange control
Atlantic Gazette
January 2015
6
Party Time 2014 continued from page 6
bucket, holiday candle holder, stuffed Christmas
doll, men’s wallet, wall clock, packages of dried
berries, a clasp knife and several restaurant gift
cards. One thoughtful gift giver had provided a
package of cheese and
sausage snacks which
clearly bore the $14.99
sale price printed on the
package. To meet the $15
dollar minimum, the donor
had Scotch-taped a penny
on the package. It was
worth emphasizing that,
NOT A SINGLE FLASHLIGHT WAS INCLUDED
IN THE GIFTS.
The gifts that no one
wanted were the classic
soap on a rope, which went
to Jack Mc Dermott (see
photo), a box of cookies
foisted on Tom De Bruin
and a DVD cleaner which
burdened Allan Dean. The
thoughtful organizers, however, arranged for a
final exchange of extra gifts for these unfortunates. Jack declined to give up his soap on a
rope, which means we’ll see it next year. Allan
ended up with a boxed gift of Jaeger Liqueur with
a set of two small sipping cups, while Tom re-
ceived a set of shirt cufflinks. He had been the
most active trader during the event, and was
soon to be treated once more with what turned
out to be a very lucky evening. This occurred
when the cash raffle was
conducted by Armando
Orsini in which Jim
Weythman garnered the
second place prize of
$23.00, while the aforementioned Tom walked
away with the grand prize
of $50.00.
After the excitement from the frantic
trading subsided, Director Craig Page put the
participants in singing
formation and led in the
singing of “Sentimental
Journey”, “Oh, Holy
Night” and a personalized “Honey Líl Liz’” to
Kelly, the young lady who
had constituted the audience for the chorus and
applauded their efforts. Then it was time to clean
up, exchange holiday wishes and rest until rePhotos by Chris Papa, John Huetz, and Bruce
Hanson
Calendar of Activities
January
February
1 – Happy New Year!
6 – Chorus meeting, 7:30 p.m.
6 – 11 Barbershop Harmony Society
Midwinter Convention, New Orleans LA
8 – Matinee Idles, rehearsal, 1:00 p.m.
12 – Executive Board Meeting
13 – Chorus meeting, 7:30 p.m.
15 – Matinee Idles, rehearsal, 1:00 p.m.
17 – Leadership Academy, 8:00 AM - 4:15
PM, Newark DE
20 – Chorus meeting, 7:30 p.m
22 – Matinee Idles, rehearsal, 1:00 p.m.
27– Chorus meeting, 7:30 p.m.
29 – Matinee Idles, rehearsal, 1:00 p.m.
Atlantic Gazette
3 – Chorus meeting, 7:30 p.m.
5 – Matinee Idles, rehearsal, 1:00 p.m.
9 – Executive Board Meeting
10 – Chorus meeting, 7:30 p.m.
11 –14 Singing Valentines
12 – Matinee Idles, rehearsal, 1:00 p.m.
17 – Chorus meeting, 7:30 p.m
19 – Matinee Idles, rehearsal, 1:00 p.m.
24– Chorus meeting, 7:30 p.m.
26 – Matinee Idles, rehearsal, 1:00 p.m.
January 2015
7
Idle Chatter
By Chris Papa
Over the many years of their existence, the small chorus Matinee
Idles has had the opportunity to
have a full schedule of public performances throughout each year.
Most are in senior citizen venues
of a wide variety, ranging from
gated residences, and social clubs to nursing
homes. The chorus has been uniformly well
received and both audiences and the singers
enjoy the occasions. Requests for repeat performances at later dates are usual. Yet, if the chorus members were asked to single out very
special performances, they would unanimously
agree that they most enjoy those they have
provided for a variety of women’s clubs, with an
all-female audience. The ladies seem to really
appreciate the all men’s chorus and interact with
them for true mutual singing-listening pleasure.
In 2013, the examples of these superb experiences occurred when the chorus performed for
the Brandeis University Alumnae Association
luncheon and for the ladies of the Spring Lake
Garden Club. Now, a year later, the men were
more than pleased to oblige the latter group with
a repeat command performance.
On a cool, rainy December 2 afternoon,
eleven of the chorus members, directed by John
Huetz, entered the hopelessly packed parking
lot outside the clubhouse of the Fairway Mews
Atlantic Gazette
Community and Golf Club in Spring Lake
Heights. To their delight, there was valet parking
available, so they were able to gain entrance
with clean and dry uniforms. There in a large
dining room, were 84 ladies who had just completed a luncheon, topped off by delicious-looking desserts. Most of the ladies must have been
present for the performance in the preceding
year and they warmly welcomed the small group
of singers. An almost hour-long performance
followed (see photo lower left), the first half of
which were old favorites from the chorus’ extensive repertoire, followed by a selection of holiday
tunes for the upcoming season. Both the entire
chorus and the Classy Seniors quartet were
enthusiastically applauded by the ladies throughout the afternoon. Master of Ceremonies Dave
Murch excelled in both introducing each number
and interspersing stories
and jokes which delighted
the ladies. It also gave the
singers needed time to catch
their breath in between
songs. He additionally took
the time to advise the audience that they could attend
the upcoming holiday show
and enjoy the entire Chorus
of the Atlantic, as well as
both the Idles and Ocean
Township
High
School
Chamber Choir on Dec.13 at
Ocean
Township
High
School.
The men later agreed
that, from their vantage of singing to the assembled ladies, most of the audience had broad
smiles on their faces throughout the program,
and the majority were both silently mouthing the
words and/or swaying to and fro with the songs.
With such positive feedback the singers were
naturally spurred on to provide their splendid
harmonizing, completing the mutual feedback
loop. It was audience-chorus interaction at its
best; a very happy event for both parties!
An additional bit of joy was added to the
chorus’ afternoon.
January 2015
Story continued on page 9
8
Idle Chatter continued from page 8
Lead Rich Dunne still recuperating from several
serious surgical procedures, and absent for
many months from chorus activities, appeared
during the warm up period to join his friends and
singing buddies. His voice was competent and
bright, showing that he was eager and feeling
ready to re-enter their ranks once again. The
surgeons will have to provide the permission, but
he now feels pretty sure
that he will return to active
participation early next
year.
On the afternoon of
December 11, the Idles
made an additional visit to
the familiar locale of Sunnyside Manor in Manasquan.
The men were ironically attired in their new summer
uniforms (see photo at
right), while flurries of snow
drifted down outside. The
usually superheated residence proved to be rather
cool and all vowed to come
better prepared for their expected return next
year. The same 11 members, however, that
performed for the Spring Lake Garden Club,
were on hand to repeat their program. They
found a considerable number of new residents in
the audience, including a couple who sat in the
first row with a cute, tiny ball of white fur, a pup,
who on seeing the chorus enter to begin singing,
jumped off his master’s lap, eagerly running to
greet the singers. This resulted in an amusing
jumble of hopping folks who were trying to get
out of the way of the pursuers scrambling to get
hold of the trailing leash or the pup himself. It
was a great start of the program delivered to a
more-than-usual interactive audience. Director
Huetz showed his pleasure with the chorus’ production by prolonging chords and really pushing
breath control limits. Not only was the audience
very happy with the performance, but a visiting
lady trailed the singers into the ready room
where they were preparing to return to home and
the snow flurries. She cornered the Director and
loudly proclaimed, for all to hear, how great the
harmony sounded and how pleased she was
with the singing. In fact, she wished to book the
Idles for one of her club functions and wanted to
know how to do so. She was directed to a smiling
Phil Wilderotter, who was delighted to discuss
the details for the chorus’ future performance for
her group. (Hint to the Chorus of the Atlantic: if
you want gigs, get out there and sing more often!)
Important Dates - January
Anniversaries
Elizabeth & Armando Orsini
Atlantic Gazette
Spouses’ Birthdays
Liz Hanson
Pearl Hawthorne
Patricia Orlando
January 2015
9
Chorus of the Atlantic
Red Bank Area Chapter
Mid-Atlantic District
Barbershop Harmony Society
P O Box 8403
Red Bank, NJ 07701-8403
(732) 842-3117
Music Director........................................Craig J. Page
Manager ...................................................Dave Murch
Matinee Idles
Director.......................................................John Huetz
President.................................................Dan Cahalane
Manager..............................................Phil Wilderotter
Bulletin Editor
Bruce Hanson
28 Markham Place
Little Silver, NJ 07739
[email protected]
Photographer: John Huetz
Production Manager: Bruce Hanson
Chapter Officers
President.................................................Andy Ferreira
VP Music & Performance..........................Ken Hicks
VP Programs..............................................Frank Glaz
VP Chapter Development..................Frank Niemann
VP Marketing & Publicity........................Allan Dean
Treasurer .............................................Bruce Hanson
Secretary.........................................Terry Schmalzried
Member at Large.................................Jim Weythman
Member at Large..................................Carl Stainagle
Immediate Past President.........................Jon Greene
On the web: RedBank..harmonize.com
Project Managers
GUESTS ALWAYS WELCOME!
The Red Bank Area Chapter meets
weekly on Tuesdays at 7:30 P.M. at
the Red Bank Middle School, 101
Harding Road, Red Bank, NJ
Historian.....................................................Bob Artale
Librarian..............................................Jim Weythman
Uniforms...................................................Dave Murch
Harmony Foundation........................Ed Wengrowski
Sunshine Chairman...............................Carl Stainagle
50-50 Assoc.........................................Armando Orsini
Webmaster.............................................Dan Cahalane
Atlantic Gazette
Bruce Hanson
28 Markham Place
Little Silver, NJ 07739
The monthly bulletin of the
Red Bank Area (NJ) Chapter
Return
and
Correction Requested
Atlantic
Gazette
January 2015
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