BQPA/PIONEERS

 Barbershop Quartet Preservation Association

  BQPA / Pioneers General Membership Meeting, 9/10/2011

Emmett Bossing lead us in The Old Songs and 2 other familiar old songs.
President Jack Martin opened the meeting.

Tom Noble presented an 80th birthday card, signed by many attending this festival, to Shel Rosenthal.

Gerry Carroll asked if the members were satisfied with the accommodations at the new venue, the Best Western in which we were meeting. The answer was a pretty resounding “Yes.” Gerry mentioned Don Fee, the Catering Manager for the Best Western, as having been most helpful in transferring the festival from the Ramada, but also said that it was pretty likely that the room rate would rise next year. Nevertheless, the sense of the meeting was that it would be good to hold the 2012 September festival here. (If the Ramada restaurant were to be rehabilitated, we should consider moving back; otherwise, not.)

Jack Martin and Jim Gallagher spoke about the treasury, shirts, other apparel items, possible give-backs, etc., and said that the board would be considering ways to possibly reduce the members’ expenses or to provide other services during festivals, and/or other positive ways of productively using the funds we have available.

Rex Touslee reported on the plans for the spring festival in Tempe. The rate at the Embassy Suites in April, 2012, will be $102.00, and we should be encouraged to book early, as they cannot hold rooms after the cutoff date stated on the website. On the other hand they have a very liberal cancellation policy, so better to reserve and cancel if necessary, than to wait and find that no rooms are available. It was emphasized that the usual arrival is at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, although Tom Neal mentioned that Allegiant Airlines travels to the Mesa airport and may offer attractive rates for some travelers.

Shel reported that about 57 people had actually registered for the festival, and appealed to all who had not as yet officially registered that they do so, to get the records of the festival as accurate as possible. At least 5 new members have joined so far this festival.

Jack reported that we have placed ads in both the FWD and Illinois District magazines, and we hope that we get at least some action from those ads. He also noted the memorial for Lynn Hauldren, scheduled for 2:00 PM Saturday afternoon, and the hopes that we can attract some of the attendees to membership in our organization.

Finally, Jack mentioned some of our departed members and friends, for whom we paused in remembrance: Buzz Haeger, Dick Johnson, Marty Mendro, Dick Robbins, Bob LeClair, Lee Issinger, Jack Baird, Chuck Oliva, and Jinny Janis. Some others were mentioned by attendees, but not all names were captured in these notes.

Considerable discussion ensued regarding encouraging folks to join us who are enthusiastic about singing the old songs in quartets. It was mentioned that our organization has some characteristics (but not all) in common with both AHSOW and the Brigades groups.

Raymond Schwarzkopf suggested we consider taking ads for our festivals on the big screens at BHS conventions. “Montana” Jack Fitzgerald suggested we take a regular ad in the Harmonizer, which might also encourage the BHS to continue to announce our festivals in their “Coming Events” section.

Jim Richards encouraged us to support the AHSOW rooms, to improve THEIR experience there, where there are sometimes a number of attendees who “couldn’t find DO in a bakery,” as he said. We can and should mention there the enjoyment we have here at BQPA / Pioneers festivals, during what amounts to three or four days of do-it-yourself quartetting. All of these suggestions, and more, will be considered by the board.

Jack Martin closed the meeting, by emphasizing that members should WRITE their suggestions in detail and send them to the board for consideration.

Respectfully submitted,
Tom Noble