We’re Number Fun!

Second Quarter Edition

Second Quarter, 2018

Don Derler Mark Logan The Delung’s Scary Patron Jin Gruver

Ghouls Just Want To Have Fun!

By Ray Crutcher

The recent Number Fun endeavor was indeed that. From patrons actually
wanting to take picts/selfies with cast members before, during, and after
the performance was a wonderful thing to observe. The interaction between the ghouls
and the performance was spot-on. The tongue-in-cheekiness of the dialogue as well as
the OC Student Union singers blending
in seamlessly (and with great enthusiasm)
Craig Ewing made for simple victories from the
beginning to the fateful end. Yeah, we said
it: “Get Out!” On that note, a shout out to
our directors (Craig Ewing, Tom
Woody Woodson Count Zaputo Nichols, and Woody Woodson) for
getting us clawing-and-dragging our way to
the best outcomes. Tom’s writing brought
a wonderful sense-of-humor to a genre that is often visited, but never performed as a
Barbershop musical. Dave Lowerre made a great stand-in at the very last moment to
serve as (Tom’s) Dr. Frankenstein’s foil.

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HARMONY FOR LUNCH BUNCH … A Fresh Perspective


Submitted by Jim White

714-529-0652 weajsw@aol.com


Every Friday, with very few exceptions,

many members from the Fullerton
Barbershop Harmony Society (FBHS) and a
few members from other Chapters of the
Barbershop Harmony Society gather in a
reserved side room of Giovanni’s Restaurant
to sing and have fun in a welcoming
environment (922 Williamson, Fullerton).
There is also a gathering of spouses, friends
and other family members to listen and cheer us on. Sam Glorioso (FBHS
member) is the Chairperson and host for this event that has become for many
barbershop fans and singers, a Friday tradition.

On January 26, 2018 our Harmony for

Lunch Bunch (HFLB) Chairman, Sam
Glorioso, presented a Certificate of
Appreciation to the owner of Giovanni’s for
his past and continuing “Hospitality and
Service”. Mr Saeed Shoja was thankful for
the Certification and took the opportunity
to acknowledge that his assistant and cook
Maria had saved his life several weeks
before when he suffered a heart attack.

Folks start to arrive at Giovanni’s around 11:30 am and get their orders in for
pizza, soup, salad, sandwich or any combination of the aforementioned. Casual
conversation begins as soon as the first two participants arrive. The conversation
become more diverse as more folks arrive. The first order of business is whether
there is at least one baritone, tenor and/or bass as there are always enough leads.

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At 12:00 noon sharp, Dick Cote (the

director of this event) blows a note from
his pitch pipe and Art Clayton (as the
senior reliable lead) starts us in singing,
“The Old Songs” and ”Down Our Way”
as a group to get things started and to
begin the collective process of getting
voices in tune. From that point, we sing
a randomly selected string of songs as a
group while we converse and eat in-between. Quips and jokes reign the quorum
as serious consideration is given by each participant to their individual
contribution to the harmonization within each song. A few of the favorites
include, “Pico & Sepulveda” and “San Francisco Blues.”

Sometime between 12:30 pm and 1:00

pm, after a period of group singing, it is
time for a possible octet and series of
impromptu quartets. The octet is an
opportunity for relative beginners,
mixed with experienced singers, to gain
confidence in the process of learning
words and tunes in their respective
choice of lead, baritone, tenor or base.
This is not a time for formal or
technical corrections. This is truly an
event to sharpen your skills as a singer without fear of critical scrutiny but with
constructive comments and encouragement. The gathering usually breaks up
about 1:30 pm and wraps up the session with a rendering of “The Irish Blessing.”

There are some “regulars” that rarely miss a Friday. There are others that show
up every once in a while. Not everyone can break away from their regular Friday
activities during the lunch “hour.” But, if you can make it to HFLB every once in
a while, the comraderie and fellowship makes the time well spent!

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FAUX
GNUS

By Guiseppe Derlerone
Mostly translated from the original Italian submission.

Being a part of barbershop singing has brought a many rich blessin’s to my life.
Foist, I have great bunch of boombassas to consort with on a regular basis.
Seconly, ‘sa wonderful way to relieve the filduces of a hectic work schedule. To
sit with the other (wise)guys and practice, perfect, and proceed truly undoes
dose pressures of my day. Now, admittedly listening to the baritones by
themselves has me almost shahominostra at times. I just hold my breath and
know it will pass like my kidney stone. No need to rough them up a bit. Thoid,
and lastly, I am a contender. I contend that we all can always improve the style,
form, and edge of our singin’. As I do. My advice to others is to never put
yourself into the position of saying, “I could have been a contender!”

By Borys Hanseneski
Mostly translated from the original Polish submission.

What started as a hobby became a directive (ed: a bit tough to translate). Spending
many years as a trouble-shooter in the realm of public service, I knew there was
no end of trouble in sight when I came to the rozwiazywanie in certain sections
of the Orange Empire Chorus. I leaped in the chasm that challenged the chorus
and emperium itself. I am leaving no tone unturned in advancing the przyczyna
of barbershop singing in Fullerton. Meeting frequently with the ladny guys
always help form direction and clarity for making the opportunities fun for
performers and audience alike. With the ćwiczenie continually changing location
it is often a difficult (or unsettling) existence, very much like the habiru of ages
past. I will do my najlepiej to help the chapter move forward into the next
transitions in the Barbershop Harmony Society (Fryzjer Harmonia Społe-
czeństwo).

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Musings from the Director

(as to the causation of his greying hairline).

You actually have to be at practice to know the context. Don’t miss

any exciting episodes! These are written in the order they were
given (with the exception of the last utterance). Any link between the musings is strictly
coincidental. No pitch-pipes were hurt during the recording.

Basses would have hated me forever. / Follow me, not the soloist. / I wanna try it
with a snap! / Tell Juanita. / Don’t bother me with the truth … in television. /
Good, I like that better! ((either the sound or the cookies at break = be at
practice)). / Do it bolder! And be fascinated!! / Yes, PLEASE! / Gonna lose my
mind. / You can play the spoons for all I care. / I love it when a plan comes
together! / We had good quality notes in all sections (ed: must not always be
true). / I was busy concerning myself with tempo. / Now you gotta learn the
choreography. / If you are running out of air -- you have not achieved good air
management. / Put a tiny piece of “s” on that! / Shove it in some place later. /
Don’t ask me to dance with you. / I need 50% more character from you (ed.
Baritones were being implied). / When did we go Country-Western? / Piece-of-
cake Baritone part! / That lead me to Harmony University. / We go from monkey,
to human, to singer. / Every direction I gave was how to connect with an
audience. / Feel free to sing with enthusiasm -- with all sound off. / If you’re not
on top of it -- put more into learning it. / Put the trumpet back in your mouth. /
Baritones can add a little more smart. / At minimum, every 8 measures your foot
moves. / Do I need to send a flare to the basses? (ed: my wife would like to loan
you her howitzer). / You CAN make it much more exciting … get ready to
launch! / What are the odds on that one (ed: probably a Baritone reference, they
are all odd). / The answer to every question is mindset. / We are Number Fun --
but also strong and manly … and cheeky. / If you can’t bend your knees, at least
move side-to-side. / It will sound like one of you are wrong. And I know which
one. / Take it on yourself. / Retention. Make it fun. / I don’t know how to write
that down. / Leads -- you have an opportunity to switch to head tone./ I had to
adjust my body to make the move. / Whatever floats your boat -- I don’t care. /
Do you know what you need to learn for next week?
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From the Barbershop Harmony Society regarding the inclusion of women:

FIRST STEPS FOR CHAPTERS

You may begin receiving inquiries and visits from women interested in joining
your chapter well before you make a decision to preserve the all-male
experience in your chapter or to expand your membership to welcome women
as members. You may have already received inquiries from female
barbershoppers in your area; you may also receive interest from newcomers
who heard about the Society's announcement from national media coverage and found your
chapter. In order to be prepared for these inquiries, we recommend the following first steps.

Review your guest policies

We encourage your chapter leaders to review your guest policy and post it to your website,
Facebook page, Member Center profile or any other public space advertising your chapter
meetings to guests. You can also keep printed copies on hand at your rehearsal for guests to read
on-site.
Things to consider:
• What information is communicated to guests ahead of their visit?
• How and when are guests included on the risers?
• Will female guests be invited to sing?
• If not, have we clearly communicated that in advance?
• How will we follow up with guests?

Communicate clearly and early

If you are choosing to remain a men’s chapter: Acknowledge that you have been and are still
an all-male chapter, and that the Society has just recently expanded its membership to include
women but that each chapter, yours included, will have the option to choose whether or not it will
expand its membership in the future. This would be the appropriate time to communicate that your
chapter is likely to preserve the all-male experience and why you feel it is important to offer that to
your members.  

If you are considering changing to a mixed chapter: Decide if you will invite all guests to sing
on the risers or participate in the entire chapter meeting. Try some new ways of singing in different
combinations during your rehearsal. Clearly communicate that you have not made a decision, and
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take the opportunity to listen to member and guest feedback. Inviting a variety of guests to
participate in new ways may help your members better understand their preferences and create
opportunities to test some of the options.

If you already operate as a mixed chapter: Keep doing what you are doing! Share the current
status of chapter membership options for women, and the timeline -- membership may already be
open to all people at the Society level, and BHS will be implementing the option for chapter-level
membership beginning in January 2019.

Editorial (A)Musings by Ray Crutcher

We have been inundated with news of a change in experience, inclusion,
expansion, and progress. This would not be the first time the Society has
done this. Over the decades maturing insights caused movement, inclusion,
and exclusion. A lot of our history causes me to simply scratch my head. I
will not attempt to give my views on the exclusion of people or genres over time, but
Director Craig Ewing is a good resource in reflecting how style and vocal variances may
have sounded completely different xx years ago. Evolving music styles. It does appear to
be a touchy subject (maybe that’s not the right connotation, but I’ll go with it), but a
variety of experiences or needs are being addressed. One example: I visit Sedona regularly
to visit my parents. One year I called the local chapter to see about having a Singing
Valentine delivered. They could do it, but they did not have enough members to have all
parts covered. Their roster is under a dozen. In the town they also have a small Sweet
Adelines contingent. Blending resources is advantageous at times like that. On the other
side of it, I also sang with the Long Beach Chapter (now defunct) at Leisure World. It was a
mixed group because of the community by-laws. Not a problem really. It was a male-
pitched selection of songs, and that was sometimes problematic for the women’s ranges. It
was very informal and sections weren’t assigned. Finally, a close friend of mine sings in
the Phoenix-area Sweet Adelines. She is a bass, but quite unlike the male bass I am. What
would we do with a gold medalist bass such as her? I would likely hope there would be a
lot of fine-tuning. Their is no “forcing” directive in play that I can see, but 40 years from
now it likely may be seen as an integral part of the “coming-of-age” of an organization.

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A Minutes Worth of Minutes of the Executive Board

A distillation of a Steve Sarandis Filing.

President’s Remarks:

Steve Hansen welcomed the Board members. He stated his thanks for great annual show.

Secretary:

As of April 23, the following members membership has lapsed: Al Bell, Neil Poll and Milton Rhea.
Two student’s memberships expired – Devin Ricklef and Justin Gabriel.
For the purpose of documentation, the following names are listed as those who are currently
authorized in handling (collecting) money: Bobby Farris, Sam Glorioso, Chuck Becker, Jay and
Mary Roth Campbell, Elaine Mitchell, Tom Nichols, Ferdi and Mary Roads, Jim Gruver, Art
Clayton, Sheila Lowerre, Bill and Wilma Peloquin, Bruce Wilson, Lisa Bondy and Kerry Duerr and
current board members (Jay Campbell, Ray Crutcher, Don Derler, Steve Hansen, Mark Logan,
Dave Lowerre, Gary Maxwell, Mac McDougall, Butch Melberg, Dave Orosco, Pete Saputo, Steven
Sarandis, Jim White). Jim White motioned that we approve this list and it was seconded by Dave
Orosco. The Board approved this list.

Treasurer’s Report:

Jim White and Bruce Wilson discussed the results of the ticket sales for the Annual Show.168
tickets sold for the Saturday luncheon (87 were sold online). 141 tickets were sold for the
Saturday evening dinner (99 were sold online). The grand total was 309 tickets and total gross
sales of $10,961.02.
Some sales were at the door of each performance.
The discussion moved to an estimation of the last Cabaret seating occupancy and Jim White
reported we sold 71% of total seats.

VP Reports

Chapter Development: Gary M. discussed the outcome of his pocket meeting. They established
some road maps to focus on. Churches are high on the list for quartets and octets to go and sing
for the purpose of recruiting new singers. We will be learning to sing spiritual music. Ned Beadel
will be helping out with this. Community Centers will be next in line (Yorba Linda, etc.). Pete is
going to work on music education with Ollie. We need to get people to come to our shows and
new singers. There is also the personal responsibility aspect where each member try their best to
bring in perspective singers. Revised materials will be sent to Don Derler. Another suggestion was
to watch videos of the chorus while waiting for the events to take place.

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Programs: Butch M. talked with Woody about doing another Barbershop Olympics. As he was
going through the library, he found some tags and plans on doing more tags. He also want to do
more octeting and tag quartets.

Chorus Manager: Our Memorial Day performance will most likely be in front a crowd that will be
doubled in size from previous performances.

Members at Large: Dave O. asked if we were going to reinstate the Pole Cat learning program.
Butch M. will be checking with Tom Nichols.
Mac M. mentioned we have events an Memorial Day, at the Nixon Library, the Muck and
our picnic. We should communicate and invite the families of the high school students to the picnic
on September 22. He also mentioned that the Black Bear Restaurant in Fullerton have helped
send people to our show.
Jay C. suggested we use Polly’s fund raising days to bring in money to the chapter. For all
food purchased the give 20% back to the chapter. We could even supply quartets to help entertain
and sign up potential singers. He will look into it.
Dave L. mentioned that Groupanizer was changed to Choir Genius.

Old Business: Brown Paper Tickets, should we use it for the Cabaret and post videos? Bruce
suggested the possible use of using social media (i.e. Facebook, Twitter). We could even use it for
Nixon Library (free). The consensus was that we continue to use it.
Cabaret shows: should we consider 2 performances versus 3? We will plan on 3 for this
year, gather attendance data and revisit this question. We will keep the price per ticket the same
this year.

Good of the Chorus: Gary M. mentioned there is less money for Y&H but the budget remains the
same. He suggested that we host a mattress selling event at the local high schools and all the
necessary advertising. Based on an event he participated in they were able to make money. He
felt we could earn anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 to split with our chorus and the school. We
will revisit this at a later meeting.
Jim W. asked if the Ralphs fund raiser that Tom Nichols introduced to us was still and
option. He signed up and has already reaped something from it. He also mentioned he has set up
a guide for treasurers so that they know what is expected of them.
Dave O. proposed to do a Facebook post that will cost $25 and will reach out to many more
contacts. Butch M. seconded and the Board approved. He also got a quote for place a banner
across Harbor Blvd advertising new singers needed for $60 and it will be kept up for a month. He
will get more information and get back with us.,
Mac M. challenged us to go look at the Black Bears menu because it features an article of
a local event. We could possibly benefit from it.
Mark L. mention the was this young man who helped clean up after our annual show who
wanted to sing with us. Is there any age restrictions? The answer was no.

Respectfully submitted,
Steven Sarandis, Secretary

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m e !
We lco
e
u e s ts Ar
All G

We meet Tuesdays, 7:00 p.m.,

on the Fullerton Union High
Campus:
201 East Chapman Ave.
We meet in “Career Corner” — west of
the Plummer Auditorium.

24-Hour Barbershop Hotline

714-871-7675 (Jay Campbell)
Visit us at
WWW.OECHORUS.ORG

Ray Crutcher: Editor

Contributions and Comments can be sent to

oecrayc@gmail.com (714) 345-7012 Text/Call

Newshounds: Steve Sarandis, Jim White, and by force

Craig Ewing.

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