Beehive Statesmen

Our History - (reverse chronology - From recent to ancient)

FUTURE HISTORY:

The chorus is excited about our future, with Beth Bruce as our director, in developing a higher quality in our musical product. In September, 2008, at the Rocky Mountain District Chorus Contest, held during the Fall 2008 Convention in Colorado Springs, CO, we had 11 more men on Stage that the previous contest and took 6th place. There were many wonderful choruses and quartets.

Our SPRING SHOW, featuring THE SUMMIT (from Albuquerque,) will be held on Saturday, May 8th, at Hightlan High School. There will be a Matinee show ($10.00 per ticket) at 3:07, and an Evening Show ($15.00 per ticket) at 7:07. There will be an Inner-Glow between the shows, with a deli-lunch bar and singing by and with the quartets . (All tickets are $5.00)

Next fall, right here in Utah at Layton, UT, at the Rocky Mountain District's 2010 Fall Convention and Chorus Contests we will be working hard to move up and be recognized as one of the Top Three Choruses in the District. And MOST IMPROVED, again, of course.

Then our 2010 Christmas show will be Saturday afternoon, December 5th, at Highland High School. Follow the links on the HOME PAGE Page for a show Flyer, and ticket information.

Our motto is keep the whole world singing! And we have a lot of fun while we do it.

WEEKLY PRACTICES:

Every Wednesday evening, for 60 years, we as a chorus have gathered to sing and improve our talents in singing. Our present practice quarters are located at:
Utah Cultural Celebration Center
1355 West 3100 South, West Valley, Utah (Go east from Redwood Road)
Phone/e-mail (801) 965-5100 www.culturalcelebrationcenter.org;
Time: 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM.

Check this website under HIVE HAPPENINGS to check on our current rehearsal schedule.

The chorus presently consists of about 65 men with about 40 plus singing at any one performance. Our new director, since June, 2006, is Beth Bruce. She is a wonderful person with a big heart and smile, with lots of musical skills. Check out OUR DIRECTOR on this website.

Rocky Mountain District’s FALL 2008 Contest:

6th Place - Rocky Mountain District 2008 Chorus Contest

At the Rocky Mountain District's FALL 2008 Contest, held in Colorado Springs, CO, on September 27th, amid some very strong competition, the Beehive Statesmen Chorus earned 6th place. We had been aiming for most improved chorus (3rd time), but alas, it was not to be this year. But our chorus is growing, we had 11 more men on Stage singing at the Contest this year than we had last year. So, we will fall back, and re-assess our goals for the September 2009 Contest, which will be held in Cheyenne, WY.

HARMONY JUNIOR COLLEGE:

Our 2009 Chapter Contest Retreat was held at Snow College, Ephraim, UT on July 16-18th.

Great trip! Great experience!    What we lacked in amenities (dormitory, food, etc) was more than made up by the Coaching from our Very Own Beth Bruce, the inimitable Anna Lisa Glad, and our VISITING EXPERT, Don Rose.

Those who went enjoyed a very productive chorus enhancing experience:
Those who could not make it:   DON"T WORRY, You will be assimilated.   Resistance is futile.

Reprinted here is the entire email from Don Rose, following the retreat

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Hello mighty Beehive Statesmen!

Greetings from the West...sitting here, looking at the water, late at night, thinking about our retreat, and I just wanted to share my joy for you. You know, it's a weird dance being a visiting coach to a chorus...you are lucky to have a fine director in Beth, but she sees you every week, so she is unable to say stuff that the guy from far away can say...he doesn't have to deal with the fallout! :-)

Like Beth, I direct a chorus of lovely men...some of them are white collar, blue collar, recently unemployed, and frankly LOOK like you...except I don't have 3 cool kids under 14! We have the same discussions you have...we have the same hopes you have...we have the same challenges you have...we have the same fights you have...we are pretty much the same. As you may suspect, we DO have a difference...CULTURE...not genetics...not age...definitely not talent...but CULTURE.

I don't want to change your core, which is so lovely it makes me tear up...your talent show...your coffee pot prepared for me...Beth having a stash of Diet Coke ready to roll...I was treated like a king, and I really felt cared about and listened too. What more could a visitor wish for?

Well..I do have about 4 major wishes...think of me as gently pushing you into to music pool...you may sputter and spit, but Beth will not let you drown!

Donny's wish list...

1) The risers are sacred ground.
This is where we make art. This is where Beth, Anna-Lisa, and outside pals lead us towards something bigger than each of us. When we step up onto the risers, we look down at the floor and remind ourselves to take care of the person who owns this chunk of real estate. We don't need to speak, except with loving eyes. We may be goofy and playful off the risers, but not on sacred ground.  We don't really ask questions that we can figure out on the risers...if anyone is freaking out, they know that it's totally great to speak to Anna-Lisa or Beth when they are off the risers.

2) The Beehive statesmen are a singing group.
All the fellowship, service to community, refreshments, paperwork, RMD official business is a lovely by-product...the Statesmen are indeed a family, but they grow out of singing INTO this fraternity...not the other way around.

3) Our musical level is determined by what we do in rehearsal.
Don't turn it on for a performance, silly...it's too late, and it makes a worse. Rehearse like a musician, stand with a little more swagger, and start rehearsing like a Champion...everything will happen because you trust and know the plan...this will help you feel relaxed and confident! Be on time...come weekly...call when you are going to miss a rehearsal. Just replay every coach speech you have in your mind about practice...that ought to do it!

4) You must believe in your director, your chorus brothers, and you!
It sounds like an ABC after school special, but...it's true! You should overtly believe in your director...if you don't, you hurt us. Your should love being in the chorus...if you want to mostly be in a quartet or be in a bowling league...do it! If you don't care about helping your chorus brothers, go somewhere and be part of something you DO believe in. If you think you are unable to contribute YOUR voice to the chorus, YOUR energy to make things better, YOUR work to sing notes and words correctly, YOU should find a place that brings you joy!  Directors know that men will come and go...some will stay for longer periods of time, but most of us will at some point pull ourselves out prior to death. Who do you wish to stay?   :-)

So...thanks for reading, listening, and considering a few hopes from the boy from Tacoma. Drop me a line as you move forward, and thank you for letting me be part of a lovely weekend.

Donny
Purfling@aol.com

Rocky Mountain District’s FALL 2007 Contest:

5th Place - Rocky Mountain District 2007 Chorus Contest

The RMD Fall Contest was held in Albuquerque, NM, on September 29th, where the Beehive Statesmen Chorus earned 5th place (again,) but was also named as the Most Improved Chorus for 2007. This is the second year in a row that the Chorus has been named as the Most Improved. So, Question: How can you be the most Improved (Score) for the year, yet remain in 5th place? Maybe last year we were a low-5th place, and this year a high-5th place. Wait until Fall 2008 at Colorado Springs. You ain’t HEARD nothing yet.

Rocky Mountain District’s FALL 2006 Contest:

&nbs p; 5th Place - Rocky Mountain District 2006 Chorus Contest

At the Rocky Mountain District’s Fall 2006 Contest, held in Layton, UT, on October 7, 2006, the Beehive Statesmen Chorus was named as the Most Improved Chorus for 2006. And this with a new director, Ms Beth Bruce (See Our Directors,) who had only been directing our Chorus for 4 months, since June. We also placed 5th among the 9 competing choruses.

CHAPTER QUARTETS: (Some of their pictures are in OUR QUARTETS)

There were many great quartets who shared the microphone with the chorus over the years. Other than the Evans Quartet names such as: The Salt Flats, One More Time (1985 district champs and the first International Seniors Champions, a competition having started in the last few years) and an up and coming new quartet from the chapter Unita Barbershop having placed as high as 10th place at the district level. Each name of the many quartets not only bring memories to the members of that quartet, but also to those of us who heard them perform many times over the years.

CHAPTER FORMATION:

During the summer of 1948, Roger Fruend attended a conference in Wisconsin. While there he spent hours between conference sessions "harmonizing" with a gentleman from Chicago named George Campbell. He poured into Roger's mind the story of O.C. Cash, the Tulsa organizer and founder of the Parent Chapter of Barbershop. He urged Roger to try his hand at organizing a chapter of SPEBSQSA (Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America) in Salt Lake City. It has been said, "as O.C. Cash and others sat around the hotel room and talked about the future society, he wanted the name of the society to be the biggest acronym in the nation, during the time in the United States, when acronyms were being developed wholesale on a daily basis."

One evening Roger was approached by a gentleman who introduced himself as Wilfred LeCavalier. These two gentlemen lunched together the next day, and decided that a chapter should be organized in Salt Lake City. They set the date, place and hour for the first meeting. The evening arrived and the first stranger to come into the Club Room and extended his hand was Joe Kopesec. The second man to come in was Frank Zachrison. Altogether a group of fourteen men assembled that night. A few weeks later there had been some growth. A young man named Munson Hinman played a major role in the organization. He was a four part man and sang well. The Evans Quartet Came in one night. They joined that night and all four were charter members of the Chapter. The Evans Quartet was the first chapter quartet to become International Champions, Gold Medalist, and Turk Evans from the quartet was the first chapter director. Thus the creation of the name SPEBSQSA and the creation of the Beehive Statesmen Chorus. The chorus was formed from a group of men who loved to sing and enjoyed the fellowship. In those days the lead would sing melody and the other three would sing harmony as there was no printed music available. Now the Barbershop Harmony Society, which is the new term for SPEBSQSA, has hundreds of musical arrangements in the barbershop style, perhaps even thousands.

HISTORIANS NOTE:

As the writer of this short history many of these names are only names. In March, 1986, with my arrival upon the barbershop scene, I had the opportunity of singing baritone with both Roger Freund and Max Lloyd, the last two charter members of the Beehive Statesmen Chorus to actively sing with the Chorus! Max did receive his 50 year pin just prior to his death. The only other 50 year pin I remember being given was November 1, 2006, as Jimmy Wheeler, the tenor of the Salt Flats, One More Time and most recently Senior Class Reunion, received this longevity, as well as a lot of work, award. He is the most loyal person I have met over the years in barbershop and has served the chapter in many p ositions including president. (I have a history about 50 pages long of the Beehive Statesmen Chapter by Max Lloyd if anyone would like to review it.)
"Doc" Glenn Gold

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