A "Phone-a-thon", which was organized to pay off the mortgage on Harmony Hall in Kenosha, raised $71,000 during the midwinter convention, despite bad weather and a phone foul-up by A.T. & T. on the toll-free number. Chapters and individuals were to call in their pledges to this number in Tucson.

Lansing was the host for the April convention

Thirteen quartets and 14 choruses answered the call for the Pioneer District international quartet preliminary contest and the Pioneer District chorus championship contest which were held at the Lansing Sexton High School. The headquarters hotel was the Holiday Inn South, with registration being held at the nearby Ramada Inn.

Vagabonds

Motor City Music Company

Foreign Policy

In the quartet preliminaries, Pioneer again was allocated three representative quartets due to the VAGABONDS having finished as a third place medalist in the 1977 international finals. Qualifying again for the international contest were the VAGABONDS, the MOTOR CITY MUSIC COMPANY, and FOREIGN POLICY. All three quartets held their positions from the semi-finals right through the finals. Fourth place went to the PERSONAL EXPRESSION quartet, followed by the CROSSTOWN EXCHANGE in fifth, CADENCE COUNTS in sixth, with A MOMENTS NOTICE and the VILLAGE RAMBLERS finishing out the finalists in seventh and eighth place respectively. Quartets not appearing in the finals included the PATCH CHORDS, the UNION STREET ARRANGEMENT, the GOLD MEDAL RESEARCH TEAM, the DOMINOTES and the QUADRATS.

Motor City

In the quest for the district chorus championship, the Detroit #1 MOTOR CITY Chorus directed by Thom Hine outpointed a determined but outmanned Oakland County WOLVERINE Chorus directed by Fred MacFadyen. The Grosse Pointe LAKESHORE Chorus directed by Russ Seely finished in third, followed by Traverse City, Lansing, Saginaw-Bay, Benton Harbor-St. Joseph, Pontiac, Kalamazoo, Clinton Valley, Flint, Milford, Gratiot County and Port Huron. The Traverse City CHERRY CAPITOL Chorus under the direction of Marty Chirgwin was awarded the 1978 Silver Division Championship Award.

CROSSTOWN EXCHANGE Quartet wins Boyne City "Bush League" contest

Crosstown Exchange

Although not much news was available on the 1978 Boyne City "Bush League" contest, held in early May, it is known that the contest was won by the CROSSTOWN EXCHANGE from the Wayne Chapter. The 1978 "Bush League" champs consisted of George Bartlett, tenor; Don Stewart, lead; Herb Hebner, bass, and Steve Sutherland, baritone.

Big Send-Off Show held at Caboto Hall in Windsor

For the second year in a row, the Windsor Chapter sponsored what was proving to be an excellent facility for its annual Send-Off show. The show was designed to raise funds for our quartets and choruses attending the international convention. Started in 1977, this second 1978 show was held on June 9th and featured our three representative quartets—the VAGABONDS, the MOTOR CITY MUSIC COMPANY, and the FOREIGN POLICY quartets—plus the MOTOR CITY Chorus from the Detroit #1 Chapter. Also singing were the various area chapter choruses plus a combined chorus of all members in attendance. At $7 per person it was a tremendous bargain; and, with over 1,000 seats available, it was a fine money raiser.

The big draw for the Caboto Send-Off, notwithstanding the tremendous talent, was the superb "meatless spaghetti" dinner which continues yet today. While there was a meager amount of meat in the spaghetti, it became a joke among attendees to refer to it as the "meatless spaghetti" dinner. Doran McTaggart was the general chairman and did an excellent job in coordinating the event, one that has become a tradition of the Pioneer District.

"Return of the Jug Night" always a popular event

Another popular event, designed to add to the travel funds for the district representative quartets to the international convention, was the annual Oakland County Chapter "Return of the Jug Night," held on June 2, 1978. The event not only included the appearances of the three representative quartets, but a full house of area barbershoppers and quartets. The returning "Jug", which had traveled throughout the district on inter-chapter visitations, contained contributions from each of the chapters visited. It was returned by the chapter holding the "Jug" the week before the meeting. The "Jug" is still traveling through the district today, and has become a part of the Pioneer District historical tradition.

VAGABONDS slip to sixth in international contest— Detroit MOTOR CITY finish in tenth place

Those "rotten kids" from Louisville proved to everyone in attendance at the Cincinnati, Ohio, international quartet contest that they were for real. Enter the BLUE GRASS STUDENT UNION, as they captured the crown for the international quartet championship, followed closely by GRANDMA'S BOYS in second, the BOSTON COMMON in third, the ROARING 20'S in fourth, and the NOVA CHORDS breaking in to the top five for the first time. Unfortunately for the VAGABONDS, after having finished in the top five for the last three years, the drop to sixth place had to be disappointing. Forty-eight quartets competed; and, while sixth place is still commendable, it's hard to accept after having been a medalist. The VAGABONDS sang well, and Pioneer was extremely proud of them.

Pioneer's other two competing quartets, both moved up in the stirring competition. The MOTOR CITY MUSIC COMPANY, in their first appearance in the big show, dazzled the audience with a thirtieth place finish. The FOREIGN POLICY quartet, in their second appearance, moved up to fortieth position from the prior year's 46th place. Overall, their performances matched up well with the entire field.

In the international chorus contest, the Detroit #1's MOTOR CITY Chorus under the direction of Thom Hine, finished in tenth position. The contest was won by those perennial winners, the Louisville THOROUGHBRED Chorus under the direction of Jim Miller, winning their fifth international championship. The MOTOR CITY Chorus sang "In My Brand New Automobile" and "Long, Long Time," two great arrangements which served the chorus well. The Pioneer District was justly delighted with their overall performance.

Pioneer District fares well in PR department at Cincinnati

At the meetings conducted by P.R.O.B.E., Pioneer District's Roger Morris was selected to moderate the Bulletin Editor's Workshop on Thursday morning at the headquarters hotel. Roger, who was the editor of the district publication Troubadour, was also selected to become the editor of the PROBEmoter magazine starting in 1979. In other PR activities, the Pioneer District's PROBE district booth display was awarded third place behind the Seneca Land District in first and the Cardinal District's second place. Roger Morris was also the chairman of our booth display, and did an excellent job of coordinating this fine third-place display.

International Board actions

The 40th anniversary convention was held during the week of July 2-8, 1978, and set records in every possible way. In International Board actions, Ernie Hills was elected to the presidency for 1979. Other actions affecting Pioneer District members to some degree, included:

Passed a resolution adding a fourth field man in the department of music who would be assigned, along with Joe Liles, to work specifically in chorus development and chorus director training.

Passed an amendment requiring that each chapter being licensed or chartered in the future must be identified by a specific geographic location so that no new chapter name may carry the name, or any part thereof, dealing with its geographic location, of a chapter already in existence and in good standing without prior permission of said existing chapter(s).

The concept of the Life Membership Program which had been canceled a few years prior was reinstated with dues to be twenty times the annual dues, with additional rules and regulations to be promulgated to implement the program.

Roger Morris resigns as Troubadour Editor

With the publication of the April-May 1978 issue of the Troubadour, Roger Morris decided to give up the editorship. Roger had done an exemplary job for the five years he published the district journal, but apparently time and his work made it impossible for him to continue as the editor. There were no Troubadours published for the remainder of the 1978 year, and the first one appeared in March of 1979 edited by Rusty Ruegseggar. It is one of the reasons that the news from that particular time period is rather scarce. Rusty was not new to the editing world, having edited and published the Oakland County Chapter's Gentlemen's Songster for several years prior to his appointment.

Grand Rapids Chapter hosts fall convention

The fall convention took place in Grand Rapids on October 13-14, 1978. Twelve quartets and 16 choruses competed to make it a well-rounded competitive field in both contests.

Personal Expression

The quest for the district quartet championship turned out to be a real down-to-the-wire battle, as the PERSONAL EXPRESSION quartet (Mike Bowen, tenor; Jeff Rayburn, lead; Jerry MacLaren, baritone, and Bill Hirschman, bass) from the Gratiot County Chapter edged the CROSSTOWN EXCHANGE quartet (George Bartlett, tenor; Don Stewart, lead; Steve Sutherland, baritone, and Herb Hebner, bass) from the Wayne and Oakland County chapters by a mere two points. The PERSONAL EXPRESSION was in third place through the semi-finals, 40 points behind the CROSSTOWN EXCHANGE and 17 behind the CADENCE COUNTS. But in the finals, they put on a tremendous surge to take over the first-place spot, and win the district championship. The CROSSTOWN EXCHANGE finished in second place, and the HARMONY HOUNDS moved up from fourth place in the semi-finals to third place overall, moving ahead of the CADENCE COUNTS who dropped from second to fourth in the final standings. Rounding out the finalists were the DUTCH MASTERS in fifth, the PATCH CHORDS in sixth, the VILLAGE RAMBLERS and the UNION STREET ARRANGEMENT in seventh and eighth place respectively.

Other quartets competing but not making the finals included SMOKEY AND THE BANDITS, CHORD ENCOUNTERS OF THE SEVENTH KIND, EUPHORIA, and the BLUE PLATE SPECIAL. It was probably one of the closest contests held up until that time.

The Wayne WONDERLAND Chorus wins right to represent Pioneer at Minneapolis in 1979

Wonderland dist79

The Wayne WONDERLAND Chorus under the direction of Steve Sutherland finally put it all together and outpointed the Detroit #1 MOTOR CITY Chorus 902 to 859, thus earning the right to represent the district at the 1979 international chorus contest. The Grosse Pointe LAKESHORE Chorus under the direction of Russ Seely edged the Oakland County WOLVERINE Chorus by one point to take the third position. The Lansing CAPITOL CITY Chorus finished in fifth place to round out the top five.

Other chapters competing in the contest included Traverse City, Saginaw-Bay, Benton Harbor-St. Joseph, Monroe, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Flint, Boyne City, Livingston County and Windsor.

New chapters chartered at Livingston County and Huron Valley

Clay Jones

A new chapter was chartered in the district on September 29, 1978, as part of the district's ongoing extension drive. Long a dream of Clay Jones, who had been the driving force behind the new organization, the chapter was formed as the Livingston County Chapter located in Howell, Michigan. The chapter was chartered with 36 members, and Don Carney, Jr., was elected the first president of the new chapter. The enthusiasm of the new chapter was exemplified by their competing in the fall chorus contest just two weeks after their chartering.

Another new chapter was chartered in the district as the Huron Valley Chapter on December 15, 1978. The chapter was sponsored by the Monroe, Michigan, Chapter with 37 members on board. The first president of the new chapter was Roger E. Waltz of Clinton, Michigan, and the secretary was Jack C. Bush of Ann Arbor. The charter show was scheduled for March 10, 1979 at the Pioneer High School in Ann Arbor. They planned on meeting on Tuesday evenings at St. Luke's Church in Ann Arbor.

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[1977]

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