Sept. 17, 2017
Inside this issue:
Birthdays 2
Free Money 3
Show Outfit 3
9/24 Show Schedule 4
Business Briefs 5
Tunic assignment 6
Pre-contest
Show Flyer 7
Calendar 8
Board &
Music Team
8
Hi Guys,
Terry Ludwig is
coaching us this
Monday, Sept. 18.
Please be there!
Important items for contest
(Oct. 7).
Please remember that all
people competing must
have an ALL EVENTS TICK-
ET and not an individual
event ticket. First time con-
vention participants get to
attend for free.
Use or paste this link in
your browser to register:
https://
www.eventbrite.com/e/
illinois-district-fall-
convention-registration-
37052919279
If you are planning to stay at
the hotel, I recommend re-
serving your room sooner
rather than later. Please
note: if you reserve a room
online, you CANNOT get
the district discount. You
must call them directly to
use the "Barbershoppers"
Carrie’s Cues
Ron Welch—2016 Barbershopper of the Year!
Pitch! Volume 11, Issue 35
Changing lives through song
code for the dis-
counted rate.
Bloomington-Normal
Marriott Hotel &
Conference Center
Address: 201 Broadway
Ave, Normal, IL 61761 Phone: (309) 862-9000
There is a block of rooms
set aside for our convention
under Barbershoppers.
The reserved rate is $136
per night.
Apparently, they are requir-
ing us to have lanyards for
our nametags this year. Alli-
son Dirks (Ben's wife), is
getting her place of work to
donate some to our chorus.
I will look into whether
spouses or children also
need lanyards.
Weather permitting, we will
be meeting on the steps
outside at the BCPA on Sat-
urday (Oct. 7) at 2:45 p.m.
for some warming up and
singing. Our rehearsal in the
basement ballroom of the
BCPA is from 4-5 p.m. Af-
ter that, we go back to the
hotel to get ready for our
performance. The contest
(Continued on page 2)
There is a board meeting scheduled for this Thursday, Sept. 21, 7:30 PM at Bob
Nicodem’s house. Board meetings are open to all members of the chapter but if
you wish to come as a guest please let Bob Nicodem know so he can plan accord-
ingly.
Page 2
Pitch!
PITCH Editor Bob Nicodem
Illinois District BETY winner in 2008, 2009 & 2010
18W109 Claremont Dr. Darien, IL 60561
email: [email protected] Work: (708) 735-8164 Cell: (708) 337-3895 The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Chicagoland West Suburban Chapter
aka The West Towns Chorus
Carrie’s Cues continued
begins at 6:30 p.m. I have not seen the
draw yet.
Here is an abridged version of the con-
test schedule for quick reference:
FRIDAY- October 6
3:00pm-5:30pm Convention Registra-
t i o n – M a r r i o t t H o t e l
(Note: Single event tickets sold at the
BCPA only.)
4:00pm-5:30pm Quartet Corner/Tag
Singing – Marriott Hotel (Beaufort
Room)
6:00pm District Quartet and Interna-
tional Quartet Prelim Semi-Finals –
BCPA
SATURDAY- October 7
8:00am-11:30am Convention registra-
t i o n – M a r r i o t t H o t e l
(Note: Single event tickets sold at the
BCPA only.)
9:15am-10:00am Sing With A Champ –
Marriott Hotel (Redbird EF)
(Continued from page 1) 12:00pm District Quartet Champion-
ship & International Quartet Prelim Fi-
nals – BCPA
2:45 p.m. - West Towns meets on
the outside steps of the BCPA
4:00 – 5:00 p.m. – West Towns re-
hearses in the basement ballroom of the BCPA
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. – Convention regis-
tration – BCPA Lobby Only
6:30 p.m. District Chorus Champi-
onship & International Chorus Pre-
lim Finals - BCPA
9:30pm (approx.) QCA Show of Cham-
pions – BCPA Ballroom
10:30pm (approx.) West Towns co
-hosts Hospitality Room at the
Marriott Hotel Redbird-A; Music
Team attends Chorus Evaluations –
Marriott Hotel (Judges rooms)
Thanks, everyone!
Carrie
Sept. Birthdays
3: Bill Burt
9: Erik Roffelsen
11: John Streetz
14: Sid Peterson
15: Daniel Garcia
Page 3
Pitch!
Free Money!
I use Amazon....a lot. So it makes sense that
if Amazon is willing to donate money to a
registered 501c3 org, why not give it to
West Towns?
Amazon makes it very easy to make a dona-
tion to the West Towns coffers. I’ve been
doing this for more than a year and just my
purchases have generated over $40 of
free money - all I did is place my usual
orders on Amazon and West Towns gets a
small percentage of most items I buy. In
total, West Towns has received over $150
from Amazon purchases (data as of May
2017).
It’s easy to do. Just sign in to
smile.amazon.com and select West
Towns Chorus as your charitable recipient.
If you don’t currently have an account, click
the “Create an account” button and set up
your account by filling in the fields:
Here is what Amazon says about signing up:
On your first visit to AmazonSmile
(smile.amazon.com), you are prompted
to select a charitable organization from our
list of eligible organizations. You can change
your selection at any time. To change your
charitable organization: Sign in to
smile.amazon.com on your desktop or
mobile phone browser.
Then just go to smile.amazon.com every
time you place an order and West Towns
gets a piece of what you buy. Remember, it
only works if you use the Smile site, alt-
hough I have seen when my wife uses my
amazon ID to place an order at the regular
site, West Towns still gets credit.
Free money can’t be any easier!
Will Gertig
Sept 24 Show Outfit
Can't say it too many times - we will be
wearing both outfits for the Choral-Aires
show
1st half – Tunics, et al
2nd half - vests and ties
NEW MEMBERS need to make sure you
have everything you need. Existing mem-
bers - make sure you have all your pieces
and they are pressed!. (We have lots of
women and an entirely new audience to
impress. We need to look as good as we
sound!!). Erik R is unavailable tomorrow
night (I believe) so if you are unsure what
you need or what you have DO NOT HES-
ITATE to communicate with ME tomorrow
night - especially if we need time to order
something! We can't wait last minute or
risk you’re not being able to sing in this
show.
1st half - Ellyn will have the tunic and the
ropes - During the show, you will wear
your white shirt (provided to you by chorus
so we all have the same "pattern or sheen"
under the tunic (for easy change at inter-
mission, and your black tux pants, black
socks, black shiny shoes
2nd half:
Black tux pants already on
White shirt already on
Aqua Vest
Aqua tie ----YES we will be wearing this for
this performance!
Page 4
Pitch!
Sunday, 9/24/17—Pre-contest show
Where: Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church | When: Call time is 1:15 PM 149 W. Brush Hill Road, Elmhurst, IL
SHOW DAY 9/24 SCHEDULE -- PREVIEW SHOW 2017
West Towns call time 1:15 PM
Choral-Aires onstage rehearsal/sound check 1:15 PM
West Towns onstage rehearsal/sound check 1:50 AM
Wheaton North HS Jazz Combo setup/sound check 2:10 PM
Open doors 3:00 PM
Choral-Aires open show 3:30 PM
West Towns line-up to go to backstage area 3:34 PM
West Towns on stage 3:44 PM
West Towns exits stage 3:53 PM
Wheaton North HS Jazz Combo on stage 4:00 PM
Wheaton North HS Jazz Combo exits stage 4:20 PM
Intermission 4:20 PM
West Towns on stage 4:45 PM
West Towns exits stage 5:08 PM
Choral-Aires on stage 5:15 PM
West Towns & Jazz Combo join chorus on stage 5:34 PM
Riser breakdown and load to truck 5:40 PM
Page 5
Pitch!
Business Briefs 9/11/17
Guest: Jim Wagner
Ron Welch announced the 2018 board
slate for the upcoming election on
9/11/17. Since there were no nomina-
tions from the floor, a motion was
made and passed to close the nomina-
tions. A vote was taken and passed to accept the slate as presented. The 2018
Board of Directors for the Chicagoland
West Suburban chapter is officially as
follows:
Jim Brown - President
Jay Bentz - Music
Art Dusenbury - Chapter Devel-
opment / Membership
Daniel Garcia - Marketing
Bill Haselberger - Program
Tony Tumea - Treasurer
Bob Nicodem - Secretary
Frank Glas - Member At Large
TONY TUMEA:
1. Tony announced he had older (NOT
GREEN) West Towns shirts for anyone
who wanted them.
2. Final tally for the Chipotle fundraising
was $249 (not bad for one night.)
Thanks Frank Glas.
3. Tony announced he received a check
for $5,000 to West Towns from the
Lancaster Foundation. Thanks, Craig.
4. See Tony for tickets for your family
and friends for the Sept 24th Choral
Aires concert in which West Towns will
be singing. Singers do NOT need to
buy a ticket.
GARY BAKER -
FOR CONTEST, West Towns is co-
hosting a hospitality room at the Mar-
riot with Chorus of DuPage and the
B r o t h e r h o o d o f H a r m o n y
(Schaumburg). The room will be the
REDBIRD room and Sid has graciously agreed to MC.
JOLIET SLAMMERS:
On Friday, Aug 25th we sang the na-
tional anthem for the Joliet Slam-
mers. Originally, the tickets were $10,
then $8, then $5 but only after collect-
ing $8 from most members. As such, we
have a minor dilemma. We have a $105
surplus from the collection of the mon-
ey for the tickets. Two choices here:
1. Whoever wants, I can give them back
the $3 per ticket
2. If you do NOT want your $3 per
ticket back, the money will go to the
chapter budget.
You can individually let me know what
you want to do.
Bill Haselberger
Page 6
Pitch!
Tunic Size /Colors
Tunics have been assigned based on the new riser positions and availability of tunic size
and color. Tunics will be in three plastic bins: Small, Medium, & Large, with special wide
ones in white plastic bags. The rope “belts” are in a fourth bin. The sides are now sewn to
avoid “gapping”. When you put the tunic on over your head you’ll have a space to put
your arms through. Ropes also go over your head with the knot on your right.
Red Purple
Burt, Bill L Baker, Gary L
Fagan, Jack L Bentz, Jay L
Gertig, Will - Wide L Betczynski, Mark L
Kendall, Peter L Connell, Kevin L
Luedtke, Brian L Kersten, Glen L
Mehok, Tony L Lancaster, Craig - Wide L
Rofellsen, Erik L Munneke, Al L
Wells, Dustin L Risolvo, Aldo L
Servos, Mark L
Betczynski, Caleb M Brown, Dick M
Brown, Jim M Davia, Don M
Dirks, Ben M Hasselberger, Bill M
Emerson, Tony M Horsley, Ray - Wide M
Ferro, Trenton M Jones, Calder M
Garcia, Daniel M Murphy, Dan M
Johnson, Mark M Peterson, Sid M
McKnight, Doug - Wide M Riva, Gerry M
Nicodem, Bob M Schuurman, Bruce M
Reeder, Bryan - Wide M Vander Beek, Bob M
Siebert, Rob M Westburg, Kevin M
Tomecek, Joe M Wixson, Jim M
Welch, Ron M
Williams, Jim M
Spencer, Curt S Dusenbury, Art S
Tumea, Tony S Glas, Frank - Wide S
Zima, George S Kaap, Don S
Moore, Vern S
Shepherd, Dave S
Calendar of Events
Visit us on our website:
www.WestTowns.org
Changing Lives Through Song Phone: 630-201-5544
E-mail: [email protected]
Chicagoland West Suburban Chapter
Barbershop Harmony Society
PO Box 1005
Downers Grove, IL 60515
2017 Board President Jim Brown
Music VP Jay Bentz
Development &
Membership VP
Art
Dusenbury
Program VP Bill
Haselberger
Marketing VP Daniel Garcia
Treasurer Tony Tumea
Secretary Bob Nicodem
Member-at-
Large Frank Glas
Past President Ron Welch
Sunshine
Care Person Don Davia
Librarian Bob
VanderBeek
Uniform Eric Roffelsen
Music Team
Director: Carrie Marcotte
Asst-directors: Mark
Betczynski &
Joe Tomecek
Music VP: Jay Bentz
Section Leaders
Bass: Jim Brown
Baritone: Mark & Joe
Lead: Kevin Westburg
Tenor: Trenton Ferro,
Sid Peterson
September
9/4 Labor Day—NO rehearsal
9/5 - Tues Rehearsal—Western Springs
9/11 Rehearsal—Western Springs
9/14, 9/15,
9/16, 9/17
Speedway
9/18 Rehearsal—Western Springs
Coach Terry Ludwig
9/21 Board Meeting
9/24 Preview Performance
9/25 Rehearsal—Western Springs
October
10/2 Rehearsal
10/6 - 8 Fall District Convention
10/9 Guest Night / Rehearsal
10/14 Christmas Blitz
10/16 Rehearsal
10/19 Board Meeting
10/23 Rehearsal
10/30 Rehearsal
Future
11/19 DG Library Performance
11/25 Christmas promo sing in DG
12/8 Tech/Dress Rehearsal
12/9 Christmas Shows
12/10 Christmas Show
West Towns rehearses every Monday evening, 7:00 PM at Horizon Community Church in
the Meadowbrook Shopping Center, 2129 63rd Street, Downers Grove, IL 60516.
We invite men who like to sing to come visit us and join us in song and fellowship.
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