Members of the five chorus' began arriving around 6:30 PM to be welcomed by Bruce Ryker attired in his Navy blazer and red bow tie. It was like a family reunion to watch the old time barbershoppers greet each other with hugs and hand shakes.

It wasn't very long before small groups started harmonizing some of the old favorites like "Coney island Babe" and the Pole Cat songs.The meeting opened with John Westervelt, the Director for the Apple Capital Chorus leading the warm up for about 10 minutes. That was followed by the singing of a couple of Pole Cat songs. What a sound. With over 70 men in attendance the large room was filled with a wall of harmony. As one member remarked, "It sounded better than 5000 singers at an International Competition." It was indeed a pleasure to watch each chorus sing a couple of their favorites. The variety of music and the lively performances made you want to hear more. As an example, a lead in the Blue & Gray chorus did a near perfect rendition of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", backed up by the rest of the chorus. If you weren't looking you would swear that it was Louis himself.
A break was taken during which a large variety of snacks and drinks were available to wet the whistle. Again, the implulse to make music took over and more improptu singing took place sprinkled with a few tags here and there.

After the break the music for Kentucky Babe was passed out to those who didn't have a copy and John Westervelt prefaced the singing with a few words of direction on the desired presentation of this song.  By the quality of the sound and expression you would have thought that these 70 plus men had rehearsed that song many times before. A second time through to tweek a couple of bars here and there brought the song to perfection. It was "goose bump" time.

Then came the time for the quartets to do strut their stuff. The quartets from each of the chorus' sang at least two songs. In the case of the Harmonizers and Blue & Gray chorus', multiple quartets from each provided a clever variety of music.
The performance of one of the Harrison-
burg quartets had a predominently Irish theme. A Blue & Gray quartet, noted for its comical renditions of songs relating to Chinese Food, Freeway Construction and Proctology had the crowd in stitches laughing. The Winchester Troubadours were the last quartet to perform ending a show to be long remembered.

All barbershoppers are familiar with the "afterglow" parties that take place after giving a performance. This evening was a gigantic "afterglow" filled with chorus and quartet performances. The renewing of old friendships in the Shenandoah Valley barbershop community was an experience that will be long remembered by all participants. They recalled some of their old favorites and inevitably someone would start singing and the group would immediately join in with all four parts. The energy in the room was infectious. Many expressed a desire to make the joint gatherings a quarterly event. No doubt that will be on the agenda for these five chorus'. Those new to barbershopping had a preview of what to expect in their future, making music in the barbershop style.
(Webmaster comment) I apologize for not having pictures of all the chorus' and quartets since I was either in the chorus singing or otherwise involved in doing something that prohibited me from taking pictures.