History
Bringing the BQPA/Pioneers History up to date, December 2010.
Penned by Jack Martin, President
The BQPA is a split off organization of the Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS), being a provisional subsidiary similar to affiliates of the BHS. Our organization was founded by a gentleman named Tom Neal, in 1982 and was identified as the "Pioneers." A yearly convention was held in various cities around the USA. The “Pioneers” encouraged the formation of quartets as well as those who choose to sing what I will call The "Old Songs" or those written around the turn of the 20th century. 1890-1930. It was a loosely structured group just getting together to enjoy our singing hobby and enjoying success, I might add. After a few years we begin holding our conventions in Chicago, IL and remained there for about 15 years. Our attendance at these function grew to about 75-90 singers. In the mid 90's we expanded our activities to include a western convention in Southern CA as well as the one in Chicago. In 2006, in conjunction with the BHS, the BQPA sponsored a "traditional barbershop quartet contest” at the BHS mid-winter convention in Albuquerque NM. It was called the 'Buffalo Bills’ contest. The Buffalo Bills contest was a real defining point in the future direction the BQPA was to take. There was “Standing Room Only” in the contest auditorium as many were curious to see how things would play out. The contest was won by ”The Great Honk”, an excellent quartet organized by Jay Hawkins, of the Louisville Thorobreds fame, ( and bass of the gold medalists "Interstate Rivals"), who performed an original songs/medley featuring music from each of the early decades of SPEBSQSA history. The quartet clearly outclassed the other competitors and their performance was a wonderful musical compilation of the history of Barbershop!
Below is a picture of the “The Great Honk” quartet who won the BQPA sponsored Buffalo Bills contest in Albuquerque NM in 2006.Singers are: Shane Scott, tenor: Eddie Holt, lead; Jay Hawkins, bass; and Drew Ellis, baritone.
The contest turned out to be quite successful in the eyes of many, however the BHS decided to promote the current youth chorus contest at the mid-winter conventions and the BQPA activities were discontinued. Tom Neal resigned as leader of the BQPA/Pioneers in the spring of 2007, at the general BPQA/Pioneers meeting in Boulder City NV. Immediately Subsequent to Tom Neal’s resignation, a steering committee was formed to provide follow on leadership. The members of this steering committee were Jack Martin, Chairman, Rex Touslee, Lee Ishinger, Rosie Rosenthal, Herb Langthorp and Tom Jewel, all long time supporters of the BQPA/Pioneers. The BQPA had been granted corporation status by the state of NV prior to the Buffalo Bills contest. The intent of the Steering Committee was to develop a structured hierarchy as a stand alone entity. Within 6 months Lee Ishinger had drafted by laws, Rex Touslee, with input from all members of the committee developed a mission statement documenting our reason for existence. Herb Langthorp took the job of acting treasurer. Jack Martin, with the assistance of Burt Szabo developed our musical style definition; Rosie Rosenthal worked diligently toward the formation of an internal structure for fusing each of our separate responsibilities into a Board of Directors and the establishment of Officers. Tom Jewel served as a liaison to the BHS quartet chapters in the Southern California area. With this accomplished, an election of officers was held in the fall of 2007. The following officers were elected. President, Jack Martin; VP, Rex Touslee; Lee Ishinger, Secretary; Treasury, Herb Langthorp; Jim Gallagher, serving as IPP; Rosie Rosenthal, member at large. During the ensuing months the BQPA organization petitioned for subsidiary status within the BHS, however, agreement could not be reached regarding differences in the BQPA bylaws with those of the BHS. This resulted in the BQPA withdrawing its petition for BHS Subsidiary status in 2008. A cordial relationship was maintained between the BQPA and the BHS. The BHS considers the BQPA a provisional subsidiary, which has little to no adverse effect on either organization. Subsequent to this departure the BQPA officers revised the bylaws of the BQPA to a much simplified structure. This revision is currently displayed on the BQPA website. Due to deaths and resignations of members, the Board of Directors and Officer Positions of the BQPA have been replaced/adjusted as necessary to accommodate the needs of the organization. During the time frame of 2007-2010 the BQPA has grown to 275 registered members with attendance at our quartet festivals being around 150 singers. Our membership consists of singers from the four corners of North America. The BQPA continues to host a Quartet Festival in Chicago, IL in September and one in the Phoenix, AZ area in the spring. The BQPA/Pioneers have a cordial relationship with the BHS as many of our BQPA membership are dual members, who enjoy barbershop singing in a "less competitive environment" at our BQPA Quartet Festivals. Many of the BQPA members are actively singing in Quartet Chapters spanning North America from Massachusetts to California. The BQPA/Pioneers currently have a few members and supporters from the BHS affiliate organizations, although it is difficult for many of them to attend our activities due to the distance, which is quite understandable. One thing that is quite unique within the BQPA/Pioneers is that we favor songs of earlier years as opposed to much of the more modern contemporary music that is currently sung on the BHS contest stage The semi-annual Quartet Festivals held by the BQPA have always been structured in an after-glow fashion with a Friday night “luck of the draw” quartet singing contest. This contest always results in a lot of fun, laughter, great harmony and often great quartet singing. In 2004, this “luck of the draw” contest was dedicated to the memory of one of our long time supporters, “Ginny Janis” of "Chordette” fame. Ginny loved singing with the stronger voices of the male singers. To this day, the BQPA awards the coveted Ginny Janis medal to the winner of the contest. There has always been a Parade of Quartets Show during the last evening of the Festival, This show features organized quartets from the area, with some coming from far distances to perform. The annual membership meeting is held during the Quartet Festival which sets the pace and direction for the future of the BQPA. It is the desires of the BQPA membership to share and celebrate the love of barbershop singing of the "old songs'" and the preservation of the traditional barbershop quartet. We of the BQPA would like to consider all singers as friends of the BQPA.
Original History
Dear Pioneers,After more than a quarter century, I am turning over the reins of the Pioneer-BQPA organization. At present, a steering committee has been set up with Jack Martin as Chairman. Other members are Rex Touslee, Lee Ischinger, Herb Langthorpe, Rosie Rosenthal, and Tom Jewell.
In the beginning:
In 1982, it was obvious that things had changed in the barbershopping arena. I mailed out four separate letters to approximately 600 men that I knew would be interested in an old-style barbershop quartet convention. Having been a very active member of the Society since 1951, I knew many of them personally. Others I had never met. They all had one thing in common...they were all quartet guys, most of whom were talented woodshedders, and, in most cases, knew a lot of old songs.
The first convention was scheduled for the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee for Sept.9-12. We had no idea how many would attend, but by late afternoon on Thursday, we had a huge crowd assembled. And what a crowd it was! Pete Tyree was first in the door, shortly followed by the tenor of the very first International Champions, the Bartlesville Barflies! George McCaslin was his name. He went to our conventions every year until he died in the mid-80's.
In 1983, we still believed that the convention could be held in a different city each year, so we went to Kansas City, and held our meeting at the home of barbershop, The Muelbach Hotel, where Owen Cash and Rupert Hall met on that fateful day in 1938.We had a good time there, and decided to stay for a while. We had the next four conventions there, but the Hotel had fallen into disrepair. Also, I arrived on Thursday in 1986 to find that Geraldine Ferrarro, VP candidate for the Democrats, had preempted my suite. Reagan I wouldn't have minded. We decided it was time to move the convention to Chicago in 1986, and we remain there to this day.
In 1997, we decided the time had come for a second convention in the Western US. I had built a home in Boulder City, only about 35 miles away from Las Vegas, so we held the convention there
In 1999, barbershopper Earl McDougald and his son Don suggested we hold the convention at his beautiful wedding resort in Fallbrook, CA. It worked very well for the next five years, but Earl's palatial resort was losing about $50,000 over our convention weekend in lost wedding revenue, so we decided to return to Boulder City in 2004.Two more years there, and in 2007 we held the ill-fated convention in Albuquerque in conjunction with the BHS. We put on a great traditional barbershop quartet contest, much to the delight of the attendees at the convention, who packed the halls twice. But...not good enough for the BHS who canceled the event for 2008. So, by popular request of a broad majority of our members, the convention again returned to Boulder City in 2008.
>And now the real story of the Pioneers.....the people who have attended. I'll try to categorize them.
>First, some of the wonderful quartets who graced our Saturday night shows over the years.
>
The Midstates Four.. 1949 Champs, Mack, Mendro, Haynes, Hanson (Art Gracey d.)
The Four Hearsemen.. 1955 Champs, Heiny, Watson, Eliot, Gifford
The Vikings..1953 Champs, Mauris, Conover, Lindley, Livesey
The Sun Tones..1961 Champs, Cokecroft, Franklin, Wilson, Wilson (Bill Cain d.)
The Gala Lads..1962 Champs, Panther, Keehan, Lees, Cockrell
The Rural Route 4..1986 Champs>
Revival..1998 Champs, Ferguson, Spencer, Lawton, Myers
Chicago Natural Gas, Henders, Edson, Hauldren, Schwartz (appeared many times)
Village Idiots.. Shramo, Keener, Neal, Kapes (Who)?
The Arbors
Barber Q Four.. Bossing, Mulberger, and McKnight, Haeger, Watts
O C Times
Metropolis
High Fidelity
Stardust
Salty Dogs (A.K.A The Hut Four) Plaisted, Dykstra, Hatlestat, Hanson (often wondered about their mental state)
The Chordettes
Three Past International Champs..Sweet Adelines, Harmony Inc
Silver and Gold
Countdown
Perfect Gentlemen
A Great Bunch of Guys
Special Feature>
And....at least 40 others from the Chicago area (thanks Lynn Hauldren) and another 20 from California (thanks Marchita and Virgil Pletcher) Too many to remember all the names.
This partial list is of the famous quartet members who attended over the years. I'm sure there were many, many more
George McCaslin.. Bartlesville Barflies 1939 Champs
Roy Frisbee..Elastic Four 1942 Champs
Huck Sinclair..The Four Harmonizers 1943 Champs
Butch Hummel..Doctors of Harmony 1947 Champs
Tom O'Malley, Tommy Palamone..Pittsburghers 1948 Champs
Hershel Smith (original baritone)..Buffalo Bills 1950 Champs
Jim Schmitt..Schmitt Bros, 1951 Champs
Don Lamont..Four Teens 1952 Champs
Pete Tyree..Orphans 1954 Champs
Carl Wright..Lads of Enchantment 1957 Champs
Buzz Haeger,Jim Foley,Tom Felgen,Joe Sullivan..Renegades 1965 Champs
Jerry Fairchild..Sidewinders 1964 Champs
Fred King..Oriole Four 1970 Champs
Don Barnick..Grandma's Boys 1979 and Keepsake 1992 Champs
Hank Brandt.. " "
Ken Hatton..Bluegrass Student Union 1978 Champs
Dick Kingdon.. Chiefs of Staff 1988 Champs
Drayton Justis..Gentlemen's Agreement 1971 Champs
Ray Henders. Tom Felgen....Chicago News 1981 Champs
Hal Bauer..Clef Dwellers Medalists 4 times
Lloyd Steinkamp.. Desert Knights
Carroll Pallerin..Forest City Four
Joe Ripp..Cardinals
Ron Starling.. Four Chorders Medalists 4 times
Dick Faas Gil Stammer..Singcopates Medalists
Bob Tilton.. Villageaires, Fortissimos Medalists
Rex Reeve ..San Diego Serenaders Medalists
Chuck Brooks..Colonials Medalists
Dave Mittlestadt.. Playtonics Medalists
Elwood Davidson..4 more
Jay Hawkins..Interstate Rivals, Marquis Champs
Tom Taylor..Kippers
Joe Salz..Desert Knights
Carl Hancuff..Salt Flats
Dan Jordan...too many to mention
Plus..many Senior Quartet Champion members
Even though we are all dyed-in-the-wool quartet guys, we also played host to some great choruses who opened our Saturday night shows..San Diego, Pal Pac (Vista, Ca.), The San Diego Sweet Adelines (Kim Hulbert director), The Las Vegas Chapter, and ..The Westminster Chorus! They tore the place up.
Also....such notable woodshedders as Chuck Oliva, Jerry Noda, Jim Hickel, Lefty Parisson, Robbie Neal, Bob Valle, Bill Fick, Herb Ives, Emmett Bossing, Jerry McFee. Ah.....I could just put everybody's name down here...we were all woodshedders. Too bad Jim Poindexter wasn't alive to be with us.
The Arrangers.. Walter Latzko, Rex Reeve, Bob Haeger, Buzz Haeger, Lyle Pilcher, Ruby Rhea, Bud Pickard, Fred King .....and the man who defined our position in a 1974 Harmonizer article...Val Hicks!
The Kenosha Brass...Hugh Ingram, Daryl Flinn, Joe Liles, Ed Watson. Todd Wilson, Bill Otto et.al.
>We literally received hundreds of letters and emails of encouragement from members far and wide. Vern Reed, Buffalo Bills (He loved what we did) Judge Charles Merrill and Gil Lefholz, both past Int'l Presidents, Bob Holbrook, 1941 Champs, The Chordbusters, Verne Laing, and even from a man named W.O. (Bill) Palmer. The last man alive in 1982 who attended O.C.Cash's first meeting in Tulsa, April 1938. Reading all these wonderful expressions of support from the people who built SPEBSQSA into what it was made me more than sure that our determination to preserve traditional barbershop quartet singing was, indeed, the most noble of all causes. One day, I intend to publish them all. They tell a compelling story.
How about our Masters of Ceremonies? The greatest of all time! Tom O'Malley, Bob Haeger, Bob Leclair, and Ray Henders. Any one of them could have made it in show business. They brought us a lot of joy.
Also, it was always a pleasure to watch old timers who had given up on barbershopping come back into the fold. Invariably they would say.."Hey..this is just like it used to be ". They were right..it was.
Ginny Janis was very special to the Pioneers. She was, of course, the founder and tenor of the world famous Chordettes. She said the Pioneers was the most fun she ever had in her long career. She loved singing with the guys. She never missed a convention until she died a few years ago. Our Friday Night Quartet Contest is named in her honor.
Now to all those who helped me along the way. My dear friend of 50 years, Joe Shekelton, became our first President, and continued in that capacity until he handed over the gavel to Bill Gallagher in later years. Chuck Oliva, Gerry Carroll, Dick Robins, Jennifer Schwartz Bek, and Lynn Hauldren were responsible for making the Chicago Convention run smoothly, and what a great job they did. Well, Gerry Carroll did a pretty good job.
In California, our all -stars were Virgil and Marcheta Pletcher. They always made sure we had only the best quartets sing for us. How she ever talked all those guys to come great distances at no charge is something I'll never know. They also serve as the official treasurers for the Pioneers. They have recently moved to an 8000sq. ft. home in Beverly Hills. She and other nice ladies (many over the years) served as the check-in desk handlers..a thankless job..but it was perfect. Special thanks to Shirley Shandle for all her help at the registration desk as well.
Dick Johnson has done a great service for us by handling all the communication chores. He told me he loved doing it. He must..the volume of emails he handles is staggering. If you never noticed, Dick believes very strongly about our position of preserving the art. Woe into the uninformed "Harmonet" denizen who writes anything derogatory about us. Good for you Dick! Dick learned his skills from the Barry Goldwater and George Patton School for political correctness.
Finally a word about Jackie Neal. She raised my children, manages the finances, is active in the Republican Women's organization, is Co-President of the "Clipped Wings", the United Airlines retired stewardess charitable group, is active in the church, helped me build Hot Springs Spa and our new venture, Phase Change Technology, a Company dedicated to solving the electrical power shortages in this country. She has always worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure everybody had a good time at our conventions. I don't think she has ever made an enemy. I make up for that part. She is an angel.
So, it's up to others now to preserve the art. We know for certain that we are the only ones who will. I'll see you all as usual, but just as a singer. That's why I got in to barbershopping in the first place. Good luck, and....
"Thanks for the Memories"
Tom Neal
Founder of The Pioneers and the BQPA Inc.
Home | Mission | Style Definition | BQPA Store | History | Events | Quartet Encouragement | Links | Documents | Contact Us