Clearly March has decided to "come in like a lion", and therefore to ensure the safety of our members and guests, we are cancelling practice tonight. The East York Barbershoppers will be back practicing next Tuesday, and welcome any guests to join us then.
Safe travels!
Love is in the air. And if you love a capella, Countermeasure. one of Toronto's top groups is having a concert on Friday, February 12 at Kingston Road United Church (975 Kingston Rd., west of Victoria Park) at 8 p.m. Tickets only $20 at the door or online at www.kruc.ca/concerts. Children under 12 are free.
Time to mark your calendars for East York Barbershoppers’ 48th Annual Live Auction and Sale, as well as Happy Together, our spring show (with guest quartet - Main Street).
The East York Barbershoppers are proud of our long history of giving back to the community, and 2015 was no exception. A portion of our annual dues and the profits for every event that we run goes to Harmonize for Speech ("H4S") to help Canadians suffering from communication disorders, and to senior programs in our local community of East York through the Harmony Hall Centre for Seniors ("HHCS"). We also encourage our members to donate directly to these organizations, and to run special events and solicit corporate donations on their behalf. The end result was just over $20,000 in contributions in 2015, with $15,000 going to H4S and $5,000 to HHCS!!
We had a very successful Ontario District Fall Conference with East York members in 4 quartets and 41 performers on the risers for the chorus competition.
I am publishing a personal Blog by one of our Guests, Dan Hoddinott. Thanks Dan!
http://blog.danhoddinott.ca/?p=169#more-169
What’s the good of celebrating a 65th anniversary if you can’t share it with people. Of course, we’re having our Anniversary Show on May 23rd (and thanks to everyone who bought tickets, we’re sold out). We’ve also appeared in the May editions of The Wholenote and the Bluffs Monitor.
Monday, April 27 - Walking down the hall in the Unitarian Church basement was a bit of a flashback. I had begun singing again - five years ago, with this group and my sister. At first it was just a lark, singing show tunes with a great bunch of people for the joy of singing, but with their encouragement, I rediscovered how much it meant to me. And now, here I am singing with the EYBS, enjoying the camaraderie and learning more about technique and performance. Well, as they say, the proof is in the pudding.
Just a quick reminder that the East York Barbershoppers are holding our annual Live Auction & Sale this coming Friday, May 1 at Harmony Hall (2 Gower Street, East York). The Pre-Sale (fruit & veggies, household goods) kicks off at 7:00PM, and the Live Auction at 8:00PM sharp. We have lots of items available for auction across a wide variety of categories, and of course our fabulous Auctioneer, Matt Penstone, always makes sure our guests have tons of fun.To catch YouTube clips about some of the great items we have available in just two of our many categories, please click on the following:Sports & Outdoors: https://youtu.be/F6dbkQdK4VoTheatre & The Arts: https://youtu.be/UAnHjZ5c2asHope to see you on Friday!
In 1977, the Ontario District of the Barbershop Harmony Society established the Harmonize for Speech Fund (“H4S”) to raise funds to help Canadians suffering from communication disorders. H4S’s motto is “We Sing That They Shall Speak”, and Ontario Barbershoppers take great pride in everything that H4S has accomplished in support of this goal. H4S has raised over $5M since its inception, and with an overhead of only 3% per year almost all of these funds have been put to great use helping those who so desperately need our help. George Shields (Founding Member and Director Emeritus of EYBS) was the first Chairman of H4S, and has led the organization in that capacity ever since. East York is also a strong financial supporter of H4S. In 2014, through a combination of individual member donations, corporate donations solicited by our members, and fundraising efforts by the chorus and our chapter quartets and octets, East York raised $13,000 for H4S. This brings the total raised by East York since inception to just shy of $478,000! East Yorkers are proud to join other Ontario barbershoppers and chapters in supporting this worthy charity, and look forward to more of the same in 2015!