REGIONAL CALENDAR
2007
June 9
O K City Star! Contest/Show
Westmoore High School
Moore, OK

Jun 22-23
Summer Music Camp
Texas Woman's University
Denton, TX

July 11-14
Inernational Education Symposium
Trinity University
San Antonio, TX

Aug 18
Prairie Winds Show
Lubbock, TX

Aug 25
Rich-Tone Show
Eisemann Center
Richardson, TX

Sept 14-15
RMT Meeting
Dallas, TX

Sept 29
Show-Me Harmony Show
Joplin, MO

Oct 6
Ozark Showcase Show
Springfield, MO

Oct 6
Santa Rosa Belles 1st Annual Show
Vernon, TX

Oct 9-13
International Convention
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Nov 16-17
Director Retreat
Crowne Plaza, Addison, TX

Dec 1
Rich-Tone Holiday Show
Eisemann Center
Richardson, TX

2008
Jan 31-Feb 1
RMT Meeting
Doubletree, Tulsa, OK

Feb 1-2
Quartet Retreat
Doubletree, Tulsa, OK

April 24-27
Regional Competition
Richardson, TX

Jun 20-21
Summer Music Camp
TBA

Nov 4-8
International Convention
Honolulu, HI

2009
Nov 3-7
International Convention
Nashville, TN

2010
Oct 19-23
International Convention
Seattle, WA

2011
Oct 18-22
International Convention
Houston, TX

2012
Oct 30-Nov 3
International Convention
Denver, CO

2013
Nov 5-9
International Convention
Honolulu, HI

To add your show to the regional calendar, contact Sharon Hightower at slhightower@yahoo.com

IES - SAN ANTONIO
JULY 11-14


Join us at a truly international IES this year as choruses from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Sweden participate in the Harmony styleic Competiton! Meet other Sweet Adelines and take stylees from some of your favorite role models at San Antonio's Trinity University campus.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION


International Convention and Competition
October 9-13, 2007
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

NEW DIRECTORS

We have new directors among us! Some are brand new to Sweet Adelines, some are new to directing, and some are just new to us in Region 25. Ken Baxter is the new director of the Santa Rosa Belles Chorus in Vernon, TX. The newly chartered chorus asked Ken to direct after losing their first director last fall. Ken is a retired high school choir director, so he's used to being out front. Ken graduated from Baylor with a Bachelor's in Music Education. He taught in Wichita Falls and Dumas before landing in Vernon where he taught for 24 years. He retired a few years ago, but not for long. Ken now works for Farm Bureau Insurance. Ken retired from the Army National Guard as well. In his spare time, Ken rides with the Santa Rosa Palomino Club. Angie Mack is a Certified Director who has been directing the Lawton Harmony Chorus since late last year. Angie served Lawton Harmony as the Assistant Director for six years, and she has been a member for 17 years. Angie is a retired pre-K and kindergarten teacher's assistant, and she still subs in from time to time when she needs to find her inner child. Vyneta Ryan is also a Certified Director who began directing the Note-Ably North Texas Chorus early this year after serving as interim co-director since last July. Vyneta is a math teacher by training, but last year she taught elementary music at a private school. She also directs the children's chorus at church. Vyneta and her husband have two sons. In what little spare time she has left, she enjoys gardening. Alice Linskey is new to Region 25, but not new to Sweet Adelines, or directing, for that matter. Alice is the Director of Education for Sweet Adelines International. She moved to Tulsa from Michigan where she was a music teacher. She taught in Flint, Michigan and the suburbs of Chicago. She also taught private piano lessons. She has directed four Sweet Adelines choruses, and she acquired many of her directing skills when singing with the Thumb Area Chorus under the fabulous Chris Noteware. Alice is now directing Heart o' the Hills Chorus in Tahlequah, OK. Dianne Bernstein is the new director of Lake Country Harmony Chorus. Dianne has been the assistant director of Lake Country Harmony for three years. She is newly enrolled in the Directors' Certification Program. Dianne is also a math teacher - is there some connection to math and directing? She has directed church choirs, and she's enjoying learning more about the barbershop style. Ruth Ann Parker has a long list of Sweet Adeline achievements, the latest being the new co-director of the Rich-Tone chorus. Ruth Ann is the Showmanship Judge Specialist as well as a Certified Sound Judge. She is the baritone of the Hurricane Honeys, 1967 Queens of Harmony. We are privileged to have this talented lady join us in Region 25. Annette Gary is our newest co-director. You may know Annette as the region's Education Coordinator, or as the baritone of Rendition, Region 25's 2006 quartet champions, or maybe as the princess who directed the Prairie Winds Chorus this year at regional contest. Annette is a Certified Director who works as a Director of Psychiatric Nursing in Lubbock. Please welcome our newest directors. They are the heart of our choruses, and we appreciate all that they do for us! We look forward to many long years with our new friends.
Mary Rhea Directors' Coordinator

Education Coordinator News SUMMER MUSIC CAMP Hi everyone! I can't wait to see you all at SMC-this year, we are so privileged to have as our guest faculty, the phenomenal JEAN BARFORD and the terrific Vickie Dennis. You won't want to miss this outstanding event! In addition, we'll be hosting a DOUBLE QUARTET CONTEST at SMC this year! The event will be held on Saturday night, June 23, 2007 on the TWU campus during the Saturday evening show at SMC. Yes, we KNOW the time is short, BUT we want to honor the recent requests a few of you have made to have this event…..SO GET BUSY! : Please review the "rules" listed below. If you intend to register, you MUST include the following information with your registration fee:   1. Name of your double quartet 2. Names and voice parts of quartet members, (i.e. Sally Jones, baritone; Mary Smith, lead…) 3. Contact person's phone number and e-mail address 4. Chorus affiliation Here are the rules:   1. Only eight (8) double quartet competitors will be allowed to participate in this event. 2. A non-refundable $25.00 registration fee is due at the time the double quartet registration is sent in. Make checks payable to Region 25. Cash works, too! 3. The registration deadline is June 15, 2007. Entries received after that time will not be allowed to complete (unless of course, we don't have enough competitors before the deadline :). The contest will be held even if we get fewer than eight (8) registrants! If you receive this information in the Heartbeat AFTER the June 15 deadline and still want to compete, please call Annette Gary (806-790-4290), and I'll let you know if we still have "space" for your group to register! 4. The first eight (8) double quartets who register AND send their $25.00 fee AND registration information in to the following address will be officially "registered" and entered in the competition. Send fees and information to: Annette Gary, Education Coordinator, 5828 101st Street, Lubbock, TX 79424. 5. Double quartets do NOT have to be registered with Sweet Adelines International-any "put-together" double quartet will work! 6. Each double quartet will have eight (8) members (after all, it's a DOUBLE quartet contest, that's 2 quartets….no more, no less) 7. No more than 2 members of the double quartet can be members of currently competing quartets 8. Each quartet will sing only ONE (1) song of less than three (3) minutes in length. In the interest of time, choruses may elect to sing one of the songs from their chorus repertoire. 9. Props are allowed, and creativity is encouraged. The event will be judged by a panel of three (3) judges. Prizes will be awarded to each competitor. So, start recruiting your fellow quartet members now, and be among to first to register. We promise, it will be FUN!!!

AREA-WIDE RETREATS
This year, we're doing something creative, something we've done as a region in the past…..the area-wide coaching retreats! These retreats will bring together three choruses that are geographically situated in the same area. A member of our Region 25 faculty will be in attendance on Friday night and all-day Saturday to provide coaching for each chorus at the retreat. Each chorus will get three hours of coaching AND the opportunity to watch other choruses in attendance as they are coached. A "hostess chapter" has been selected to coordinator each event (thanks to the "hostess chapters" for doing this!!!) We hope these retreats will provide everyone with a lot of great education and FUN! Locations, times of coaching, and other details of the event will be coordinated and announced to participants by the "hostess chapter." So, go forth and sing your hearts out!

REGIONAL FACULTY
Do you know all the members of our Region 25 faculty? I've listed their names below-when you see them at regional events, please introduce yourself and thank them for the work they do! Our faculty fulfill their regional responsibilities (coaching, teaching at SMC, quartet retreat, doing musical visits, etc.) FREE of charge to the region. They are reimbursed only for their travel expenses, mileage, etc….that's it! So, they do what they do for you out of love for our hobby….and it can be a lot of work! Here they are: Judy Baxter, Peggy Blanton, Holly Beck, Kelly Causey, Val Clark, Marilyn Dickey, Patty Friedemann, Annette Gary, Peggy Gram, Pam Lauffer, Jim Massey, Marcia Massey, Emily McNeese, Mary Rhea, Linda Richards, Darlene Rogers, Gwen Smith, Dale Syverson.
I'd also like to introduce you to a "new" member of our Region 25 faculty, Ruth Ann Parker, Co-Director of the Rich-Tone Chorus. Ruth Ann is Certified Sound and Showmanship Judge and a member of the International Champion quartet, the Hurricane Honeys.

REGIONAL SONGS
You might want to refresh your memory on a few of the regional songs listed below before SMC. Each chorus received a learning tape and music of these songs a couple of years ago, so check with your music librarian to get your copy:
How We Sang Today
We Are Family
I'll Fly Away
Heart of America
Candle on the Water
Fun in Just One Lifetime
That's What Friends Are For
Love's Old Sweet Song-Level II

Annette Gary Region 25
Education Coordinator

Pre-REGIONAL QUARTET CONTEST CROSS YOUR FINGERS, CLOSE YOUR EYES, AND HOPE? NOT THIS TIME! ANNOUNCING A NEW, TERRIFIC CONTEST PREPARATION OPPORTUNITY

Make plans now to arrive at the February 2008 Quartet Retreat early enough to participate in our first ever PRACTICE CONTEST! You've heard of judge boot camps, where judges and judge candidates get together to practice judging? Now is your chance to experience a similar process. On Friday afternoon of next year's Quartet Retreat, you can sing your contest songs in a practice contest. Region 25 participants in the judging program will serve as the judging panel. You'll receive a level score and comments, which you can read and take with you to your retreat coaches the following day. Together you can focus your Retreat coaching sessions on those areas that will help you achieve your best contest performance. There will be NO placements and NO numerical scores given in the practice contest. It's just that - a practice for contest, under conditions similar to an actual contest. The only requirements to enter this contest are to have your two contest songs off paper and to be a registered quartet. The payoff is to receive input from judges prior to the actual contest, resulting in a more confident performance on the real contest stage. Fantastic combination! Be the first in line when registration forms are sent out. You'll be hearing more about this as plans are fully developed. AND HERE'S AN OHBOYOHBOYOHBOY!! EXTRA TIDBIT FOR YOU: Our guest faculty for 2008 Quartet Retreat will be MELANIE WROE, dynamic Showmanship judge and coach from Seattle, WA. You don't want to miss her! In the meantime, go forward singingly, Marcia Massey and Mary Rhea, Quartet Retreat Co-Chairs

Recipe for Success! Have you ever wondered what the ingredients for a successful and enjoyable chorus experience are? Is there a secret ingredient that the winning choruses aren't telling you about? The Region 25 Management Team wants YOU and YOUR CHORUS in on ALL the basic cooking techniques and the gourmet touches that will produce a scrumptious chorus! Hence this year's Incentive Program - SWEET HARMONY. Our ingredients have been "kitchen" tested and given the "Betty Crocker" seal of approval. Won't you give them a try? You can start with the basic recipe, or if you already have the "cake baked", just add the icing! We want to "peek in the oven" and see how your cake is baking, so at each Regional Event we will add a layer to your cake or frost it, depending on your progress. We will also have a special "SWEET" social event at each of these regional meetings to celebrate. At our RAMM in 2008 we will award appropriate "jewelry" to the chorus who has the most layers in their cake, because every chorus member is a cook, and contrary to tradition, you can never have too many cooks in the Sweet Adeline kitchen. As you look down this list of ingredients, notice that the amounts will vary from chorus to chorus, and as with any recipe, TOO much of any ONE thing doesn't make a very tasty dessert. Can you imagine a cake with 2 cups of salt and NO sugar? Well, think about a chorus in that same way.

Dry Ingredients Attendance at: Summer Music Camp IES Director's Retreat International Competition Quartet Retreat Regional Competition 1) % Attending 2) Competitor Baking Time/Temperature: Regional Assessments paid on time Regional Ballots Returned on time Int'l Ballots Returned on time Submit Officer Election Results 1 week before Competition Return Evaluation of Regional Mgt Team 1 week before Competition Butter, Sugar, Eggs, Vanilla: Membership/Marketing Visit Education Visit New Members Having a Coach in (3 hrs or more) Having an Organized Membership Drive Frosting: Whole Chorus Performances Registered Quartets Having a Self-produced Show Having a Chorus Retreat

JONI BESCOS RECEIVES ARK ANGEL AWARD

In what had to be the longest Ark Angel presentation ever, Joni Bescos was named recipient of the 2007 Ark Angel award. A "packed house" in the Eisemann Theater listened as Annette Gary read the list of Joni's present and past accomplishments: Master of Arts in Music Education, Master Arranger, Certified Judge and Judge Specialist in three categories (Sound, Music, and Expression), Certified International Faculty, Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, International Board of Directors, International Judging Chair, author of "How to Arrange Barbershop Harmony," Regent, Regional Treasurer, Director of Musical Activities, chorus director, International Queen of Harmony (4 For the Show, 1984), International championship

chorus member, voice teacher, International championship chorus and quartet coach, chair of just about every committee there ever was, and the list goes on and on. In other words, she "wrote the book" on barbershop. Literally! Although Joni is still a member of the Rich-Tone Chorus and Region 25, she has lived in California for the past seven years. At her home in Escondido, she heard the announcement by phone. Asked if she knew in advance that she was to receive the award, Joni answered, "It never crossed my mind that I would be a recipient. Even though I spent 15 years living in Region 25, I've been gone from there since 2000. So, no, I had no idea that I would receive the award before the phone call. As Annette started into the presentation, I did figure out that they must have chosen me this year. There didn't seem to be any logical reason to call me otherwise." And how does she feel about receiving the award? "Completely surprised and absolutely honored. I look forward to seeing everyone at SMC, and hope to be at the convention next year to present the award to the next deserving honoree." Marva Hughes, Communications Coordinator

What Is the Ark Angel Award, Anyway?
The History, According to Peggy Gram

The Ark Angels Quartet started in 1968 when Region #25 was a part of Region #10. They won their first competition, the novice quartet competition, and placed in the top 3 at Region #10 for many years. They represented both Region #10 and Region #25 at international competition numerous times, ranking as high as 7th internationally.

Region #25 Board of Directors created the Ark Angel Award in 1993, the year the Ark Angels disbanded as a quartet. In honor of the quartet and the contributions they had made to the region, the Board chose to recognize members who have made outstanding contributions to Region #25 and to Sweet Adelines International. Within the Ark Angels and their 25-year history, the quartet produced 3 regents, 1 Regional Treasurer, 2 Directors of Musical Activities, 2 International Extension Representatives, four Regional Faculty members, a Judge, an International Faculty member and a Queen of Harmony.

The Ark Angel members were each given the first Ark Angel Awards. Those members were Polly Sullivan, Peggy Gram, Janet Lammers Charles, Kelly Causey and Milana Dennis. The remaining quartet members choose the recipient each year, and the award is presented at regional competition by the prior year's winner. Subsequent Ark Angel Award recipients have been Dale Syverson, Marcia Massey, DJ Hensley, Marilyn Dickey, Darlene Rogers, Judy Winters, Jim Massey, Marva Hughes, Pam Lauffer, Ann Berg, Gwen Smith, Annette Gary and Joni Bescos.

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Editor : Jett Rogers
Rodgersjett@hotmail.com