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Barbershop on Broadway
Written by Pat
Members of the Racing City Chorus, Saratoga's Ambassadors of Harmony, will be presenting a cappella vocal music evenings during the racing season outside participating downtown restaurants.
The “Barbershop on Broadway” performances are free to the public, and will feature popular music, show tunes, and barbershop standards in four-part harmony on five weeknight evenings – July 29th, August 5th, August 11th , August 19th and August 26th, between the hours of 7:00 and 10:00 p.m.
Performance venues each evening will include Scallions on Lake
Avenue, Hatties on Phila Street, Brindisi's and The Inn at Saratoga on
Broadway, The Endzone on Ballston Avenue, and The Olde Bryan Inn
on Maple Avenue.
“ We are thrilled to bring this unique form of entertainment to
many downtown visitors who will be enjoying the sumer evenings in
Saratoga,” said George “Guv” Wallace, the marketing and public
relations contact for the chorus. “We are also greatful to the six
downtown restaurants for supporting this program, and in helping to
make the Saratoga summer experience memorable for downtown patrons,” he
said.
The Racing City Chorus was founded in 1956, and is the reigning
Barbershop Harmony Society Mountain Division Champions in the
Northeastern District. They present more than 35 public appearances
annually, which in the past have included Saratoga Arts Fest, Saratoga
First Night, the Downtown Business Association's “Hats Off to Saratoga”
street fest for the opening of the race track season, and the Elk's
Flag Day Parade.
The tentative schedule for Barbershop on Broadway is this:
Performance dates: Thursday, July 29th
Thursday, August 5th
Wednesday, August 11th
Thursday, August 19th
Thursday, August 26th
Performance locations and times:
Scallions on Lake Avenue – 7:00 p.m.
Hatties on Phila Street – 7:25 p.m.
Brindisi's on Broadway – 7:50 p.m.
The Inn at Saratoga on Broadway – 8:20 p.m.
The Endzone on Ballston Avenue – 8:45 p.m.
Scallions on Phila Street – 9:15 p.m.
Olde Bryan Inn on Maple Avenue – 9:45 p.m.
Last Tuesday, July 13th was the last night for RCC's “Pitch-man” - Bob Huff in that
official capacity.
Bob has been a member of the RCC for more than 19 years, is a past president of the group, as well as a quartet man and Singing valentine captain. In his life prior to the RCC, Bob retired from the U.S. Air Force, and was a successful business man, owning his own
company ( Capital Construction Products) which specialized in materials for construction
supplies and building products for use in schools, and industry.
Bob was an “always- there” kind of member who rarely missed a show or performance and was always being asked about what the pitch of this or that song was, and what were the first words, and if you know anything about barbershop – those are the two most
important things one needs to know .
Bob has closed his business and is moving to Charlottesville, North Carolina where his wife has been setting up their new home, waiting for Bob to get there.
Bob's buddy, Bob Whitney arranged for the cake and send off party, and will now have to find his own way to rehearsal – after riding with Huff for so many years.
Our Best Wishes to Bob Huff and his family for a job well done – always!
The Racing City Chorus has been dragging it's parade float all over the area for the past couple of weeks this summer, showing off our patriotic zeal . We started off in Troy at their annual Flag Day Parade on Sunday, June 13th, for one of the biggest Flag Day Parades in the country. The following Saturday, June 19th we were home in Saratoga Springs, helping out the local Saratoga Elks celebrate in their Flag Day Parade.
On Saturday, July 3rd,the little town of Argyle, NY asked if we could be one of the musical groups in their parade celebration of the Fourth of July. Although there were a number of RCC members at the Barbershop Harmony Society International Contest in Philadelphia, we were still able to man the float and help them with their small town celebration. With a little help from the Uncle Sam Barbershop Chorus who rented us their parade float for the day, we were able to deliver some old favorite marching tunes for them.
Pittsfield, MA called on us for the second year in a row, to help them in one of the country's largest Fourth of July Parades. On Monday, July 5th this year. Twenty-five
RCC members hiked over to Pittsfield in the early morning hours to be a part of their 2-
hour long march.
Our next parade adventure will be in Schuylerville, NY on Sunday, August 1st to help them celebrate their historic “Turning Point” (of the Revolutionary War) parade that steps off at 1:00 p.m.
So-o-o-o - if you happen to see a flag-bedecked float coming through your neighborhood – hurry out and wave to us – and we will make you feel a bit more patriotic than you did just seconds before.
An RCC Original has passed ...
Written by Pat
I think we all knew this day was coming, but we didn't to admit it.
Ron Platt
Ron Platt – an ORIGINAL, Life-long CHARTER MEMBER of the Racing City Chorus, quietly passed away this morning, Monday, June 14th, 2010 at about 9: 00 a.m.
Ron was there from Day 1 right up until the last, always thinking of what he could do for the chorus.
54 years as an active member of 1 BHS Chapter. What an outstanding accomplishment. And I can't begin to list the things he did. You don't have time to read them all.
I have only known Ron for 40 years, and I probably should have been one of his Men of Note – but when I walked into my first rehearsal, another person happened to grab hold of me as “his” guest – but Ron set the sequence in motion during a show the RCC did just after winning the NED Championship for the first time.
Ron's wake will be at the Wm. Burke and Sons Funeral Home on North Broadway, Saratoga on Wednesday, June 16th from 4-7 p.m. The funeral service will be on Thursday, June 17th from the Bethesda Episcopal Church on Washington Street , Saratoga at 10:30 a.m. Burial will follow at the Gerald Solomon National Cemetery in Stillwater.
More detail will be in the Saratogian in Tuesday's edition.
Racing City Chorus Launches "Youth in Harmony" Program
Written by Pat
UncleSam Answers the Call!!
With the increasing number of youth joining the ranks of the Racing City Chorus, it became evident that our chapter needed to do whatever we could to support their involvement as much as possible. Thus the birth of the "Youth in Harmony" program.
With $500.00 YIH donation from Troy NY Uncle Sam Chorus, plus donations from several members of the RCC, the program got off to a great start.
Membership VP Andy Palmieri followed member Neil Kennedy's (dual member of Uncle Sam and Racing City) advice to approach Uncle Sam for help in starting the program. Uncle Sam responded to the call.
The youth program is being headed by long-time chorus member Bob Peister. Other committee members are VP of membership Andy Palmieri, Bob Whitney, Neil Kennedy and Pat Baker.
There will be more details on this program as details are released.
The Racing City Chorus is extremely proud of our three young members. From left to right they are: Cody Alvord, Mike Torres and John Turner. The three of them attend the Galway High School in Galway, NY. Cody and John are both 15 and Mike is 14 and are enthusiastic Barbershoppers already. All three have been in the front row off and on since they joined and Cody is now singing tenor in a new quartet which hasn’t even got a name yet.
These young men are not only enthusiastic in their barbershop participation but have also had singing roles in musicals in school. They just recently all appeared in a school production of “Guys and Dolls” and previously in two other productions as well including “Wizard of Oz” and “Seussical” both high school productions. In addition, John has just recently appeared in an adult community production of M*A*S*H. He has aspirations of making acting and performing as a career after school. All this in addition to their regular school studies where they all excel as well and private musical instrumental instructions and sports like soccer among others.
We older guys wonder how they cram all this together at their age. But they seem to do it with ease and professionalism. We’re just glad they chose our chapter to join and we are hoping that they will bring some of their friends along with them in future years. After all, they are the future of Barbershopping and frankly, we feel our future couldn’t be in better hands!!
Whipple City Parade
Written by Pat
The Whipple City Parde was a great success for the Racing City Chorus. They sang patriotic tunes to the crowd and a great time was had by all.
One of our newest members, Joel Barnett was joined by two of his students from the young mens chorus at the Maple Ave Middle school, in Saratoga springs New York. The Racing City Chorus welcomes ALL young singers and strongly encourages them to become involved in the most harmonious hobby in the world; Barbershop Harmony singing!!
The Whipple City Parde was a great success for the Racing City Chorus. They sang patriotic tunes to the crowd and a great time was had by all.