Wayne Chapter

Renaissance Chorus

BARBERSHOPPER OF THE YEAR

 

The Wayne Chapter is a great organization for allowing guys to enter in the fun and join in our many activities at their own pace.  In fact, many new members content themselves with singing in their first few years as a member, and that’s fine; the music is, after all, why we join, and why we remain.  But now and then a guy will join, who jumps into the fray with both feet, and immerses himself in the Barbershop experience, who sees immediately the possibilities in our society:  the camaraderie, the pleasure of singing well, the joy of singing in public, the satisfaction of spreading our music to the world in many types of venues, and to share our music with the young and the old, the afflicted, and the lonely and even the abandoned.  He sees the good we can do for ourselves, and for others, and he makes time to assist anyone who is trying to get our message of 4-part Harmony out to the world.   A man like this will do the unlikely sometimes, such as inventing for himself a board position that never existed before, or taking on the challenge to become the first ever bass in the chapter to sing with the esteemed quartet Frankjeffology.  An anchor in the Bass section, a monitor of myriad information that keeps our Chapter tuned in and turned on, this year’s recipient of the 13^th annual “Albert J Fricker” Memorial Award for Barbershopper of the year in 2008 is our very own Webspinner extraordinaire—

Frank Adams

Frank has been a busy guy since joining, and as a result, it feels like he’s been a member for some time, so when we checked the records to see how long Frank had been a member it seemed to be impossible that he could have only joined the Society as recently as March 2007.   Frank was a big contributor right away, sharing his skills from another of his lifelong hobbies, photography, helping us with group shots, photo editing and setting a standard for recording of events that is now part of our chapter’s culture.   He also immediately saw a need to help us put our best foot forward when out in public, and designed signboards and portable display stands to get the information about our chapter and hobby out to the public at our performances, helping us to maximize the recruiting possibilities inherent in our engagements, and giving us optimism that we could attract singers with our singing.   In concert with our director and our board, Frank helped us get up to speed on our flyers and business cards, and persevered whenever things got hung up, or delayed.

When Frank learned that our website was not “quite up to date” he inquired about the possibility of taking on the project of learning to produce and maintain it.   Not all of us were very optimistic that this could be easily done; we had struggled to find time and personnel in past years to make it a viable tool, and while at times it was up-to-date, there had not been a person who devoted himself to it with the regularity necessary to make it what it could be.  Frank tackled the task of learning how to assemble and update the information, and how to present it for member and public use in an accessible format.     In the process he helped the board recognize the value of this bridge to the 21^st century—barbershoppers sometimes have trouble making it out of the 19^th century—and the need to make the position of handling our  website a regular board position.   Thus it was, that we were able to trick Frank onto the Board before he hardly was aware of it.

That has only worked out well, as Frank has contributed in almost every way that a member can during his 2 years + with his fellow “Men of Kirk”.    He has contributed mightily to our annual shows, with multimedia efforts and singing in our ensembles.  He has contributed ideas for props and costumes, and spearheaded the effort to give us a whole new summer look  in 2008.   He has been an advocate of singing in all manner of public performances, including many gigs that allow us to contribute positively to our community.  Whether as a student at COTS, or

sorting, scheduling and delivering Singing Valentines, Frank has been a Barbershopper that loves the music, first and foremost.  His enthusiasm for new songs has been infectious, and the bass section has benefitted greatly from his stable presence.   Always one who believes that Tuesday night has “at least one more song” left in it, he has been what is always the life of any chapter, one of those who sing a little extra, because who wants the fun to end?

 It is great to see a man who enjoys adding our hobby to his life, and he is a reminder to those of us who have been around a little longer, or who are just starting out, what the value of enthusiasm and commitment can be.   For all of the above reasons and with the unanimous support of our 3 previous BOTY’s, Frank Adams is the ideal selection for Wayne Chapter 2008 Barbershopper of the Year   and of course the ever-popular sidekick GGG “Good Going Guy” award.    Live Long and Prosper (Man of Kirk!) Frank Adams!