The Old Songs

Do you have dropped members? Are there inactive barbershoppers in your area no longer affiliated with any chapter? Wouldn’t you love to help rekindle their love of barbershop, and at the same time enjoy the thrill of singing with them again? The chapter with which I am affiliated, the Denver MountainAires, recently devised a non-recruitment event for the holidays that, hopefully, will pay great dividends. Yes, I said a “non” recruitment event. You can try this in your chapter. Here is how it is scheduled to work.

We compiled a preliminary list of all recently dropped members, some members whom we haven’t seen in many years, and other inactive (important because we’re not looking to raid other chapters) barbershoppers in our area, and invited them to sing with us on our Holiday shows. We even included recent guests in this list. We made it clear to them that there will be no money changing hands, no fees to pay, no commitments to make, and no costumes to purchase. In fact, there even is no pressure to join the chapter. All we want to do is sing with them. Period. We are only asking for their smiling face, their voice, and willingness to have some fun. That’s it.

The letter

For our first attempt at this annual “Holiday of Harmony” idea, we initially mailed thirty-two letters. Some responded, as expected, by politely declining our invitation due to failing health, no voice, or other physical ailments. But some are excited to be able to sing barbershop harmony once again, and with no pressure.

We tried to make it as easy as possible for them to respond. The letter included a simple “yes” or “no” box to check and return, a separate calendar of November rehearsal dates and December show dates for them to keep, and a self-addressed stamped envelope enclosed. No e-mail here. There’s something special about getting a letter in the mail. In addition, we choose the holidays to do this because the standard carols are probably known by most of these barbershoppers anyway.

For those who respond but decline, perhaps you can offer them a few free tickets to your performance as a goodwill gesture. Once the shows are over (we’re doing two), we will mail another letter to the participants thanking them for joining us in song. It is here where the follow-up recruitment begins. “I hope you had fun singing with us because we sure had fun singing with you. Wouldn’t you like to have more fun like this in your life? You can, you know. We meet on . . .” Something like that.

Try this idea in your chapter, and report back on its success. It doesn’t have to be at the holidays. Regardless of when you do it, you are certainly making a goodwill effort to those who once embraced barbershop as an important part of their lives.

Let me know how it goes for you. And if you want to read the non-recruitment letter that we sent out (you can use similar text by changing the particulars), write to me at editor, and I will send you a PDF copy of the letter.

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