Harmonious barbershoppers coming to Meredith

MEREDITH — A special kind of music came to Alton Bay in the 1950s, blending harmonious voices in song and capturing the attention of those enjoying summer in Alton Bay.

From the early days when a few people who liked to sing gathered to share old-time tunes, to today’s yearly Meredith Bay Barbershop Jamboree, the special type of music has thrived.

Art Lively, a member of the Jamboree team that plans the event (Aug. 16-18), said, “It started as an informal gathering during family vacations. Guests staying at the Alton Bay Christian Conference Center and other cottages got together to sing. These were casual gatherings in such places as Downing’s Landing or the former Oak Birch Inn in Alton Bay.”

Eventually the barbershop singers decided to make things formal and they booked a summertime show at the Alton Central School in Alton. What began as groups of about four men or women walking through Alton Bay and stopping to share a song with the public, morphed into barbershop singers presenting their music to an audience that grew over the years.

Barbershop music was founded in 1938 by the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA). The Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS) preserves and extends the reach of a uniquely American close-harmony musical art form whose roots lie in African American improvisation and European harmony traditions. The local chapter was the Lakes Region Chordsmen who came together for weekly sing-alongs. The Chordsmen group is no longer active, but the annual Jamboree lives on.

For the last few years the annual concert has been held in Meredith, relocating from Alton to the Meredith Community Center.

“Barbershop singers arrive on Friday, Aug. 16,” said Lively, “and they are booked into local hotels and cottages for the weekend.”

Between 3 and 5 p.m., barbershoppers check in and register at Prescott Park in Meredith, with registration continuing from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Community Center. Also on Friday, Barbershop Harmony on the Bay is scheduled at Hesky Park, and under a tent at Prescott Park, with quartet singing. The public is invited to attend, sing and have a good time.

“It’s informal, and everyone gets together to sing. Some of the groups are not organized quartets, but they sing well enough to perform in public,” Lively said.

And perform they do, walking around downtown Meredith over the weekend and stopping to sing a song here and there. After delighting those who happen to be in the downtown area and hear them sing in the barbershop style on Friday, participants meet at the Meredith Community Center for dinner, hosted by a local organization.

“We have the use of the Community Center for the entire weekend,” said Lively.

On Saturday morning, Aug. 17, the 6th Annual Joe Kopka Memorial Golf Tournament will take place at Pirate’s Cove Miniature Golf in Meredith. The tournament is open to anyone to join in.

After lunch, there will be more informal gatherings of barbershop singers roaming the downtown Meredith area, sharing songs and taking requests from the public. They also will gather in Hesky Park on Rt. 3 in Meredith for singing. The music is contagious and most people who hear the barbershoppers can’t help but join in; Lively said anyone is welcome to sing with the barbershopppers should they wish.

Those who want to learn how to sing in the barbershop style can gather at Cerutti Park in Meredith on Saturday, Aug. 17 at 1 p.m. for a Tag Sing. You can learn from tag-meister extraordinaire, Manoj Padki.

“The Saturday night concert is composed of organized quartets and choruses performing at a level we feel is above amateur,” Lively said. The show starts at 7 p.m. and is titled The Great Gathering Show. It is expected to be well-attended, and seats will be set up for 200 people. This number is a bit above what the audience numbers were last year, but no matter what the final total of attendees may be, everyone has a great time.

Following the Saturday evening concert, an After Glow gathering will be held with more singing.

Lively joins in as a barbershop singer during the weekend.

“I have been singing for about 50 years,” he said. “I started when I was in my 40s and I consider myself one of the old-time barbershop singers. I like the harmony; when you sing barbershop music, the four-part harmony just grabs you. It is a type of high.”

He said he doesn’t have any formal training as a musician, but none is required. He simply likes the music and the barbershop sound when quartets sing together.

It takes around eight to nine volunteers to plan the yearly event, and Lively said it is a work-intensive effort.

Singers come from all over New England to renew friendships as they join together in song, harkening back to the days when barbershop groups came into being and the music was wildly popular.

Volunteers are always needed for the Jamboree weekend, serving as door monitors, check-in helpers, weekend photographers, video recorders and more.

Those who love the old-time barbershop songs and want a chance to join in or simply sit back and listen to some great music should plan to attend the Meredith Bay Barbershop Jamboree the weekend of Aug. 16-18. For information, visit nedistric.org./jamboree.