[From the Ontario District's newsletter, The Trillium, issue 60-01, January - March, 2006 , Waldo Redekop, editor.]
News Release

Vancouver quartet
wins seniors singing contest

Antique Gold of Greater Vancouver, B.C., took the gold January 21, 2006, in the hotly contested Barbershop Harmony Society’s international seniors quartet competition.

Only two points separated Antique Gold, with a score of 856 points, from the second place Vintage Gold. Only four points made the difference between first and the third-place Chicago Times. A total of 26 quartets from the U.S., Canada, Sweden and England competed in the annual contest.

This may be the first time a father and sons won their respective competitions within months of each other.

FIRST PLACE with a score of 856, Antique Gold — tenor Tom Bates, lead George Wakeham, baritone Charlie Metzger and his brother bass George Metzger. Charlie and George are father and uncle, respectively, of Tom and Mark Metzger, two members of Realtime, the quartet that swept the regular quartet internationals last July.

SECOND PLACE with a score of 854, Vintage Gold of California’s Bay Area.

THIRD PLACE with a score of 852, Chicago Times of Greater Chicago Area.

FOURTH PLACE with a score of 840, Play It Again! from Ottawa, Ontario — tenor Rod McGillivray, lead Jim Whitehead, baritone Andre Carriere and bass Bill Vermue.

FIFTH PLACE with a score of 832, Silver Chords of Bellevue, Washington.

NINTH PLACE with a score of 804, Sound Association from Ontario — tenor Morgan Lewis, lead Gerry Gilders, baritone Barry Towner and bass Ken Fisher.

TWENTY-FIRST PLACE with a score of 716, Silver Threads from Ontario — tenor Bill Robertson, lead Bruce Marchant, baritone Bruce Bonneyman and bass Peter Dennett.

Quartets that place in the top five receive a medal and bragging rights. Like all members of the Barbershop Harmony Society, competing quartets sing as a hobby. No member of any competing seniors quartet may be younger that 55, and the cumulative age of the quartet must be 240 years or more. They are judged on presentation, singing and music.     k