[From the Ontario District's newsletter, The Trillium, issue 60-04, October - December, 2006 , Waldo Redekop, editor.]

The cost of my favourite
Ontario hobby

By Wylie Forster, Immediate Past President

At the request of my Lady in the upstairs office, (LITUO) I was reviewing my upcoming costs for the year 2007. My LITUO seems to think I spend a lot of my small pension on my barbershop hobby. So I began to review my expenses.

My chorus gets along with $50. chapter dues from me annually, let’s call that $1 a week to meet with my buddies in a hall where there is heat and light, where I can laugh and sing and gossip and listen to bad jokes. Occasionally I have to fork out a portion of the cost of a shirt or jacket. Perhaps that doubles my expense to $2 a week.

My chapter is pretty smart though, we sell lots of tickets for our annual show and plenty of program ads which keeps my cost down. We also worked hard on a Trillium grant which bought a lot of stuff for the chorus which has also kept my weekly expense down. I’ve even heard there are members that have no chapter dues.

Almost forgot, I buy a Harmonize For Speech draw ticket every week, another $2 a week, but wow, what a good cause. So, my dear LITUO we’re still able to do the things we like to do and I’m still going to the afterglow every week.

So then she asked about the fuss I had mentioned about district dues. I had to prepare a list to explain my $65 a year contribution to my Association of Chapters, she was quick to understand that this was another $1.25 a week:

• $10 a year gets me four issues of our magazine (I’ve caught her sneaking a peak) she thought about her Chatelaine and was quite impressed at the low cost.
• $9.75 goes to help send competitors to America every January or July. She got that distant look when doing math and quickly understood the minimal impact of my $9.75 to send Ontario’s best to compete.
• $20 goes to cover a portion of the expenses of hard working district officers to travel here and there in line with their volunteer efforts . About half of that sends our senior executive to two annual Society meetings.
• Then there’s about $11 that goes toward the general operations of the district, the rentals, the paper, the directory.
• Just before that glazed look, I tried to outline my contribution to make 1,400 of us better singers. $3 to train and assist chorus directors, $3 to train and certify our judges, $2 for our youth programs, $2 to subsidize the administrative training of our officers, a dollar here and a dollar there—and she begged me to stop.

Then my wise LITUO said “All your guys get all that for $65 a year? WOW!”

Then she mentioned that annual bill I received from the Society. I mentioned that I’m a member of the largest all-male singing Society in the world that has a VERY large library of approved music. They arrange for major conventions, had a staff to cater to 800 chapters in 16 districts, policed the inclusion of barbershop arrangements for music in our era and preserved an art form that is unique and special. I didn’t feel it was the time to explain chords that ring in the rafters or the fellowship and camaraderie that I have experienced.

Of course she turned to the subject of these Ontario conventions I attend. My only explanation was that I paid for three of my favourite shows on a Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening. The price was $15, $15, and $20. This seemed to explain the $44 or $50 registration fee I pay twice a year to see some of my best friends performing to the best of their ability.

She knew that I stayed over and had meals and various refreshments. That glazed look again. I think she was comparing the cost of our overnighters to Montreal or Bayfield or the cottage. I believe she found my expense a bargain, to be rid of me and allowing me to pursue the best hobby in Ontario, O.K. the world! I didn’t tell her that over half of my fellow members miss out on these events and this fun.

I gave her the total, $220 in dues ($4.23 a week), she thought of a movie a week or bowling per week then she thought of my BAD habits per week. Case closed. My LITUO is very understanding and quick with figures.

As long as I schedule properly, I think I’ll continue to stay at headquarters hotels for conventions. To me, a lot cheaper than vacations or trips to Bayfield or Montreal. I regret many of my friends don’t see my hobby this way. A bargain unparalleled in the entertainment world. Sorry, my entertainment world.

My wife is special. So is my hobby.     k