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Page 6 InCider Press January 2006 |
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Several people have asked about the Quartet shown in the banner of the December issue of the InCider Press. As a result our Editor/Publisher asked me to write a short article about the Quartet and its members. From left to right as you look at the picture the members are Harold Oakleaf, bass, former member of the Tuttleaires and Math Teacher at Westmoreland High School, Tom Hart, baritone, current chapter member and former Pottawatomie County Abstracter, Bill Hanson, lead, at that time Principal of Westmoreland High School and Bob Swenson, tenor, at that time Assistant VP of Data Processing at First National Bank (First Bank, now Landmark National Bank) in Manhattan. The quartet grew out of participation in the Tuttleaires, predecessor to our current chapter. The quartet formed in 1972, and in order to compete in the Kansas Division and Central States District competitions, the quartet had to be registered with SPEBSQSA. Because the Tuttleaires were not an official chapter of the Society, the quartet members became members of the Topeka Kansas Chapter. That membership continued until the current Manhattan Chapter was officially chartered. Tom was a member of the Frank Thorne Chapter (a society sponsored chapter for members who do not have a local chapter) as a result of the discontinuation of the Wamego Kansas Chapter, but joined the Topeka Chapter along with the other members of the Quartet. Bob maintained dual membership with the Topeka Chapter for a number of years after the Manhattan Chapter was chartered. An interesting aside to the competition experience for the quartet was outscoring the eventual International Quartet Champion Rural Route Four during one of that quartet’s early forays onto the competition stage. When Harold moved to a position as Math Teacher and Coach at Chapman Kansas, Dr. Bill Ruliffson became the bass of the quartet. That quartet membership has been called the “Fathers” of the current Manhattan Chapter, with the bulk of the chapter organizational and recruiting work for the new chapter being done by Bob and Bill R. Tom was the first Musical Director of the Manhattan Chapter and served in that capacity until Ken Lang became a member and took over the directing duties. When Bill R. retired from his position as a Professor in the Bio-Chemistry Department at KSU, Dr. Pete Cooper joined the quartet as its third bass and remains so today. In 1982 the Silver Lining won the quartet competition during the Kansas Division Contest with Jim Lindquist substituting for Tom as baritone due to some health problems which Tom was experiencing at the time. Charles Martin had substituted for Tom during an earlier district competition in Denver, Colorado. Though the quartet was never of “competition” quartet caliber, it was very active locally and in several other Kansas Communities. In addition, all of the members of the quartet who joined the Manhattan Chapter have served at least once in an officer position for the chapter. Though inactive today, The Silver Lining maintains its registered status with the Society and is one of the longest standing registered quartets in the Society. Many fond social/performance memories and a few not so fond performance memories, remain with each of us. Bill Hanson ♪ |
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Member of the Silver Lining pictured here are: Harold Oakleaf, Tom Hart, Bill Hanson and Bob Swenson |
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Echoes from the Past—Information on the Mystery Quartet Silver Lining |