InCider Press, August 2003, page 1

We have men that join with us while in Manhattan or this area for only a season. Some of those come around only a number of months out of the year. We also have members that I honestly cannot remember the last time they missed a meeting. We also have members so dedicated to this hobby; they will drive over an hour one way every week just to join in fellowship with other barber shoppers to make our kind of music.

So, why do you do barbershop music?

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InCider Press
Newsletter of the Manhattan, Kansas Chapter of SPEBSQSA
Home of the Little Apple Barbershop Chorus

Chapter meetings are every Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m.. at the First Methodist Church Activity Center on the corner of Poyntz Ave. and 6th St., Manhattan, KS

What makes you choose this craft…this hobby? Last month I discussed how hobbies and work do not mix. I am pretty sure, for every man in our chapter there are as many differences in reasons for participating in our kind of music. I have been asking myself this very question. Why do I participate in this hobby? For me, it is a hobby. Every time I fill out one of those personal information sheets, I list Barbershop among my hobbies.

I like what we do first and foremost because of the music. That harmony - those overtones we get when we put it all together right. I love the songs. The new arrangements we get from Don are a treat that I look forward to every year. I am most pleased when we do the songs for people. The looks on their faces tell me every meeting was worth the effort.

The men in our chapter have chosen this hobby for various reasons. The beauty of what we do resounds in the unity found at our meetings. Regardless of the personal reasons for coming, each man takes his position, sings his part and the result is a combination of chords that can bring smiles to even the lowest soul. Even if that soul belongs to the singer himself. This has happened to me at many meetings.