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B4 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday, January 12, 2000 Arts & Entertainment OFFICIAL MEDIA SPON SOR O F TH E OAKVIL1E CENTRE FO R T H E PERFORMING A RTS Oakville Beaver Entertainment Editor. Carol Baldwin 845-3824 (Extension 254) Fax: 337-5567 Barbershobper of the Year By Carol Baldwin ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR o paraphrase an old saying, you can take the man out of the bar bershop, but you can't take the barbershop out o f the man. A few years ago, Joe Ingham left Oakville's renowned barbershop cho rus , the Oakville Entertainers, to con centrate on business. He returned two years ago with a renewed understanding of what the group meant to his life. "I came back because I couldn't live without it. Singing is magical," he explains. "For me a life without it is just empty, something is missing." But not only did Ingham had his voice to the men's chorus, he threw him self onto numerous behind the scenes activities that contributed to the success of the Oakville Entertainers. In return, his hard work and dedica tion earned him the honor of 'Barbershopper o f the Year' for T P h o to by B arrie E rskine Jo e Ingham -- 1999 Barbershopper of the Year MajorAppliances It's like there's f m m S e a r s NO featuringKenmorf, Canada's #1 sellingbrand. Based on independent national surveys current at time ot advertising preparation TAY ADDED ONALL REG.-PRICED KENMORE MAJORAPPLIANCES, VACUUMS** AND SEWING MACHINES *Sears w ill deduct from the item price the same dollar amount as the GST and PST you w ill pay, so your total purchase, including the tax dollars, w ill be no more than the item price. Tax equivalent reduction does not apply to purchases made under tax-exempt status. Offer applies to merchandise in Sears Retail stores. Excludes deferral fees, delivery, maintenance agreement and installation charges. Excludes Catalogue purchases. Offer ends Sunday, January 16,2000. "0 /6 2 0 Sewing and Floor Care Shop, excludes wet/dry vacuums Plus... Use youn Sears Card and Don't pay for one full year on all major appliances Don't pay until January 2001, on approved credit, with your Sears Card. Minimum $200 purchase. $35 deferral fee and all applicable taxes and charges are payable at time of purchase. Excludes items in our Liquidation/Outlet stores and Catalogue purchases. Offer ends Sunday, January 30,2000. Ask for details. NPO120400 Copyright 2000. Sears Canada Inc. Come see the many sides o f Sears ® Visit Sears O akville Place Mon.-Fri. 9:30 am-9:00 pm. Sat. 8:00 am-6:00 pm. Sun.11 am-6 pm. 1999The decision, says Norm Riddle, president of The Oakville Entertainers, was "based on what Joe has done throughout the year and before. He has been quite a creative contributor to the chapter. He wrote the scripts for the 1999 shows." The scripts, explains Ingham, pro vide a story on which The Entertainers'musical presentations are based. "The script is three or four dif ferent plots that all fit together and make up a musical of sorts, with the songs being sprinkled throughout the whole thing," says Ingham. For example, two people looking through a scrap book in preparation for the m illennium provided the story around which 'A Century in Song' was fashioned. 'A Century in Song' was a concert presented in 1999 by The Oakville Entertainers' (male barber shop chorus) and the Circle of Harmony (female barbershop chorus) highlighting a collection of songs from each decade. The choruses' next concert 'A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening' will be presented at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts on March 10th and 11th. But before that concert, the barbershoppers are selling 'A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening' raffle tickets in aid o f their favourite charity 'Harmonize for Speech', which Ingham describes as the umbrella name for the various speech and voice related pro grams that The Entertainers support. "The primary work that we do is with autistic children...that allows them to open up and become commu nicative and in contact with the world," Ingham explains. "A lot of that has to do with musical instruments and the voice." Along with the raffle tickets, The Entertainers are encouraging people to stay home the evening of Feb. 24th and listen to CHWO. The grand prize of an all-expense paid trip to the Dominican Republic will be drawn and announced on the Oakville radio station that night. But there will be more than a draw to keep listeners tuned in. "The evening will consist of roman tic music, some of it barbershop, with m icro-interview s with barbershop entertainers. And there will be draws for prizes throughout the evening," says Ingham. "We're also going to have three half-hour old-fashioned radio shows. The first will be a comedy, then a drama, and finally a suspense show 'Inner Sanctum' or something. And that night is also called 'A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening'." Both the raffle and the radio show are leading up to the actual live show, 'A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening', at the Oakville Centre. The live presentati'on will be accompanied by a script in which the actors and members of the audience will be supposedly auditioning for a new all-Canadian tal ent show. "Then the last half of the show will be our version of the actual TV show going on air," says Ingham. "So there will be cameras in the audi ence, and we're going to be actually shooting the audience." All these ideas, from the raffle to the radio show to the scripted musical presentation, were Ingham's, says Riddle. "All that and other things are why we picked him as Barbershopper of the Year. He was picked by his peers for ab o v e-an d -b ey o n d -th e-call-o f-d u ty activities." The 'A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening' raffle tickets are $5 each and are available at CHWO or from any member of The Entertainers, as well as at several local malls or by calling Brian at 279-1503 or Larry at 8200646. An early bird draw on Jan. 31st will award two prizes - one for an afghan and the other for a dinner for four catered in the winner's home. "People in tuxedos serving you a formal dinner, with wine, at your house, and they clean up everything," says Ingham, adding that he would like to see the winners host their prize dinner on Feb. 24th and listen to the special radio while they eat. "So, it will all come sublimely together. But they can have it anytime they want it." Tickets to any of the three live per formances of 'A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening' in March are $13 for the 2 o'clock matinee and $17 for each of the 8 p.m. performances. Those are avail able through the Oakville Centre box office at 130 Navy St., 815-2021. Those interested in joining the Oakville barbershopper chorus, can drop by one of the rehearsals at St. Volodymyr's Cultural Centre on Hwy. 5 at Fourth Line any Monday at 7:30 p.m.