Our chapter was chartered in River Falls, WI, in 1951, sponsored by the Menomonie, WI, chapter.
Our current membership is 52 and represents the St. Croix Valley area including:
River Falls, Stillwater, Somerset, Spring Valley, Maplewood, Woodbury, Oakdale, White bear lake, Eau Claire, Afton, New Richmond, West Lakeland Township, St. Paul, Hudson, Cottage Grove, Lake Elmo, St. Croix Falls, Forest Lake, Golden Valley, Hammond and Prescott.
NOTE: Some of our members are inactive and have been for some time.
We meet every Tuesday night @ 7PM at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Stillwater, MN.
Our Music Team members are:
VP Music & Performance – Warren Wilson
Director - Matthew Hall
Assistant Directors – Judd Orff & Duane Hall
Section Leaders – Roger Bosmoe (Tenors), Cliff Turnbull (Leads) Warren Wilson (Baritones) and Duane Hall (Basses)
Librarian – Norm Becker.
Our chapter Board members are:
Ron House – President
Tyler Smith – Immediate Past President
Executive VP – Roger Bosmoe
Secretary – Paul Boettcher
Treasurer – Don Paulson
VP Chapter Development – Ray Petry
VP Music and Performance – Warren Wilson VP Marketing & Public Relations – Mac Barlass
VP Youth In Harmony – Warren Wilson
Board Members-At-Large – Michael Townsend
Major Activities each year:
January – Chapter Officer Installation Party (Changing to December in 2008)
February – Quartets Singing Valentines
March – 10,000 Lakes Division Contest (sometimes held in May)
April – Annual Spring Show
May – Memorial Day Sing Out
June – Church Singing on one Sunday during the month
July – Society’s International Contest, Church Singing on one Sunday during the month
August - Church Singing on one Sunday during the month
September – One day retreat with outside coaching
October – Officer election, District Convention/Contest weekend
November – Veterans Day Service Performance
December – Annual Christmas Show, Christmas party
NOTEABLE ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE PAST THIRTY YEARS:
District Small Chorus Champion in 1976 & 1977
10,000 Lakes Division Chorus Champions in 1978, 1990 & 1999, 2007 26
District Quartet Champions TALK OF THE TOWN (1976)
Keith Fransen, Judd Orff, Bob Brutsman, Jim Hall
Chapter Bulletin Winner 1963 (“Swede” Olson) & 1976 (Judd Orff)
District Barbershopper Of The Year JUDD ORFF (1987)
District President JUDD ORFF (1990)
International Board Member JUDD ORFF (1991 - 1993)
District Senior Quartet Chanpions SEASONED SOUND (1996 & 1997)
Bud Urtel, Judd Orff, Tyler Smith, Emery Nelson
District Secretary TYLER SMITH (2003 - 2005)
District Barbershopper Of The Year TYLER SMITH (2004)
10,000 Lakes Division Plateau AA Champions & Most Improved Chorus 2006
CONTESTS:
We have two contests that we normally compete in as a chorus during the year – 10,000 Lakes Division & LOL District.
The Division contest is usually held in March, around the time of St. Patrick’s Day. The exception to that is when our Division hosts the spring International Preliminary Convention the first full weekend in May our Division contest is held then. Normally we just drive to the contest and drive home the same day. Wives and friends are welcome but usually don’t come with us. We compete for three titles – Our Plateau AA, the Overall Division and the Most Improved Chorus. This year in Faribault, MN, we won our Plateau AA and The Most Improved Chorus titles and have qualified to compete in the District that will be held in Rochester, MN, in October. The Plateau we are in is based on the number of members we have at the beginning of the year. There are three Plateaus – A, AA & AAA, AAA being the largest with 75 or more members, Plateau A up to 40 members & Plateau AA 41 – 74 members. It is at the Division contest that we can qualify for the District contest if we score enough points.
The District contest (quartet & chorus) is part of the District Convention held in the latter part of October, usually the second to last weekend. Wives join us for the weekend and we have a chapter dinner on Saturday evening. The convention locations have rotated each year between Fargo, ND, Rochester, MN, and different locations in Wisconsin. The chorus contest is held on Saturday with qualifying choruses from all over the District. The quartet contest is held on Friday (preliminaries) and Saturday (finals) nights. The winning chorus automatically qualifies to represent the District at the next International Chorus Competition in July of the next year. Hilltop, MN and Greendale, WI have been our qualifiers for many years. Our second place chorus usually gets an “at large” invitation to International because of their high score. Competition at the District level is very high and we strive to be in the top ten, our highest finish has been fifth. We sign up and pay for District Registrations by early June to participate in the early “draw” for better seats. Most District Convention Sunday mornings we sing in a local church on our way home.
Chapter Mission Statement:
The Croix Chordsmen Chorus is dedicated to bringing a quality musical experience, in the Barbershop Style, to its communities, its schools, and its audiences in the St. Croix Valley. To achieve this mission, the Chorus strives to:
Achieve performance excellence in vocal and visual presentation;
Promote good fellowship among its members; and support the community through charitable projects.