Barbershoppers ready to go on for 33rd show

Get ready to laugh. Get ready to cry. Get ready to shiver with sheer delight. A McCook tradition -- the Barbershop Quartet Harmony Show -- is ready to go on stage for the 33rd straight year.

Combining their talents with top national acts, the Prairie Statesmen Chorus will present a two-hour program of humor and harmony beginning at 7:30 p.m. Saturday night at the McCook Memorial Auditorium.

Don't miss it. You will be taken on a ride down memory lane as the chorus and quartets present songs ranging from "Pretty Baby" and "Whispering" to "You're a Grand Old Flag" and "I'm Forever Blowin' Bubbles."

Talk about good fun and good feelings. "You can't be sad when you're singing songs like these," says Jack Reichenbach, who joined Rod Heldenbrand of Wauneta in founding the Prairie Statesmen Chorus in 1971.

The Statesmen -- sporting newly purchased black tuxedoes and glittery ties and vests -- will be joined on the program by two local quartets and two national singing foursomes.

The local quartets -- "Key of Gee" and "Coon Creek Connection" -- combine sentimental harmony with goof-ball humor. Coon Creek, featuring Al McCrumb of Wauneta, Phil Lesh of Norton, and Arlan Wine and Reichenbach of McCook, does the dumb stuff, including such songs as "Lydia, the Tattooed Lady," "You Can't Have Your Kate and Edith, Too," and "Let a Smile Be Your Umbrella," while Key of Gee handles the traditional harmony favorites such as "Sentimental Journey." Key of Gee, whose members have been together for years, include Chorus Director Carl Philo, along with Merlin Brown, Charles Coleman and Russ Ankersen, all of McCook.

Philo is excited about the upcoming show. "The chorus is vocalizing as well as ever before," he said, "and this year, as an added attraction, we're being accompanied on four songs by Jack Latta on the trap drums." Jack, a high school freshman, is an accomplished musician.

To bring the show to a stirring conclusion, the nationally acclaimed "Chicago Shuffle" and "The Exchange" will wow the crowd during the second half of the performance. Gold medal winners in national and international competition, the Shuffle and Exchange are noted for their "snappy repartee" and "reckless performance style."

Throughout the history of their McCook shows -- starting in 1971 and continuing every year thereafter -- the Prairie Statesmen have filled the Fox Theater and the Memorial Auditorium for their shows. This year will be no exception. Another near sellout is expected, so get there early and stay late.

You'll leave uplifted, with a smile on your face, a song in your heart and sweet memories bouncing around in your mind.