(This article is reprinted here with permission. Printed in the Spring, 2013 issue)

Barbershop Friendship and Camaraderie...Geezer style!

By Larry Litchfield, Immediate Past President
Las Vegas Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society’s FWD
(In close collaboration with best pal and fellow Getaway Geezer, Dave Kennedy)

          
     A few months after the exciting new Silver Statesmen Barbershop Chorus was born on New Year's Day 2013, incoming Las Vegas Chapter President Steve Salmon buttonholed me one night at rehearsal.  He asked if I'd write an article about "friendship and camaraderie" as it impacts the barbershopping world -- with special focus on our Chapter and new Silver Statesmen chorus.
      The merger united the former Las Vegas Gamble-Aires and City of Lights barbershop choruses, to create the Silver Statesmen, now the largest barbershop chorus in Nevada.)
     Steve envisioned sharing the article with other chapters via the BHS’ Harmonizer magazine and/or the FWD’s Westunes; and in our Chapter’s sparkly newsletter -- the Nugget!
     He particularly wanted me to link his requested topic to The Great Geezer Getaway Guys, a unique friendship that has tightly bonded two senior Las Vegas Chapter members for more than five years!
     He likens the Geezers – as a prime example of two “elderly” barbershoppers forging a rock-solid comradeship – to many close friendships that have been created for the last 75 years in Society chapters dotting the landscape of America and beyond.
                                                Cameraderie: A Core Barbershop Credo
     Barbershoppers are familiar with our hobby’s ingrained, much publicized philosophy that member prospects signing on with a chapter can build a lengthy friendship and foster warm and enduring camaraderie with the newly discovered pastime.  Such a result of a Barbershop membership doesn’t come automatically, however.
     Friendships of varying intensities are an acknowledged barbershopping benefit or else most of these singing guests would last only a meeting or two and then possibly turn to a different avocation. Smiles, welcoming pats on the back, singing soaring barbershop seventh chords and enjoying friendly, encouraging conversations with veteran chorus members often result in a new member eagerly signing on.
     And with continuous cordiality and sharing pre-existing common interests or experiences, the likelihood of two gentlemen barbershoppers forging a close and lasting friendship increases dramatically. To become close Chapter buddies, it’s not necessary for both to sing the same voice part, either.  So, please allow Dave and me to share with you the unique story of the on-the-go, unique barbershopping Geezers.
     To appreciate our strong bond of friendship, you need to understand how we met and a little about what we’ve done together in the last five years – besides singing barbershop in our chorus and, for a couple of years, in the same registered quartet. I’ve been told that close friendships usually are fueled by commonalities. In our case, it’s been attributed to (1) our common hardships as in caring for our wives for long periods of time before their deaths; and (2) having mutual interests, like barbershop singing and enjoying the great outdoors.
                                                          The Geezers Met in 2008
     It happened in late 2008 when I first attended the then-Gamble-Aires chorus rehearsal. It’s traditional for newbie guests to be introduced, usually by the Membership VP, and for the guest to stand and tell the chorus members a little about himself. And that’s just what I did.
     I announced that I’d sung all my life, having been a barbershopper many decades earlier in Southern California, working then as a newspaper reporter and, later, as a public relations professional in various business sectors. I also told the chorus I was a recent widower, that my wife of 45 years had lost her valiant fight with cancer on Sept. 2, 2007 and that we’d moved to Las Vegas in 1993 from the San Francisco Bay Area.
     At the rehearsal’s break, a short, stocky, elderly gentleman, sporting a nifty handlebar mustache and a warm smile, greeted me and said his name was Dave Kennedy, then in his eighth year of barbershopping with the G-As. He said we had some unique commonalities: he’d also been married 45 years, cared for his wife for many years and pointed out that she had died only two months after mine.
     We shook hands and that was it for a while.  We both recall that our friendship did not take off like a rocket. Commonalities kept emerging for several months, including both of us having one grown, happily married daughter and no grandkids. We later learned our daughters were nearly the same age.  We’re also on fixed-income budgets.
     Dave’s wife passed on Nov. 17, 2007. After holding positions in mining, banking and gaming, he retired after 30 years in retail merchandising. After his two beloved dogs died in early 2009, a year after his retirement, Dave started serious hiking, taking scenic photographs around the valley with emphasis on the beautifully rugged Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Many of his Red Rock pictures have been published in a designer book and appear on his Facebook page and in his Google photo albums.
     In 2008, with the formation of a new registered quartet, our friendship gained momentum and Dave and I began nurturing it with photo hikes throughout Southern Nevada and just hanging out. We attended our first movie (Avatar) together and began seeing movies often, taking day photo excursions and enjoying suppers together at local establishments.
                                                   Great Geezer Getaway 1 Launched!
     In the spring of 2010, we decided to take a motor camping trip throughout the Southwest and Rocky Mountains.  Neither of us had done anything like that before. We carefully defined our route, borrowed some camping gear from a barbershopper chum and boldly casted off on July 26 in Dave’s 2008 Honda Fit packed to the roof with our gear and grub.  We maintained a blog and our barbershopping friends and family followed our trip with postings of awe and encouragement.
     Eighteen days and eight states later, we returned to Las Vegas, exhausted, happy and filled with memories of our adventure that took us through eight states on our 3,750-mile adventure.  We were surprised when a two-page article on our trip appeared in the AAA magazine Traveler. We also were interviewed at length by the Las Vegas PBS radio station.
     In these media contacts we consistently mention barbershopping as the birthplace of our friendship...and we are pleased to promote this fantastic hobby through our Getaway Geezer antics.
                                             GGG 2 Went Into The Pacific Northwest
     In 2012, we did it again with new camping gear donated by a major national recreational equipment outfitter. This time, we drove 3,900 miles in 19 days into the Pacific Northwest as far north as Oregon and Washington. In the summer of 2011, we took a four-day mini-getaway into Sedona and Oatman, AZ. This summer, we’re planning GGG 3 into the wilds of Southern Utah.
     Between these major getaways, we’ve taken frequent day trips to areas throughout the Greater Southern Nevada region and have constructed a unique day-trip illustrated flyer and tri-fold brochure, compliments of the Geezers. These “handouts”, describe a dozen, close-by, unique destinations that we strongly recommend. We’ll be offering this “been there/done that” day-trip flyer to the planning committee of the upcoming International Barbershop Convention scheduled for Las Vegas in the summer of 2014.
     In all, we estimate our major Getaway adventures (including our upcoming trip into Southern Utah and many day jaunts) have taken us more than 10,000 miles
     We’ve also built a short, no-charge electronic picture show that Dave and I narrate together during presentations at Valley senior centers and residences, assisted living facilities, hospitals, rehab centers and before other audiences. We’ve taken many thousands of photos during our travels.
     Life indeed is good for the barbershopping, adventurous Great Geezer Getaway Guys who strongly endorse the Society’s stated mission: “bringing men together in harmony and friendship to enrich lives through singing!” 
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