A local singing group is hoping people will think outside the box of chocolates this Valentine’s Day.
For nearly two decades, the Barrie County Chordsmen have been offering a unique gift for Simcoe County residents to show their love to their favourite sweethearts — with its singing Valentines program.
The program, explained longtime member Bob Schilling, offers people the opportunity to hire one of the group’s quartets to sing a love song or two.
“This is something we have done for a number of years. I think the first or second year I joined, I did it,” said Schilling, noting he’s been a member for about 18 years.
Over the years, Schilling says quartets have sung to people in a variety of places, including homes, restaurants, banks and classrooms. Recipients not only receive the gift of song, but will also receive a rose — or even heart-shaped balloons or chocolates should their loved ones opt for that add-on.
“We walk in and will start to sing with everybody else around,” he said. “I have sung in banks and, at one time, they sang in one of those clubs where men go to watch women. They sang to one of the women who was going to be performing.”
For those who don’t know what barbershop music entails, it includes a cappella, four-part, closed harmonies, Schilling explained, adding it makes a unique gift for someone to give.
“Valentine’s Day is special in the sense that it’s about someone you care for. This is a different way to express that — it’s musical and the songs are reflective of your feelings," he said. "That gives it a totally different twist from almost anything else you’d do.
“This is sung directly to the person … and it is a more personalized thing. People may find it embarrassing — that’s not something that hasn’t happened — but at the same time, the fact someone would go to all this trouble to do this for you is (special).”
It's also a fun way to get out into the community and sing, he said.
“We always like to sing, but it’s always interesting to go out and see the reactions. If you do it in a public place, you get to see the reactions of not just the one person, but of everybody in the place,” he said. “I don’t know of anything else you’d do that you’d get that feeling of a person experiencing this, and never expecting it in many cases that this is a way they’d get a Valentine.”
Anyone interested in ordering a singing Valentine can do so on the group’s website.
Proceeds will be used to support Harmonize for Speech, a charitable organization that provides funds for numerous speech-related projects and equipment at hospitals, clinics and treatment centres throughout Ontario.
