Singing Valentines are fun to get and fun to give
| Type of post: | Chorus news item |
| Sub-type: | No sub-type |
| Posted By: | John Braden |
| Status: | Current |
| Date Posted: | Mon, Feb 16 2026 |
By Carl Turlin
Yup, we drive miles for smiles, according to chorus/quartet member Tony O'Brien. So many guys and ladies helped the Heart of America Barbershop Chorus Singing Valentines quartets bring smiles to folks all across the metro Feb. 13 and 14!
Barry Sanders, Vince Perry IV, Tom Riedel, Marlin Weidler, Beverly Weidler, Mike Schumacher and I don't know who else, helped when needed at Singing Valentines headquarters at the Fairfield Inn in Overland Park, starting Thursday evening, Feb. 12, and continuing all day Friday and all day Saturday, Feb. 13 and 14.
They set up the computers and the software, collated all the orders and supplies in preparation for the quartets each day, grabbed a donut once in a while, answered the phone for orders, supplied and resupplied quartets when needed, and then cleaned up the whole thing! (After arranging the purchase or donation of the roses, Russell Stover chocolates, cards and Helzberg jewelry)
And thank you to Chris Walker, our art/sign/flier/tenor/lead/quartet guy for his artwork on fliers, roadside signs, the chapter website, Facebook, and on a big ol' billboard in downtown K.C.!
Quartets Four on the Floor, Harmony Pros, Mo-Kan-Do, Singing and Having Fun, and Swing Shift took the order sheets, figured out their routes and began singing to men and women from Holt, Mo., to Lenexa, Kan., and east to Blue Springs, Mo.!
Barry reported about 50 Valentines were sung, along with delivery of roses, cards, chocolates and Helzberg drawing chances. Barry said he'd rather be singing, but he's happy to be at headquarters helping other guys do their gigs.
With Don Fuson's help on the HOA Facebook page, we see lots of pix quartets took of smiling folks who received a Singing Valentine from one of our quartets.
You should have seen all the happiness that we brought to sweethearts, both guys and gals and little ones! It truly feeds my soul every year! Our quartets sang to several folks who we've sung to for several years in a row and we get to see their kids grow up each Valentine's Day! What an honor!
Onlookers applauded in restaurants and malls, family members sobbed happy tears watching our presentations to their loved ones. What a marvelous and touching way to bring happiness to people, even to those who just watched from the next table or down the hall in the next office cubicle!
Thank you to everybody who helped and certainly to those that I didn't name, including our wives, who let a bunch of us sing to other women and men for two days! And to you guys who volunteered and didn't get put in a quartet, thank you for putting yourself out there! You are appreciated, too!
The team will be meeting soon to begin our plan for making next year's Singing Valentine celebration even better than this year. By the way, Valentine's Day is on Super Bowl Sunday in 2027. Not sure what that will mean for us, but we're keeping that in mind.
Yup, we drive miles for smiles, according to chorus/quartet member Tony O'Brien. So many guys and ladies helped the Heart of America Barbershop Chorus Singing Valentines quartets bring smiles to folks all across the metro Feb. 13 and 14!
Barry Sanders, Vince Perry IV, Tom Riedel, Marlin Weidler, Beverly Weidler, Mike Schumacher and I don't know who else, helped when needed at Singing Valentines headquarters at the Fairfield Inn in Overland Park, starting Thursday evening, Feb. 12, and continuing all day Friday and all day Saturday, Feb. 13 and 14.
They set up the computers and the software, collated all the orders and supplies in preparation for the quartets each day, grabbed a donut once in a while, answered the phone for orders, supplied and resupplied quartets when needed, and then cleaned up the whole thing! (After arranging the purchase or donation of the roses, Russell Stover chocolates, cards and Helzberg jewelry)And thank you to Chris Walker, our art/sign/flier/tenor/lead/quartet guy for his artwork on fliers, roadside signs, the chapter website, Facebook, and on a big ol' billboard in downtown K.C.!Quartets Four on the Floor, Harmony Pros, Mo-Kan-Do, Singing and Having Fun, and Swing Shift took the order sheets, figured out their routes and began singing to men and women from Holt, Mo., to Lenexa, Kan., and east to Blue Springs, Mo.!
Barry reported about 50 Valentines were sung, along with delivery of roses, cards, chocolates and Helzberg drawing chances. Barry said he'd rather be singing, but he's happy to be at headquarters helping other guys do their gigs.
With Don Fuson's help on the HOA Facebook page, we see lots of pix quartets took of smiling folks who received a Singing Valentine from one of our quartets. You should have seen all the happiness that we brought to sweethearts, both guys and gals and little ones! It truly feeds my soul every year! Our quartets sang to several folks who we've sung to for several years in a row and we get to see their kids grow up each Valentine's Day! What an honor!
Onlookers applauded in restaurants and malls, family members sobbed happy tears watching our presentations to their loved ones. What a marvelous and touching way to bring happiness to people, even to those who just watched from the next table or down the hall in the next office cubicle!Thank you to everybody who helped and certainly to those that I didn't name, including our wives, who let a bunch of us sing to other women and men for two days! And to you guys who volunteered and didn't get put in a quartet, thank you for putting yourself out there! You are appreciated, too!
The team will be meeting soon to begin our plan for making next year's Singing Valentine celebration even better than this year. By the way, Valentine's Day is on Super Bowl Sunday in 2027. Not sure what that will mean for us, but we're keeping that in mind.
