| Most of us were members of the choir of Park United
Methodist Church. In about 1998, Bob Palmiter suggested that it would be
fun to sing some
secular things as well, like barbershop music. Joined by our Pastor Sungho
Lee and Bob Linsley, we sang at various events, under various preposterous
names (e.g., "The Tonsorial Eclectics"). |
 | Finally, we settled on
the Blue Parsley Boys. To give us an insignia,
first we tried blue ties (or maybe they were sashes, or maybe ascots) and pocket handkerchiefs, but they just looked odd. Here we were singing,
on the old stage in the Hamilton village park, at the
Chenango MusicFest, the chamber music festival held by
Colgate University in the village of Hamilton the third weekend of June.
|
 | Jim Lloyd took some parsley from
his garden and spray-painted it blue, and we wore sprigs of it for
another gig in Hamilton Village Park. |
 | The sprigs wilted fast (look
at Jim's in the picture above), but Dave Lantz's lasted long enough
for him to scan it. We made paper badges with the
image and used them for years. |
 | Sungho moved to First Methodist
in Corning, NY, and was replaced in the group by Neal Roberts, a tenor;
so Dan de Noyelles moved to baritone. We went to
First Methodist and sang for one of the services. |
| When we had three gigs in two weeks, we could
even brag about our famous "Three Village Tour", consisting of a picnic
in Oriskany Falls,
a nursing home in Waterville, and a concert in Hamilton. We eventually
recorded a short CD, in order to buy music, a sound system and something
to replace those paper badges. We've got all that (although we can
always use new music), but we still have lots of CD's left,
if you're interested. (Neal Roberts' son Dale designed the cover.) Jim
Lloyd is our treasurer (as well as our sound expert), so he's the
best one to contact (though this
website is fine, too). |
 | Here we were singing at the
2002 Chenango Musicfest. The picture includes the new stage in the Hamilton
village park and Park Church in the background. |
 | We sing at many events, as here at the
benefit talent show in Waterville High School, and in many of the local
nursing homes. The sunglasses are for The Best of Doo-Wop. As
Mark Ohl says when we put them on, "This is as cool
as we get." It was the first outing for our spiffy new ties with the blue
parsley logo, which Neal Roberts acquired for us. |
 | Reg Wilson charms when he solos
on The Duke of Earl. |
 | We mourn the loss of our brother
in song, Bob Linsley, who charmed the crowds with his dancing, singing and
wit; and who wrote the words to our theme (and who, incidentally, was an
internationally known expert on fossil snails). The portrait is by
G. Raymond Pinet, father of Bob's colleague Paul Pinet; it was on his
memorial folder. |
 | We also mourn the loss of
our founder, Bob Palmiter. He and Jean have
let us practice at their home for years after he retired from the
group. |
 |
| So here was the group, singing at the gazebo in Oriskany
Falls park at the 9/11 memorial in 2006 -- the first appearance of our new
vests, obtained by Neal Roberts, our official haberdasher. Left to right,
we are: tenors Reg Wilson and Neal Roberts, leads Peter Lawrence and Mark
Ohl, baritones Bud Ballinger and Dan de Noyelles, and basses Dave Lantz and
Jim Lloyd. We'll try to sing almost anything with four male parts and no
accompaniment. If you know of some good music like that, please let us know! |