• Declining district and chapter membership
• Declining participation in district conventions
• Declining number of events aside from district conventions that would present opportunities for our chapters, membership, and potential members to engage and share in the joy of barbershop
• The negative impact of COVID on the above and on our district community
• Discussions involving the name of our district, different perspectives on a name change and how the name represents our values and mission.
• Recognition of a desire for more positive opportunities for our district community to engage and share the passion that we have for barbershop and for our barbershop community.
• The increasing need to learn from and share ideas that could potentially benefit all of our members and chapters.

1. Maintain the current Vision and Mission statements (with adjustments for district name), found on the District website.
2. Establish Areas and Area Counselor (ACs) to facilitate chapter engagement at a local level.
3. Establish the position of Guild Director who will organize and maintain a district coaches guild (coaches available to coach choruses and quartets), Quartet Guild, and Chorus Directors Guild.
4. Round table discussions - the district will facilitate round table discussions (virtual – ie, Zoom – or in-person) that include key stake holders within district chapters, each focused on one of 3 specific broad chapter challenges (Membership Development, Chorus Director Support and Finances).
5. Quartet Development – the VP M&P will work with the District Quartet Champions Association (DQCA) to facilitate an annual Intensive Quartet Training (IQT) Day for coaching any interested quartet (outside of those already invited to the Top Gun School).
6. District Success Chairman – a new district board position who will monitor, assess, and help guide the success of district programs as they relate to or are discussed in this proposal.
7. Create Events Strategic Planning (ESP) Committee to design and implement exciting new opportunities for members of our district community to gather.

1. Change the name of the district from “The Dixie District” to the “Southeastern Harmony District”, and
2. Adopt specific measures and actions to ensure that the positive legacy and history of The Dixie District are preserved and perpetuated.

Michaela Slamka Johnson

The Big Chicken Chorus is proud to welcome Michaela as our new Musical Director.

Michaela comes to us as a 4th genration Barbershopper and a 3rd generation quartet champion. Her grandfather (Jack), father (Mike), uncle (Mark), and second cousin (Don) were BHS 2003 International Champions, Power Play. Father (Mike) was also the Lead of 2009 International Champion Quartet, Crossroads. Her sister Madison Riviere is the Lead of the current Sweet Adelines International (SAI) 4th place quartet.

Michaela is also a Queen of Harmony with SAI, as the Tenor of 2019 International Championship Quartet, Class Ring!. Class Ring began their winning ways as 2014 SAI Rising Star Champions.

Michaela is also a member of Double Date (tenor), a two time (2014 & 2016) Champion of the BING! World Mixed Voice contest held annually in Germany.

She is currently the Baritone of Dynasty, the 2024 2nd Place SAI quartet.

In addition to her performance sucesses, Michaela holds degrees in Music Education and Music Theory and has taught elementary music for 5 years. 

Michaela is maried to Nathan Johnson, Baritone of 2022 International Champion Quartet, Quorum and fellow member of Double Date.

Lakeside harmony weekend

Join us at Clemson University for a spectacular weekend of ringing chords, music education, fellowship, and fun!  Your coaching and teaching faculty is loaded with gold medals, district champs, international competitors, and many of the best educators in barbershop.  As we join with our Carolinas District partners, it’s a weekend jam-packed with barbershop, friends, fellowship, and fun!

• Intensive coaching for your quartet or chorus
• Music & performance classroom instruction by a top notch faculty
• An amazing Saturday night show featuring International Champion FOREFRONT
• A golf tournament, ice cream social, and a pizza party
• Tag & impromptu quartet singing until the wee hours
• Old and new friends singing together and making memories to last a lifetime

Don’t miss out!  Whether you attend as an individual or with your quartet or chorus, there’s something for everyone.  Come experience why Lakeside Harmony Weekend has long been considered the best barbershop event in the Southeast.

Visit LakesideHarmony.org for ALL the information you need, plus the link to register. We are SO excited!

If you have any questions, please contact Jeff Osborne  or Jack Donaldson for more information!

Quartet Rep to international

Entourage Quartet

spring chorus champion

Atlanta Vocal Project (AVP)

sPRING CHORUS 2ND PLACE

RSVP

SRPING CHORUS 3RD PLACE

Voices Of The South

Most Improved Chorus

Stone Mountain Chorus

barbershopper of the year

Jimmy Tompkins (2018) presenting to David Murphree (2023)

Friday nights scores will not be posted.  All quartets in the contest will be singing on Saturday night, only the final score sheet will be posted.

YES! Our 2022 Dixie Distrct Fall Convention will be live streamed.  Please check our Facebook page on September 23rd and 24th!

• MCC - International Chorus Champs
• Notes from the President
• Leadership Academy in November
• News from choruses
• Director's Corner with DC Nash
• Calling all Seniors for the Dixie District Seniors Chorus
• Fall Contest registration form

BHS International Charlotte 2022

Music City Chorus

Sound of Tennessee

Premiere

Wildfire

Entourage

cityScape

B-List

Congratulations to our Dixie District representatives to the BHS International Contest in Charlotte!

In late 2019, our Board of Directors received a request by one of the members we serve to investigate the possibility of changing the name.  In 2020, we opened discussions amongst the board about this subject.  After several long discussions and debates, we decided to send a survey to our members to get the pulse of the district in regards to this. There was quite a bit of resistance to the idea of it, with 48% of the respondents being either Against or Strongly Against the change, while 37% were For or Strongly For the change.  This sparked another round of conversation in the Board, who were also divided on the matter, so it was eventually decided to create a task force to investigate whether or not the name should be changed.  After several very productive conversations, the task force recommended that the name be changed.  The Board then accepted the recommendation and delivered it to the delegates of the chapters ahead of the House of Delegates meeting on March 20.  We asked the delegates to have conversations with their respective chapters and to be prepared to vote on the matter at the upcoming meeting.  A motion was made that the name should be changed (without any suggestions as to a new name) and a roll call vote was taken.  There were 17 votes against, 15 in favor, and 1 abstention, so the motion failed.  A further breakdown shows that the Board members voted 7 to 6 against, with chapter delegates voting 10 to 9 against, 1 abstention.  With the failure of the motion, we continue to be the Dixie District.  The task force is officially disbanded as its original directive was completed and the failure of the motion means that no more directives will be given. We want to thank the task force for their diligent work and contribution to the discussion.

What this has shown is that we are fortunate to have a lot of people that are passionate about the future of our district.  We are sure that there will be more discussion about this because of this passion. What's clear is that we all love our district and we want it to grow and prosper.  For now, we are turning our attention to our members and how we can best serve them.  We look forward to seeing everyone in Alabaster!

Chordially,
Paul Blazek
Dixie District President

he March 2022 issue of the Dixie District online newsletter, The Dixie Town Crier is a must read.

• cityScape - Silver Medalists
• Spring Contest
• House of Delegates
• Notes from the President
• Help Wanted - Director search
• Sony Holt - 50 Year Pin

The Dixie Town Crier is YOUR chapter’s opportunity to share information and photos about your chorus, quartets, shows, and activities with your fellow barbershoppers. Each chapter is encouraged to appoint someone to report YOUR chapter news! Submissions and questions should be directed to towncrier@dixiedistrict.org.

A big thank you to Jeff Woods for taking over as Town Crier editor.  Please continue to send your articles.

Greetings Barbershoppers!

"It's the Music that Brings Us Together." 

The chapter officer training sessions were initially delivered online in January of 2021. The playback of these sessions is now available on the Dixie District YouTube Channel. Use the links below to view these sessions.

These links will open a new page on your browser and take you to the YouTube video.

Healthy Chapter Initiative 2021 (For Presidents, Members-at-large, and all officers)
Chapter Secretary Training 2021
Chapter Treasuer Training 2021
Chapter Membership & Chapter Development 2021
Chapter Music & Performance 2021
Chapter Marketing & Public Relations 2021
Chorus Directors 2021
Chapter Web Design 2021

Dixie District 2021 Leadership Academy

About this Event

The 2021 Leadership Academy will focus on the following classes.

• Healthy Chapter Initiative conducted by Bob Cox from the Evergreen District. It is requested Presidents, EVPs, and BMAL sign up for this class.
• Treasurer conducted by George Reynolds - Dixie District
• Secretary conducted by Russell Bell - Dixie District
• Music & Performance conducted by Jimmy Tompkins - Dixie District
• Marketing & Public Relations conducted by Mike Brunson - Dixie District
• Membership & Chapter Development conducted by Charlie Davenport - Sunshine District
• Website Design & Maintenance conducted by David Murphree - Dixie District
• Chorus Director Development conducted by DC Nash - Dixie District

Questions? Contact Bob Davenport, DIX VP of CSLT – tenorbob@comcast.net or 615-331-7377.

Classes will be 3 hours, general assembly will begin at noon via Zoom.

UPDATE 3/13/2020

For those that have already registered for contest next weekend, we are working with Eventbrite to get your registration fee refunded. We will send you an email with details soon.

For those who have booked hotel rooms, please contact your hotels to cancel your reservations.

2020 Spring Quartet Qualifier
and Chorus Contest 

Early Registration will be available until 11:59 PM (EDT) , 10:59 (CDT) March 6, 2020. Online regsitration will be available until 10:00 PM (EDT) 9:00 PM (CDT) March 20, 2020. Registration on site will be open: 12:00 Noon - 1 hour after quartet contest starts Friday March 20. 8:00 AM - 1 Hour after chorus contest starts Saturday March 21. Contest site:  Alabaster Performing Arts Center, Thompson High School, 1921 Warrior Pkwy, Alabaster, AL 35007

Dateline: January 16, 2020

The time is upon us to gather for the 2020 Dixie Spring International Quartet Prelims and Chorus Convention/Contests. This convention will be held March 20-22, 2020 in Alabaster, Alabama. 

HOTELS

The headquarters hotel is the Holiday Inn Express, 260 Cahaba Valley Rd, Pelham, AL 35124, 205-987-8888. And we are using Sleep Inn Pelham Oak Mountain, 200 Southgate Dr., Pelham, AL 35124, 205-982-9800. An additional hotel, Comfort Suites, may be added for overflow depending on the registrations. The distance between hotels is 0.3mi.

VENUE

The contest site will be at the Alabaster City Schools Performing Arts Center on the campus of Thompson High School, 1921 Warrior Pkwy, Alabaster, AL 35007. The distance from the hotels to the ACS PAC is 10.2 miles (21 min) via US-31 S. Buses will be available for chorus transportation. 

CONTESTS

We will have an International Quartet Prelim (2 rounds), a District Chorus Championship, and a Most Improved Chorus award based on chorus scores from last spring. You have SIX WEEKS to enter the contests of your choice. The deadline for contestant entries will be midnight Friday, February 28, 2020.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

We will also offer a “Score for Evaluations” only session, INVITATIONAL, for ALL choruses/quartets who do not wish to compete and to all singing groups (Seniors quartets, Mixed quartets, Female Quartets, Female Choruses, and Mixed Choruses) who would like to receive your personal score sheet and up to a 60-minute coaching or a 30-minute evaluation-only session. We just need YOU there to participate! There will be something for everyone! ALL male/female/mixed quartets MUST be BHS members EXCEPT FOR youth quartets (mixed, male & female) from college-age down.
 
District Championship Competitions AND all Prelim sessions will officially begin in Fall 2020. More information will be forthcoming following the 2020 Spring Convention.
 
PLEASE REMEMBER, EVALUATION/COACHING CHOICES will be sent out to the chorus/quartet contacts 2-3 weeks prior to contest by email. BUT YOU MUST INDICATE ON YOUR BARBERSCORE ENTRY FORM IF YOU WANT AN EVAUATION OR COACHING SESSION! 

JUDGES

Here are the judges who are on the Official Panel: 
MUS - Joe Cerutti (MAD) & Steve Tramack (NED)
PER - Sean Devine (MAD) & Shawn Mondragon (RMD)
SNG - David Mills (SUN) & Mark Stock (NSC).
 
I can assure you that each of these men are well-trained, experienced, and are ready and willing to work with each of you to help improve your performances regardless of what level you are.

BARBERSCORE 

If you have any trouble filling out the Barberscore entry for your chorus or quartet, PLEASE contact me ASAP and allow me to walk you through the process. Again, I am available to help you fill out your Barberscore entry if needed.  Quartet admins can login at barberscore.com.
 
Again, the cut off for Barberscore entries for this convention is Friday midnight, February 28^th which NOW gives you a full 42 days to get your entries filled out. That is 3 weeks from the start of the convention weekend. Please let me hear from you SOON as to what your plans are for this convention. I would like to know what your intentions are as early as possible so that I can prepare for the numbers of competitors expected.

I will be sending out weekly reminders as to our progress and to help light fires under some of you who like to procrastinate. And we want you to have a grand experience at this 2020 Dixie Spring Convention. Bring your family and friends to enjoy the very best that DIXIE DISTRICT has to offer!
 
ALL y’all come now, ya hear??!!
 
Jim Sams
VP Contest & Judging-Dixie
jimsamsca@bellsouth.net
(901) 488-3128

****************** COMING-FALL 2020-Start planning NOW!! *******************
 
QUARTETS:     District Male, District Female, District Seniors, District Super Seniors, District Mixed, District Novice, District Super Novice CHAMPIONSHIPS, and International Seniors Prelims!

CHORUSES:  District Male, District Female, District Mixed-INTERNATIONAL PRELIMS

Hey, folks! Like youth singing barbershop? You're in luck!

The BHS Next Generation Junior Division quartet and chorus contests are today and tomorrow at Midwinter in Jacksonville. Dixie District is well represented this year: Here's a schedule:

TODAY, Thursday, January 9, 4:00 - 5:30 EST

Next Generation Quartet Contest. Sonic Sound Quartet is a mixed foursome from Marietta High School, Marietta, GA is singing sixth. 3:1, a mixed quartet from Martin Luther King, Jr. Magnet High School, Nashville, TN is singing eighth.

TOMORROW, Friday, January 10, 11:00 - 8:30 EST

Next Generation Chorus Contest (held in conjunction with Seniors Chorus Contest). MLK HS's Bella Voce women's chorus is scheduled to sing at 11:48. Georgia Spirit mixed chorus is scheduled for 12:58. MLK HS's Bro Re Mi men's chorus is scheduled for 7:34.

You can catch all contests and shows LIVE on FloVoice (flovoice.com).

If you're not in attendance in Jacksonville, tune in. All these groups have worked very hard and our moral and financial support goes a long way! Thanks!

Lee Frnaks
Vice-President, Youth in Harmony
Dixie District

Location change for Spring Contest 2020

The Dixie 2020 Leadership Academy will take place on Saturday, January 4th 2020. The location will be the Morris Hill Baptist Church at 1804 Morris Hill Rd, Chattanooga, TN 37421. The sesion will run from 12:00 noon until 4:00PM EST.

Classes will be available for new and returning chapter leadership positions:

• President & Executive Vice President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• VP Music & Performance
• VP Membership Development
• VP Marketing/Public Relations
• VP Youth in Harmony

The Healty Chapter Initiative class will also be presented by a certified HCI facilitator.

Dean of the Academy is Bob Davenport.  If you have questions, please contact Bob at tenorbob@comcast.net.

Registration for the event is now open.

Latest Town Crier 

After serving much of the last decade as the editor of the Dixie Town Crier, David Belden has decided to retire. While he plans to continue to sing with the Music City Chorus, the time has come to retire from the extra duties associated with the district newsletter editor position. David is a retired teacher and prin-cipal originally from Ohio. In addition to his career in education he spent 23 years as a reporter, photogra-pher, columnist, and editor for The Leader Enterprise in Montpelier, Ohio. David has also spent much of the decade as editor of The Huzzah, the Nashville Chapter newsletter, a position from which he is also retiring. David and his wife Barbara will use some of their extra time making trips to Ohio to help to care for Barbara’s father and step-mother. 

A new editor for the Dixie Town Crier is expected to be named soon. Watch the Dixie District webpage for upcoming information. 

Ringgold, GA, Oct 4, 2019

Congratulations to the new Dixie District Quartet Champions - Wildfire.

The Dixie Novice Quartet Champions are Goodness Gracious.

The Dixie Senior Quartet Champions are Silver Ring.

The Dixie Super Seniors quartet champion is Rock City 4.

The DIxie Chorus representative to BHS International in 2020 is the Sound of Tennesee chorus from Cleveland TN.

The Dixie Seniors Chorus performed and recieved a score of 73.3%.