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Ed McDevitt reports that he is both retired and not retired.
“I drive a limo part time, am responsible for multiple web sites (both commercial and not), am the president of the board of my Unitarian church, past president and active board member of my barbershop chorus chapter, and vice president of my condo association board. I have an active quartet and we sing frequently for people who pay us well, and I sing also not only in my church choir but in an a cappella octet I recently put together. Meanwhile, my son is establishing and building out an Irish pub/restaurant for which I will be the unofficial beer maven and advisor - not because I drink it, but because I know a lot about it.” Did I just hear someone say, ‘YEAH! RIGHT!”?
Ed also reports proudly that his barbershop chorus, The West Towns Chorus, competed in the Barbershop Harmony Society’s International Contest in July, 2006 and placed 18th out of 30, a most respectable finish for a chorus that had essentially been out of International contention for several years. Over 240 choruses contend to qualify for International competition annually. Not only that, at the end of September, 2006 the chorus qualified for the 2007 International competition in Denver.
Ed says, “If you have singing ability at all and can find a group to sing with, do it. It does more for your general well-being than just about anything you can think of. I sing bass in an a cappella chorus of up to 95 men, and just being in the middle of that sound is more exhilarating that I can possibly describe. It’s especially exciting when the group is really good. Our chorus, when I joined it, was not so good, but the sound was still pretty incredible. Now, when we sing and almost literally mesmerize our audiences (to say nothing of ourselves!) because we sing so beautifully and feelingly, it is equivalent to the endorphin rush marathoners get. So try it if you can.” It doesn’t have to be a barbershop chorus or even a cappella, Ed suggests, There are volunteer, amateur classical choruses, madrigal groups, and small ensembles all over the place.
“I can pick out literally dozens of my classmates who could probably do this - just take a look at the pictures of the A Cappella Choir, the Glee Club and the Madrigal Group on this site! So what if it’s 50 years later! It’s 50 years later for me too!”
Ed is on a number of medications, so his enthusiasm can be excused.
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