Jerry Lester
baritone

I was captured by barbershop harmony way back in 1962, when as a youngster of 24, I was asked to attend a practice of the Holland (Michigan) Windmill Chorus.

After the chorus practice, the sliding doors at the back of the hall were parted to reveal a full-service bar, where tag singing reigned supreme till the wee hours. At some point, a few of the older heads took me into a broom closet and had me hold the second note of the phrase, "Of Mi..........ne," while the others sang the harmony parts for "Those Old Love Letters O....f Mi........ne." The sound "tickled" somewhere inside my solar plexus, and it took three tries before I could complete the tag without bursting into laughter.

It still "tickles" all these years later.

I was able to stay with the Windmill Chorus for a year, during which we won the regional contest in Flint Michigan singing The Trolley Song, and Roses of Picardy. Then, I joined the Coast Guard in 1963.

My career in the United States Coast Guard caused my involvement in barbershopping to be spotty at best. But, whenever I was in the New Jersey area, I joined My uncle, Bill Bergen, who most recently sang bass with the Folsum Harmony Express Chorus, who was then singing with the Cranston, New Jersey Chorus.

In 1986, I joined the Marin County Golden Gate Chorus as a baritone, and sang with them in the 1987 San Francisco Spectacular.

Since joining the San Francisco Cable Car Chorus, in 1993, I have served on the Board as the assistant to the Music Vice President for the Barberpole Cat Program, and developed a training tape of all chorus performance songs for new members.

I am retired, and am an as-yet (unless this website counts) unpublished writer, living in the city of San Francisco.