BHS Barbershop Reunion 2022 is in the record books!

by | Jul 10, 2022 | | 0 Comments

Sunshine district was well represented in the Quartet competition where “Throwback” brought home 3rd place bronze medals with a score of 8283 or a 92.0% average.

Scoresheets for the Finalist quartets are here.

In the Chorus competition, the Tampa “Heralds of Harmony” finished just out of the medals in 7th place with a score of 2676 or an 89.2% average.

Also representing Sunshine District was the Sunrise chapter “THX” who came in 35th place with a score of 2253 or a 75.1% average.

Scoresheets for the chorus competition are here.

 

Sunshine Spring Convention Cancelled!

by | Feb 3, 2022 | | 0 Comments

Dear Sunshine Members,

The Sunshine District was faced with yet another tough situation with our convention this Spring.

We contacted our District Chapters and Quartets to check on their status given the ongoing pandemic. Results overwhelmingly indicated scant interest in attending due to Covid-19. Based on these circumstances, it is impossible to hold our Spring Convention.

We realize this creates an issue for quartets looking to qualify for International and alternate options are being explored. Unfortunately, BHS and SCJC are not allowing video submissions and SUN quartets may need to compete in another District.

In Harmony,

SUN Events Team

2022 Leadership Academy (LeadAC) – Harmony University – Top Gun Coaching Registration is open!

by | Dec 7, 2021 | | 0 Comments

2022 Leadership Academy/Harmony College/Top Gun Quartet Coaching is January 7-9, 2022

This event is for all chapter officers, future officers and members interested chapter business. Also for quartets who would like some great coaching to help hone their skills. Hotel reservations for the event are the responsibility of each individual attending and to get the special rate pricing, you must reserve by December 24, 2021.

Reserve Hotel Room for LeadAC Register for LeadAC/Top Gun Coaching More information and LeadAC Schedule

LDJ 2021 CANCELLED!

by | Aug 30, 2021 | | 0 Comments

After careful consideration, The Sunshine District, along with The AIC and Harmony Foundation have decided that, despite our best efforts to make LDJ as safe as possible, we simply cannot.  As we all know, the delta variant continues to ravage the country, and especially Florida.  We had hoped that it would peak and then quickly drop. That has not happened.  Florida continues to be “the epicenter” for this, and we acknowledge that despite our best efforts to make it happen, we cannot do so safely.

All Labor Day Jamboree events, including shows, the novice contest and all official gatherings have been cancelled. 

We have heard that many people still plan to hang out and fellowship, and enjoy the Omni resort.  We only ask that you do it safely, and please consider following the protocols and guidelines that had been put into place, and protect each other’s health.

SUN, AIC, and HFI all worked diligently in an attempt to make this happen, for many reasons, and the decision to cancel is for so many other reasons- more important reasons.  But one of them was certainly the financial impact of cancellation. Flights, production deposits, safety equipment, etc. all are non refundable and pose a strong negative financial impact for all three organizations. If you still intend to gather at the Omni, or are just feeling compassionate for the situation, please consider contributing your registration cost to help mitigate the losses on this event. Any gifts would be greatly appreciated.

Unless you notify us otherwise before September 10th, all registration purchases will be rolled over to LDJ 2022. 

Since the event has been canceled, we will also honor refund requests. Please note – All refunds are returned to the original method of payment. If you bought yours from another individual and/or had a registration transferred from someone else, you’ll need to contact the person that sold it to you. To donate your registration cost or request a full refund, please fill out this form: https://forms.gle/cfwfAMb6EC2Lw4sM9

The LDJ block at the Omni ChampionsGate resort has a five day cancellation policy, so if you are not attending, you MUST cancel your room by calling the hotel at (407) 390-6664, OR you may cancel online from the reservation confirmation link that was emailed to you by the Omni when you booked your room.

We all want to sing together again. So badly. We apologize that it took this long to cancel, but your well-being and safety must be placed above all else.  Even with proof of vaccination and negative PCR tests, masks, and distancing, the activities outside of our control that take place at LDJ, although discouraged, would have introduced more risks that we were not willing to take.

We know that some will be upset by this decision, some will applaud it, and some will be angry that it took this long.  But we would rather deal with those emotions and anger than the possible fallout from a super-spreader event.  We hope that we can all can agree on that.

We will try again next year! Same location.  Until then, friends, thank you for supporting LDJ and thank you in advance for your understanding.

Please- if you haven’t, consider getting vaccinated so we can be together again!

Thank you – the LDJ Team

Fall 2021 District Convention Cancelled!

by | Jun 17, 2021 | | 0 Comments

Hello Sunshine District,
This email/communication is to inform you that the SUN Board of Directors, along with input from the House of Delegates, have voted that the 2021 Sunshine District Fall Convention has been cancelled. Many factors led to this decision, which is not taken lightly. Indulge me, if you will…
We had a scheduled House of Delegates Meeting a little over a month ago, and only two (2) choruses indicated that they would participate in the contest. And of those two, only one said that they would formally compete. For very obvious reasons, most of our SUN Chapters have not been rehearsing and would not have a show package ready in time for the first week in October. Along with that, the majority of our Chapters doubted that their members would even attend a convention if we were to hold it.
The International representatives from SUN for 2022 have already been selected as carry-overs from Los Angeles and Cleveland, so it is not necessary to re-qualify for Charlotte. We also have a good number of choruses that are missing their Snowbirds. In many SUN choruses, the Snowbird population can make up 50% or more of the performing chorus!
In addition to this, we have a certain number of contracted rooms at the hotel that we MUST fill, or we pay the cost of those rooms. We have a brand new venue in St. Augustine that was going to “hold our feet to the fire”…but as luck would have it, the property had another large group was wanting to book dates during our Fall 2022 weekend. So, in exchange for moving Fall 2022 to a later weekend in October (will now be Oct 21-22), the hotel released us from any and all financial liability for cancelling Fall 2021. This could have been financially disastrous, but it worked out in our favor.
I want to assure each of you that we explored several other options for allowing quartets to compete. An idea was floated to have a “festival” and invite SAI Region 9 and Harmony, Inc. to join us, but even with their commitments, we’d have not come close to filling our hotel block – and we’d still be on the hook.
Also, an idea was presented to have a one-set, single panel quartet competition at Labor Day Jamboree. But this would have been held in a glorified afterglow room with no stage, lights, or sound. Personally, I want all of the “pomp and circumstance” of not only crowning a new District Champion, but also allowing our outgoing Champs (Bourbon Brothers Quartet) to have a proper send-off/Swan Song with a large audience.
Lastly, holding a District Convention 30 days after what will probably be the largest Labor Day Jamboree in history would not be palatable to most district wallets.
We fully plan on holding our Spring 2022 Convention March 25-27, and the C&J and Events Teams are deciding now if we will roll all contests into that convention, or if we will wait until Fall 2022 to crown a new quartet champ. (For those that don’t know, Choruses compete in Fall to qualify for International, and Quartets compete for the SUN District Championship…and then in Spring, it is reversed; Quartets qualify for International, and Choruses compete for the District crown).
We are ready to get back to in-person singing just as much as you are! But most of you aren’t ready quite yet, and that’s okay! We will be ready when you are, so start looking at BHS’ recommendations for safely re-opening and start to sing again. Get those show packages ready. SUN is a very unique District- we only have 18 active Chapters (MAD has 100+ choruses within their Chapters) . This makes it SUPER important for participation in our Conventions. Even if your Chapter does not usually “compete”, please make a commitment now to come to Spring 2022 (and as often as possible) for scoring, judging, and improvement opportunities. Good, quality singing is what drives membership. And guess what? Because of the year-long (+) pandemic and lockdown, artists of all types are looking for new outlets. BE THEIR OUTLET! But be a quality, excellence-oriented outlet. You get that by coaching and constant improvement!
We hope to see as many of our SUN Members at Labor Day Jamboree (www.sunldj.com) for some truly awesome shows – seriously, look at the lineups each night! We are blessed to have so much talent in our District, and extra blessed this year to have the opportunity to partner with the Association of International Champions (AIC) for what would have been their AIC Show in Cleveland! Both nights will fill every crevice of your barbershop bodies, and if you cannot attend in person, a webcast will be available. We are excited to welcome our friends from Harmony Foundation, who has, and will play a huge roll in funding this huge Labor Day Jamboree event.
Thanks for reading this much so far. The SUN Board feels it is important for you, our members, to understand what goes on behind the scenes to arrive at these types of tough decisions. It’s not all about the money. It’s also about the quality of the event and the honor that comes from competing on the SUN stage. We’ll be back strong to our Convention schedule in 2022. For now, we will concentrate on LDJ, then LeadAC in January 2022, and then on into Spring 2022.
Again, thank you for reading, and for allowing me the honor of being your President for the past five years; 2020 & 2021 were the hardest, by far! As we all emerge from this extraordinary time in history at our own pace, if there is anything that the SUN Board can assist you with, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Yours In Harmony,
President, Sunshine District

Spring 2021 Convention Cancelled

by | Dec 9, 2020 | | 0 Comments

Regrettably, SUN will not be holding a Spring 2021 Convention in St. Augustine. After a discussion with the Board and House of Delegates, we feel that since quartets are qualifying for Cleveland via video submission, and the choruses from Los Angeles as well as those that had a high score will be automatically invited, there is no reason to hold an in-person convention that would most likely be sparsely attended. This is disappointing, but we cannot risk the expenses it costs to hold a convention if we have no chance of even breaking even. This is trending among most Districts. We look forward to when we can meet and sing in person again!!

Sunshine District Labor Day Jamboree has been cancelled.

by | Jun 5, 2020 | | 0 Comments

It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we must announce the cancellation of Labor Day Jamboree (LDJ) which was to take place September 4-7, 2020 in Orlando, FL. We know this will come as a great disappointment not only to our membership but also to our brothers and sisters in harmony from outside the Sunshine District that travel to join us year after year.

Please understand this is not a decision that we have taken lightly. As one of the Sunshine District’s cornerstone events, LDJ is known for being a fun-filled family weekend that brings people together from many different locations, and the uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 has been a major factor in the decision to cancel. Our primary concern is for the health and safety of our attendees and performers who make this event possible. We sincerely appreciate your continued support of Labor Day Jamboree and look forward to sharing our updated plans for LDJ 2021 later this year.

In harmony,

Chad Bennett, LDJ Chairman

New Chapter in Sunshine District!

by | May 7, 2020 | | 0 Comments

We have FANTASTIC news: the Jacksonville, FL chapter has fulfilled all the requirements to become a chapter. They are fully active as of 5/01/2020.

The Jacksonville, FL chapter currently has 20 members and performs as a mixed chorus known as Bold City Sound.  Bold City Sound’s values are family, community, musical excellence, and fun!

Below are the new Jacksonville, FL chapter leader titles and contact information – please pass along this awesome news, and help welcome our newest chapter to the BHS and SUN family!

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/boldcitysound

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boldcitysound/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/boldcitysound

We are  currently holding virtual rehearsals on Monday evenings @ 7:00 pm. Join us! Check our our Facebook page for instructions!