Hello Mary Lou-Goodbye Heart will be featured on The OK Chorale Spring Show April 26, 2014

Proposed Bylaw Changes

Last year, 2013, after an unfruitful strategic planning session, the Board of Directors of the OK Chorale took the proactive approach of creating a new governing structure that will allow the OK Chorale to develop long range plans to insure its continued existence as well as its growth.  It was a huge undertaking.  It was akin to building a bridge across a rushing river.  The river rushes ever onward even as the abutments are built on its banks, the support columns are put into place, the girders span the chasm and finally the road across is paved.  We are down to the paving of the road across the river.  With the new structure in place and the new 2014 Board of Directors operating as a highly functioning unit with newly defined job descriptions, we have only to update our bylaws allowing our new structure to flourish with a solid foundation for years to come.

The highlighted sections of the linked document outline the purposed changes that match our newly designed structure.   It was suggested by one of our board members that we include our mission statement but after conferring with a professional contract writer it has not been included for the following reason.   Our mission statement is about 20 years old.   It might in the near future need updating, even if it is only to update the verbiage to a more current mode of speech.  If it was included in the bylaws themselves, it would require yet another bylaw change to alter the statement in anyway.  The new bylaws require us to have a mission statement and we do (a good one) but it will also allow us to make modifications to it without having to amend the bylaws in order to effect the change.

It is important to understand that the new 2014 Board of Directors is already operating under this structure and this vote simply solidifies the work that the OK Chorale Board of Directors of 2013 put into place.  OKChorale Proposed Bylaws

More Singing Valentines by OK Chorale

For those Gents that don't watch a video and then pick-up the phone:

SingToMyGirl.com

Singing Valentines by the OK Chorale

Growing Pains Sometimes are Just That! A Pain!!! But a pain worth enduring!

“It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words, ‘And this too, shall pass away.’ How much it expresses! How chastening in the hour of pride! How consoling in the depths of affliction!” -- Abraham Lincoln

Growth and decline both require change. The difference between them is that growth is planned and decline is caused by a futile attempt to maintain the status quo. No matter how hard we try, nothing ever remains the same. And so it is with the OK Chorale. Where we were is not where we are, and where we are is not where we’re going. I think it would be safe to say that anyone looking at scores and numbers would say that since the mid 90’s the OK Chorale has been in a state of decline, whether its members realized it or not.

I was a part of the bygone glory days, and I think I may have returned to the OK Chorale at its lowest point. With that being said, the lowest point is not today! With effective leadership, freeing ourselves from the quagmire of decay has begun. I’m not sure how things would have progressed had Ben lived long enough to put his entire plan into action, but I can say that with Ricky at its helm, the OK Chorale made a huge turn. Allan Pinkston, however, may well go down in history as the President—the leader—that ultimately corrected the course of the OK Chorale.



 For nearly twenty years now, the OK Chorale’s board of directors appeared to have wandered lost in the wilderness, but actually they were learning all the while. They were growing. It may not have appeared so on the surface, but they were. They had to learn to lead. You might ask yourself, if the OK Chorale has been around for over seventy-five years, why would its board have to learn to lead just within its last twenty years? 

Members of the OK Chorale back in what I referred to as the “glory days” recall that it was led by a charismatic man with an unequaled passion for barbershop. He was creative, strong willed, and by all accounts a true visionary. He was the OK Chorale incarnate. For over thirty years the OK Chorale did, looked, and performed as he saw fit. The only need for the board of directors was to comply with the Society’s requirement of having such a board. People were placed on the board to accomplish what he wanted done. I know that for a fact because I was one of them. The chorus was run that way for not months or years, but for decades. So when that charismatic tenure came to an end, the directors had long since forfeited any pretence of really leading the organization. The board was forced to start from the beginning and do the best it could. The process of trial and error is always difficult, but sometimes it’s absolutely the best way.

“It is the set of the sail, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go.” – Jim Rohn

 Once again the winds of change are blowing. The leaders have a plan, and once again the OK Chorale has begun to grow. In 2013, we scored higher at contest than we have in over a ten years; and we did that even while taking a penalty. We have several new members; and perhaps most importantly, we are learning new music at a feverish pace. Two of our leaders, Dick Morrison and Bob Curtis, together with President Pinkston realized there was a need for long range planning. They brought in Denise Caudill, owner and operator of The Outcome Zone, who works with nonprofit organizations first to design a strategic plan and secondly to help measure the outcomes of that plan, specifically in relation to funding through grants and donations. These measurements help organizations such as ours receive more funding, insuring that these groups continue to grow and flourish. Based on her advice, a taskforce undertook a review and revision of existing job descriptions within our organization. That led to a review of the actual structure of the OK Choral Board of Directors and development of a plan creating a depth of leadership on the board to facilitate long range planning. Most non-profit boards rely on a progression through the offices of secretary, treasurer, vice president, and finally president to strengthen board continuity and develop long range planning and implementation. The OK Chorale, however, has multiple vice presidents serving in highly specialized areas, each of which is administrative in nature but requiring mastery of specialized skills. Therefore, our line of succession will be most effective through the Vice President of Operations, to Vice President of Music and Performance, then to Vice President of Chapter Development, and finally culminating with the Presidency. For the OK Chorale, it is simply the logical choice.

This plan was approved by the board in August of 2013. This new board organizational structure is currently in operation, and each member is embracing his position. Currently, the most noticeable change has affected Caleb Henderson, the Vice President of Operations. Wes Short, our new president, felt that the position of Valentine’s Day Chairman was outdated due to the almost overwhelming nature of the task. He took that one previous position and turned it over to a four man team that was placed under Caleb’s leadership as Vice President of Operations. And Caleb has hit the ground running. The team’s proactive approach has distributed the workload for our Valentine’s Day fund raiser and allowed most tasks to be completed weeks in advance. Our goal this year is to perform 125+ Singing Valentines, and it’s my bet we hit that goal!

It is now time to change our bylaws to fit our board. What worked in 1996 won’t work today, anymore than what works today will work in 2034. The winds of change are always blowing. Let us adjust our sails to the wind—the future—and insure the successful evolution of the OK Chorale!

Cardiac Arrest

Hi-Fidelity Star Trek Quartet