• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Janice Beetle Books

Writing, editing, book development, and publishing help

  • Home
  • About
    • My Books
    • Clients’ Books
    • Privacy Policy
  • Services
    • Creative Writing Review/Coaching
    • Book Development /Writing
      • Book Development Sampler
    • Book Editing
    • Copy Editing
    • Book Design
    • Publishing Guidance
  • Blog
  • Poem Pods
  • Shop
  • Contact
  • Order My Book
You are here: Home / All / Celebrating Fathers

Celebrating Fathers

June 15, 2014 by Janice Beetle Leave a Comment

Mares eat oats, and does eat oats, and little lambs eat ivy. A kid’ll eat ivy, too. Wouldn’t you?

This is a little ditty that can easily get stuck in my head when I call it to mind, but not because the lyrics are compelling or because the song was popular.

It’s because when I was a little girl, my dad used to sing it to me as a goodnight song while perched on the edge of my bed. There was nothing sweeter or more soothing than lying there in my tiny room with my dad crooning this silly song to me. It made me giggle.

There are other songs I can call to mind that also remind me of my dad, and they are all barbershop songs, like “Sweet Adeline,” “Hey, Look Me Over” and “Danny Boy.”

For as long as I can remember, my dad has loved to sing, and he has been a barbershop singer since before I was born 50 years ago.

Harvey Beetle sang in a barbershop chorus and in many iterations of quartets in eastern Mass, where I grew up, and since he retired in the 1980s, he’s been singing with the Lakes Region Chordsmen in Laconia, N.H., which recently honored him for 50 years of service as a chorus member.

At 86, my dad also still sings several times a week with a group of fellas in a quartet called Rewind.

Barbershop music is sung a capella in four parts – lead, tenor, bass and baritone. My dad sings baritone, which is the hardest part to sing as it doesn’t really follow any kind of melody line.

Listening to him practice was always amusing. I’d hear the familiar sound of his pitch pipe – which he’d let me blow for fun – and then the unusual sound of a familiar song being sung in one part only. It was one of the sounds of home.

My dad performs in nursing homes, at fairs and festivals, in annual recitals and in contests and competitions. He travels to sing. He stays out late at night to sing. He knocks on doors with his quartet on Valentine’s Days to sing love songs to unsuspecting listeners.

My dad lives to sing, and in doing so, he’s successfully modeled what it means to live into a passion and commit to it unconditionally.

I’ve followed my dad’s music career with interest and support. I was in the audience for many a concert as a young child, and as a young adult and mother, I would attend my dad’s outdoor concerts at Weirs Beach on Lake Winnipesaukee whenever I was visiting my parents in the summertime. My daughters loved watching their Grampy sing as much as me.

We were also apt to crack up while watching as well. This because my father lives into his music with his whole heart – and his whole face. When he is singing, his face is big and bright, and his rather bushy black eyebrows are excessively expressive, moving theatrically up and down.

Once, as a teen, I got to laughing so hard watching my dad sing with his quartet in our living room that I had to run out and get a grip on myself.

“What was so funny?” my dad asked me later, in his most innocent way. The question only brought on another wave of laughter.

My late husband, Ed Godleski, was a musician himself, and he was a great supporter of my dad’s interest. One Christmas, Ed gave my dad and his Rewind colleagues a gift certificate to a recording studio in New Hampshire.

They spent the day there – and Ed and my mom and I did as well – singing their repertoire of songs and recording them. The result was a CD my dad can still play. It’s a great reminder of his lifelong dedication.

My dad’s passion for barbershop singing is truly something to be admired.

Just like my dad.

Happy Father’s day to a wonderful, kind and giving role model. I love you.

← Previous Post
Next Post →

Filed Under: All

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe

Please enter your email address to receive blog posts by email.

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Larceny in the Aisles is Hot Off the Press!
  • Ten Tips for the Travel Writer-Wannabe
  • Thrilled to Meet My Client From London

Archives

  • October 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • October 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • November 2012

Footer

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

© 2023 Janice Beetle Books · Privacy Policy
Content by Janice Beetle Books · Site by Turn Signal Media