A senior at Davenport, Iowa, High School in 1953, Chuck Scherz was invited to attend a meeting of the Davenport Barbershop Harmony Chapter.
At that time Chuck was singing with some high school classmates in a church choir, but he didn't read music and feared that he would not succeed with the barbershop singers. However, the Davenport Chorus director was Floyd Connett and Floyd taught the melody and three harmony parts by rote. He would not permit sheet music to be used in the rehearsal hall.
Chuck, who sings entirely by ear, was hooked on the barbershop style from that time forward. His first quartet was composed of four young men from Davenport High School. "Daisies Don't Tell" was the first song he learned.
The high point of Chuck's singing career was 1998 when Greater Ozarks Chapter members Don Meier, Dennis Paulsen and Gene Gnuse joined him in "Harmony Bound." They won the Central States District Seniors Quartet competition and represented CSD at the midwinter convention in Biloxi, Miss., in 1999.
As a member of the Davenport Chordbusters Chorus, Chuck won gold medals in the CSD Chorus competition twice. Under the direction of Howard Mesecher, the Chordbusters represented CSD at Atlantic City in 1970 and in New Oleans in 1971.
Chuck met Katie Johnson, also a barbershop harmony singer, at the summer "Starlight Review" in Rock Island, Ill. Married in 1968, they now live at 12072 Oak Circle in Bella Vista.
A Greater Ozarks Chapter member since it chartered in 1996, Chuck has been a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society for 65 years. During that time, he has also belonged to chapters in Davenport, Iowa, Rock Island, Ill., and Honolulu, Hawaii.
"I was hooked on the sound from the very beginning," Chuck said, "and I've always wanted to be a part of it."
General News on 04/05/2017