Singers deliver Valentine's Day harmony

Three quartets set out this morning to spread harmony - the four-part kind - around the valley for Valentine's Day.

Following a decades-long tradition, members of the Flathead Valleyaires play musical cupids today. Armed with a pitch pipe rather than a bow and arrow, their barbershop quartets deliver lyrical love to homes and businesses throughout the valley.

"We always have lots of tears," said Jim Sappington, Valleyaires president.

Not to mention some red faces: The singers occasionally encounter a shy or reluctant beloved, Sappington admits with a laugh. But with assistance from co-workers, the quartet manages to coax their man or woman out to receive a song such as "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" or "Heart of My Heart."

This Valentine's Day tradition serves as a major fundraiser for Flathead Valleyaires, a men's chorus which sings a cappella (without music).

For $40, each quartet delivers a song, a card with a personal message, a rose to women or candy to men and a ticket to the Valleyaires' April 5 show at Flathead High School. It's the perfect gift for the loved one who has everything but their five minutes in the spotlight.

"We usually draw an audience," Sappington said.

Each quartet comes back from Valentine's Day with new stories, according to quartet member Wesley Tintinger. He laughs about the mechanic they serenaded and the welder with greasy hands that accepted a white teddy bear one year.

"We had one lady who was 101 who started crying," he said. "That made us all start crying."

Always eager to keep to their schedule, the quartet had to have a receptionist get a local doctor up from a nap in his back room one year. At 1:30 p.m., they harmonized their message of love to the sleepy physician.

"He was pretty red-faced," Tintinger said with a laugh.

Grocery-store performances make for good memories. He remembered the butcher who got called up to the front of the store for his singing Valentine in front of the customers.

Another time, the group got flagged down after singing in Wal-Mart. A man paid them on the spot to head down to Albertsons to sing to a cashier he had met who had just arrived in town two weeks earlier.

"It just blew her mind," he said. "She never did find out who he was."

As the scheduler of appointments, Tintinger predicted today's rounds held promise for similar experiences.

Someone called from Texas to deliver a melodic Valentine across the miles to a sweetheart in Montana. Just before the Inter Lake interview, Tintinger said he got a call from a mischievous wife.

"Her husband works at a shop, so I suppose we'll have to drag him out from under a car," he said.

If singing harmony sounds like fun, Tintinger invites any men or boys interested in joining to attend the weekly Tuesday meeting at 7 p.m. at Epworth United Methodist Church in Kalispell. There are about 24 to 25 members, ranging in age from 10 to 90.

"We need members," Tintinger said. "There's no tryout. We teach you."

Propsective members and others who enjoy four-part harmony singing also may attend the April 5 show that begins at 7:34 p.m. because "we're always four minutes late," Tintinger said.

"It's going to be '50s and '60s era," he said.

Tickets are $10 at the door, $8 preshow, $7 for seniors. Call Tintinger at 892-5953 for more information and ticket locations.

Both Tintinger and Sappington said they have participated in barbershop singing for years because they enjoy it and it appeals to a huge spectrum of people. Sometimes they give impromptu concerts at Moose's Saloon or at local nursing homes just for the fun of it.

"It feels good to cheer people up," Sappington said.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.