Singing telegrams a sure-fire hit this Valentine's Day
By Daniel Wolowicz camarillo@theacorn.com

LOVE NOTE- Romantics will have a choice when it comes to choosing a singing telegram for Valentine's Day. Members of both the all-women Channelaire Chorus, left, and performers from the all-male Pacific Sound Chorus, right, will be delivering singing telegrams on Valentine's Day throughout Ventura County.

Having performed in a barbershop quartet delivering singing telegrams on Valentine's Day for the past seven years, Michael Murphy has a story or two.

Murphy, a member of Pacific Sound Chorus, a Ventura-based men's a cappella group, said he remembers a few years back singing to a couple sitting in a hot tub at a Ventura apartment complex on Valentine's night.

He said the woman thought the man had forgotten about the holiday and was visibly upset until the four men dressed in suits showed up to serenade her while the two were sitting in the hot tub.

Murphy, a Ventura resident and a retired machinist, said the performance put a smile on her face but added that the payoff for the tub-side performance was a bit soggy.

"By the time we're done singing, he comes out of the spa in cut-off Levi's, reaches in his pocket and pays us with wet money," Murphy said with a laugh. "I think we made their day"

Murphy will again be delivering singing telegrams this Valentine's Day.

Four barbershop quartets made up of singers from the 25-member Pacific Sound will crisscross the county delivering melodies and smiles to unsuspecting recipients.

"I've driven 300 miles on Valentine's Day from Calabasas to Carpinteria," Murphy said of the daylong race across Ventura County.

Pacific Sound singers won't be the only crooners delivering singing telegrams next Thursday, though.

Members of the Channelaire Chorus, an Oxnardbased allwomen's a cappella singing group, will also offer a pair of love songs performed by a quartet for area residents on Valentine's Day.

"It is one of the most fun things we do all year," said Carol Dirner, a Port Hueneme resident who has been delivering singing telegrams for the past five years. "Some people are embarrassed, but most people are very touched to receive such a personal gift."

Dirner said eight quartets from the 100-member Channelaire Chorus deliver about 75 singing telegrams every year.

Both groups will sing just about anywhere, including banks, hospitals, libraries, offices, auto shops, schools and at homes.

They both perform a pair of songs for each telegram and will present the recipient with a rose.

For singing telegrams scheduled to be delivered at any time during the day, the Channelaire singers charge $47, while a telegram from Pacific Sound costs $50.

The Pacific Sound singers will, however, accommodate tight schedules with a $60 deal that ensures they will show up within a four-hour time window or a $75 singing telegram that will have them singing within 15 minutes of when they're asked to arrive.

Money raised by the two groups pays for travel expenses, song licenses and the day-to-day costs of their respective organizations.

"You're giving someone a very intimate and personal gift of yourself," said Camarillo resident and Pacific Sound member Bernard Sentianin. "It's a lasting memory. The recipient will never forget it."

To schedule a singing telegram with the Pacific Sound Chorus, call (800) 353-1632. For a singing telegram from the Channelaire Chorus, call (805) 495-6952.