Illinois District

District Geography

The Illinois District covers exactly the same area as the State of Illinois.

Chapters

Frank Thorne Chapter-at-Large

Chorus	Chapter
Arlingtones	Arlington Heights
Bend of the River Chorus	Rock Island
Black Hawk Chorus	Joliet
Brotherhood of Harmony	Lake County
Chicago Metro Chorus	Chicago Metro
Chorus of Dupage	DuPage Valley
Coles County Barbershop Chorus	Coles County
Covered Bridge Chorus	Bureau County
Danville Barbershop Chorus	Danville
Decatur Chordsmen	Decatur
Fox Valley Harmonizers	Elgin
Great River Barbershop Chorus	Quincy
Greater Rockford Barbershop Harmonizers	Rockford
Illini Statesmen	Champaign Urbana
Kaskaskia Trail Chorus	Waterloo
Kish-Wau-Keys	Kishwaukee Valley

Chorus	Chapter
Lamplighters Chorus	Aurora
Land of Lincoln Chorus	Springfield
Mississippi Valley Chorus	Collinsville
New Tradition	Northbrook
Okaw Valley	Sandoval
Peoria Barbershop Chorus	Peoria
Prairieland Barbershop Chorus	Macomb
Rock River Valley Chorus	Sterling Rock Falls
Second City Chorus	Rockford Metro
Shawnee Hills Chorus	Harrisburg
Singing Men of Note	South Cook
Sound of Illinois	Bloomington
Sounds of Harmony	Belleville
Spirit of Illinois	Kankakee
The Little Egypt Chorus	Carbondale
West Towns Chorus	Chicagoland West Suburban

Divisions

Presidents

Year	Name (*Deceased)	Chapter(s)
2023-2024	Terry Ludwig	Bloomington
2021-2022	Jeff Lathom	Northbrook
2019-2020	Brett Mulford	Bloomington
2017-2018	Jim Waldorf	Bloomington
2015-2016	Rich Hansen	Coles County & Bloomington
2013-2014	Jeff Bowyer	Coles County & Bloomington
2011-2012	Mike Bagby	Northbrook
2009-2010	Dave Cowin	Lake County
2007-2008	Phil Rolfs	Bloomington
2005-2006	Will Thorndike	Sterling/Rock Falls
2003-2004	Jerry McDonough*	Peoria
2001-2002	Wayne Wright	Sterling/Rock Falls
1999-2000	Bob Squires	Lake County
1997-1998	Joe Sullivan	Northbrook
1995-1996	Bill Stock*	Belleville
1993-1994	Gene McNish*	Springfield
1991-1992	Earl Meseth	Joliet
1989-1990	Syl Wetle	Northbrook
1987-1988	Jim Graham*	Champaign-Urbana
1985-1986	Jack Windsor*	Aurora
1983-1984	Bob Cearnal	Belleville
1981-1982	Joe Shekleton*	Arlington Heights
1979-1980	Jim Vliet*	Champaign-Urbana
1977-1978	Walt Martin*	Elgin
1975-1976	John Mulkin*	Carbondale
1973-1974	Bill Everitt*	Lombard
1971-1972	Fran Wright*	South Cook
1969-1970	Wally Ryan*	Decatur
1967-1968	Rollie Meyers*	Peoria
1965-1967	Ken Haack*	Fox River Valley
1964-1965	Frank Vechiola*	Chicago #1 & Skokie Valley
1963-1964	Don Beasley*	Aurora
1961-1963	Don Summers*	Peoria
1958-1961	Tom Watts*	Skokie Valley
1957-1958	Loren Bogart*	Bloomington
1955-1957	Charles Snyder*	Lombard
1953-1955	Charles Hecking*	Pioneer
1951-1953	James Martin*	Q-Suburban
1950-1951	Harold Kamm*	Jacksonville
1949-1950	Charles Ward*	Chicago #1
1948-1949	C. L. Morgan*	Canton
1947-1948	Robert McKinney*	Macomb
1946-1947	Henry Stanley*	Chicago #1
1945-1946	E. Royce Parker*	Peoria
1942-1945	Thomas Barry*	Galesburg
1941-1942	Frank Jackson*	Chicago #1

Contests

International Champions

Quartet

2018 - After Hours
1988 - Chiefs of Staff
1965 - Four Renegades
1953 - Vikings
1949 - Mid-States Four
1945 - Misfits
1943 - Four Harmonizers
1944 - Elastic Four

Seniors Quartet

2002 - Chicago Shuffle
1999 - Tri-County Reclamation Project
1994 - The New & Improved Industrial Strength Mini-Chorus

Collegiate Quartet

Chorus

New Tradition - Northbrook, IL - 2001
West Towns Chorus - Lombard, IL - 1987
Pekin Chorus - Pekin, IL - 1968, 63, 59

District Champions

Quartets

Category	Current Champ	Year	Full List
Men's	Linc 182	2023	ILL Quartet Champions
Mixed	Mixology	2023	N/A - Inaugural Champion
Senior	Sangamon Valley Chord Company	2023	ILL Seniors Champions
Novice	River City Rhythm	2023	ILL Novice Champions
Collegiate	None	2023	ILL Collegiate Champions

Choruses

Category	Current Champ	Chapter	Year	Full List
District Champion	Sound of Illinois	Bloomington, IL	2022	ILL Chorus Champions
Men's Champion	Sound of Illinois	Bloomington, IL	2022
Plateau AAAAA Champion	Sound of Illinois	Bloomington, IL	2022
Plateau AAAA Champion	New Tradition	Northbrook, IL	2022
Plateau AAA Champion	West Towns Chorus	Chicagoland West Suburban, IL	2022
Plateau AA Champion	Land of Lincoln Chorus	Springfield, IL	2022
Plateau A Champion	None		2022
Most Improved	Land of Lincoln Chorus	Springfield, IL	2022
Small Chorus Award	Brotherhood of Harmony Chorus	Lake County, IL	2022

History

Long before O.C. Cash and Rupert Hall thought of starting a local singing club in Tulsa, Okla., a number of Illinois men were experiencing the thrill of singing a well-tuned chord. Men like “Molly” Reagan, Frank Thorne, Pete Buckley, “Little Doc” Nelson, Glenn Howard, “Cy” Perkins, John Hanson and others. These pioneers are prominent in the beginnings of the Illinois District of SPEBSQSA/BHS.

While the songs of the Haydn quartet, the American, the Peerless, the Criterion and others thrilled listeners to the old wind-up phonographs, men of Illinois -- later to be affiliated with the Society – enjoyed singing “close harmony.”

A picture from the early 1900s shows the Variety Four, including Molly Reagan, Little Doc Nelson, Pete Buckley and Ralph Morehouse. In 1912, Frank Thorne and Molly met at the University of Illinois where they had a mandolin/guitar duo and also ran a dance hall for students. In Illinois, quartet singing was popular with men of all ages, sparked by the influence of the many quartets that were popular acts in traveling vaudeville shows. Singing close harmony with friends on street corners, in barbershops or the local pool hall, became an important part of America at the turn of the century. Many of those early “harmony men” were to play a part in the development and growth of what was to become the roots of barbershop in Illinois.