Masters of Harmony

Marlin Fors Inducted Into Masters of Harmony Hall of Fame

Kirt Thiesmeyer, May 13, 2009

With teary-eyed daughter Dana and proud wife Nancy Kraus by his side, Marlin Fors became the ninth member in the 24-year history of the Masters of Harmony to receive the Hall of Fame Award in a ceremony at the Santa Fe Springs Town Center Hall. Growing from a long-ago Boy Scout barbershopper in Murray, Utah, Marlin showed what hard work, vision, organization and, above all, a thick skin can accomplish.

The Hall of Fame Award “recognizes members for outstanding contributions to the progress of the chapter.” [Policies & Procedures Manual, Paragraph 7.1.2.] Selection is made by the board of directors and must be approved unanimously.

Marlin Fors joined the Masters of Harmony in 1994 from the South Bay Chapter, having sung barbershop with his father in Utah, and in a quartet that won the Salt Lake Jamboree competition [indistinguishable] years ago. He was board member-at-large at South Bay and bass section leader, and he competed with former MOHer Chris Wilson at the International Quartet Prelims in 1993. He has won five International chorus gold medals with MOH, four as a baritone and one as a bass.

Marlin first joined the MOH Board of Directors in 1997 and has served continuously ever since. He was the second of our three-year presidents (after Hall of Fame member Dan Fullerton), 1998-2000; he has been immediate past president and is our current vice president for music and performance. He has also served as a board member-at-large and as chapter treasurer. He presided during the sometimes tumultuous years of Jeff Oxley’s directorship of the chorus, for the first Anaheim Convention hosting and gold-medal win in 1999, and during the search for a new director, culminating in the selection of Mark Hale.

On April 7, 2009, Marlin Fors became the longest-serving VP-Music & Performance in MOH history − over seven years − surpassing Hall of Fame members Bill Roth, Joe D’Amore and Dan Fullerton in that position.

An accountant by training and temperament (BS Accounting, University of Utah; MS Taxation, Golden Gate University), and tax manager at the Auto Club, Marlin is the unflappable, sometimes acerbic, inexhaustible organizational hub of the chorus, the Go-To Guy for Jim Sickles, Jackie Palmquist, Doug Maddox, Mark Hale and me. He arranges for convention hotels and rehearsal rooms, troubleshoots our performance schedule, sets up the retreats and engages the coaches, “manages” the Music Committee in the best sense, keeps Mark Hale happy, negotiates and dispenses the lion’s share of the chapter’s budget and oversees the rest, deals adroitly with every hare-brained idea and listens more or less politely to everyone’s complaints.

Marlin was the MOH Barbershopper of the Year 2000. He is a two-time recipient of the President’s Award (2001, 2005) – as well as multiple annual accolades from me for his constant accessibility and assistance – and he received the Director’s Award for 2002. On the theory that every man of accomplishment owes some of his success to a cooperating partner, Marlin’s wife Nancy has also been honored by the chorus, with the President’s Award 2000 (from Marlin, no less!) and the Alice Blue Gown Award for 2008. Especially prominent among Marlin’s three children is their daughter Dana, a junior at the University of Arizona, who has grown up with the chorus, is a Harmony Sweetheart with her mother, and has been among our biggest fans and supporters.

Marlin has not hesitated to put his contributions on paper, either, as in addition to his numerous and varied e-mails to all and sundry, he has authored more than 60 major articles for the MasterLink and The Masters Voice, and he requires minimal editing! He continues his welcome contributions on protocol and expense oversight as a member of the Finance and Image & Standards committees.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony was attended by 123 men on the risers, plus emeriti, Harmony Sweethearts and assorted SOs, well-wishers and hangers-on. Major remarks were tendered by Joe D’Amore (heartfelt and articulate, read by Doug Maddox), Larry Goodfried (funny), Doug Maddox (funny), Bernard Priceman (funny) and Mark Hale (funny) – which made a nice mix with Marlin’s irrepressible personality. Wonderful tributes came in from Hall of Famers Bill Roth, Dan Fullerton and Dr. Greg Lyne, and from former president Ken Custer.

Thanks are due to Chief Conspirator Nancy Kraus who with daughter Dana has been keeping Marlin’s head unaware and filled with angel dust since last fall. Eloquent proof of that was his storming off the risers at 9:15 to demand a chorus break from Mark Hale (who had planned to end and celebrate at 9:30), not realizing that the reason for the extended session was himself! Equally guilty were stealth experts Jackie Palmquist, Vicki Oldham and various Sweethearts, who spirited Dana Fors through a side door and filled the meeting hall tables with cake under Marlin’s nose (actually, behind his back).

I have had the privilege of sheparding the nominations of Frank Ortega and Marlin Fors to the Hall of Fame, and presiding at their induction ceremonies. There is no presidential duty more satisfying.