Driving home from a Barbership Harmony Society chapter meeting in Pensacola in 1978, Darrell James (present member) and Els Morey (former director) had to stop driving because of a rainstorm. As they sat there waiting, they made a decision to start a chapter closer to home. After running ads in the newspaper, the first meeting resulted in twenty men showing up for that meeting.
Later, on March 2, 1978, with help from our sponsoring chapter in Pensacola, we were granted our charter with 41 members, and we were known as the PLAYGROUND HARMONIZERS. Five of that chartering group are still active with our chapter after almost 30 years of singing! In 1980, our chapter was recognized by the Barbership Harmony Society for achieving a membership of over 50.
In 1980, after only a year in operation, the chapter won a first place in the Sunshine District “Plateau 3 International Achievement Award!” Each year, the chapter has been among the top chapters in “Achievements.” From 1983 through 1987, the chapter was NUMBER ONE in the District! And in ’84 and ’87 it was NUMBER ONE in the SOCIETY! Each year the chapter earned a “Bronze Award” for contributions to the Society charity (Institute for Logopedics). In District competition, our chorus got a number 1 rating in our "plateau" (small chorus category) in 1994.
In 1984, the name was changed from the “Playground Harmonizers” to the “Emerald Coast Chorus”
and shortly after, Emerald Coast Barbershop Singers (ECBS). In 2006, the name was changed back to the “Emerald Coast chorus”
The FWB Chapter takes great pride in its annual show. From the first one in 1979, we have played to nearly capacity houses. The first show was held in the FWB Civic Auditorium (400 seats) and in succeeding year and This was a great achievement as the Okaloosa Walton Community College auditorium could hold an audience of 1500. For several years our annual barbershop show was the largest draw on the gulf coast.
A tax lawyer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by the name of O. C. Cash, formally invited 15 friends for evening of harmonizing at the roof garden of the Tulsa Club on 11 April 1938. However, when word got around, 26 men showed up. This was the inconspicuous start of the SPEBSQSA-- a tongue in cheek acronym that was popular in the New Deal years of the 1930s. Iit stands for Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America and was the official name until 2004.
Over the years, the Society has grown to over 33,000 members strong with over 850 Chapters worldwide. The Society is broken down into a number of districts. The Emerald Coast Chorus belongs to the Sunshine District. Recently, the name of the society was changed from SPEBSQSA to The Barbershop Harmony Society.