DECATUR - Every Monday night, a group of men brings the empty hall of the Unity Church of Decatur alive with music. The singers, members of the Decatur chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, sing a cappella tunes, tap their toes and sway and bop along with their songs.

"A barber, of all things, asked me if I would be interested in joining," chapter president John Schleper, 70, said with a laugh. "And it just hit me at the right time in life, and I joined and he quit."

The group, which has around 15 active singers, recently performed holiday concerts at Dove, Inc. and the Eastern Star Home at Macon. Now the group is getting ready for its April 4 concert at the Decatur Civic Center.

Schleper said he enjoys the camaraderie of the group and the chance for the men to come together and make music with nothing but their voices.

"I love the harmonic sounds of the chords when they ring," he said. "We can make the piano hum with the right chord."

Gerry Conner, 66, a retired locomotive engineer, has been a member of the society for 40 years. He grew up singing barbershop with his dad and uncle, who were also members of the organization, and he likes everything about it.

"There is no favorite thing," he said. "It's all good - ringing of chords, making chords work, seeing the smile on people's faces, feeling cold chills run up and down your spine and the hair on the back of your neck stand up."

Conner said he also enjoys going to sing at schools and trying to get young men involved in barbershop singing. The group has been struggling for members in recent years, Schleper said, adding that there used to be as many as 40 men involved at one time.

"We've just seen the gradual decline," Schleper said.

He attributed this, in part, to declining audiences.

"We cater to people who remember a different time," he said.

But the current members refuse to let the group die. They are always on the look out for new members at their singing engagements, Schleper said, emphasizing that they are not looking for professionals - "just guys who like to sing."

"We don't expect anybody to come in here and be able to pick it up right off the bat," Conner said. "Barbershopping is tough."

Many of the rehearsals are spent teaching the craft and working on honing it together, Schleper said.

"A lot of us cannot read music," he said. "We just sing because we like to."

Beginning in January, the group's practices will be at Westminster Presbyterian Church from 7:30 to 10 p.m. each Monday. Schleper invited men from the community to stop by.

"With me, it's not a hobby," said longtime member and barbershop singer Bob Hedgcock, 80. "It's a way of life."

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