Singing valentines bring smiles, tears and help hearing impaired

Let them call you sweetheart, for just a few bars.

The Men Of Fundy barbershop quartet had a very busy Friday delivering singing Valentines to people in the Saint John area.

The quartet, made up of Robert Taylor, Andre Welland, Lynn Harrington and John Wright, was dispatched to 14 locations, from Saint John to Hampton, to deliver songs to unsuspecting people with secret admirers.

Some years two or three quartets have been needed to deliver all the valentines.

Robert Taylor has been a member of a singing valentine quartet, and the Men Of Fundy, for the last six years.

"I love singing because it gives me a chance to affect somebody's day. A song can turn your whole day around," Taylor said.

Some people are truly surprised and sit in "embarrassment," said Harry Cross, a 30-year member of the Men Of Fundy.

Others get overwhelmed by the charm and the sentiment and start to cry.

"We see her reaching for a tissue, we know we've got it made, and some are criers, and when they start crying it's hard to sing," Cross said.

This year, Taylor posted on Facebook, "We had a four-alarm crier at Sarah Mallory Wright State Farm insurance."

Performances to the valentine come with two songs, usually Let Me Call You Sweetheart and Heart of My Heart, a box of candies and an everlasting rose.

The money raised from each booking goes to help children and adults with hearing problems. "For example last year," said Cross, "a young woman needed her cochlear implants replaced, which cost about $3,000. She raised most of the money herself and the Men of Fundy topped it up."

Other years the money raised helps fit children with appropriate hearing aids.

Each year the Men Of Fundy have to register to get their hotline phone number: just call 672-LOVE.