Photo Provided Kathi Vaughn of the St. Clairsville Food Pantry, left, accepts a donation from Brothers in Song representatives Ken Bonnell and Marian Martin, while Dacry Porterfield of St. Clairsville First Presbyterian Church also receives a gift. The singing group disbanded and decided to donate its remaining treasury to the two organizations.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Brothers in Song, a men’s singing group formerly known as Barb’s Boys, disbanded and donated its remaining funds to a pair of local organizations.

Marian Martin, the last director of the group, said the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on the group that originated in 1997, because the members could not get together to rehearse or perform for about two years. That hiatus, combined with some individual health concerns, prompted the decision to dissolve the group.

According to Martin, forming the ensemble was the idea of Joyce Carson. Leadership of the group was assumed by Barb Jeffries, who is now deceased, with Carson serving as its accompanist. Later, Linda Alexander accompanied the group.

In 2011, Martin took the baton and the group was renamed Brothers in Song. Linda Steffl then accompanied them on the keyboard. Incidentally, Martins and Steffl had worked together before, when Martin was the elementary music teacher for the Union Local School District and Steffl taught third grade at Belmont Elementary School. Both have since retired.

Over the years, the group members shared their talents by singing for church services, nursing homes, civic groups and other events and locations.

“Wherever we were invited, basically,” Martin said. “Wherever anybody wanted us, we came.”

Among the men who were members of the group were Ken Bonnell, Millard Neal, Paul Elerick, Cory Alexander, Andy Wildman, Mark Schott, Lucien Murzyn, Terry Lucarrelli, Jim Gray, John Josefczyk, Jim Nichelson, Don Henderson, Frank Papini, Sam Haverty, Richard Jenkins, Orville Blackmore, Dustin Janezic, Clayton Kleevic, Bob Archer, D. David Stiles, Don Cooper and Jim Ellis. Martin noted there may have been a few others over the years and that some past members have died.

Upon disbanding the group, members decided to give the remainder of its treasury to two local nonprofits – the St. Clairsville Food Pantry and the St. Clairsville First Presbyterian Church, where the group rehearsed for many years. Members did not disclose how much was donated to each organization.