The Granite Statesmen are brimming with pride as our very own Roger Menard has been named District Barbershopper of the Year! Not only that, but this is the second time he has been recognized with this prestigious title - a first for the Northeastern District.

Not only is Roger our current District President giving much of his time to his district leadership role, but Roger also directs an even greater amount of his energies into revitalizing the District's youth outreach movement called Harmony Explosion Northeast (HXNE). Roger has rebuilt this movement from a post-covid reality where we'd lost all momentum, participation and engagement within the music education community. As of this writing, Roger and his amassing team are executing on no less than 8 separate HXNE events in 2026 alone impacting the lives of hundreds of middle school and high school age students in the region.

Roger was awarded the title on stage at the Northeastern District Convention and Contest on Saturday, October 4th by his predecessor co-recipients, the members of Daily Special. Daily Special is a quartet well known in the district for their entertaining performance and selfless contributions to our community. Daily special honored Roger on stage by singing an arrangement of "Bingo" with a twist "...and Roger was his name-o! 'R' 'O' 'G' 'E' 'R'..." to uproarious applause.

Roger has been a barbershopper in the Nashua Chapter since he was a small boy. He's been a pillar of our community, a chapter leader, a source of inspiration and a role model not only for Nashua, but for the District and the Society. Roger was previously recognized as the District Barbershopper of the Year in 2014. He is in good company with many of our barbershop greats through the history of this award dating back to 1968. That history includes Roger's own father, Ronnie Menard, who received the award in 1973.

Every member of the Granite Statesmen is proud to call Roger our brother in song and we feel that he is well deserving of this recognition.