Briefs

A cappella competition: Last Call, a 14-member, all-male a cappella group from Cornell, will compete for a national title Sunday, April 28, in Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall in New York City. Last Call won the Mid-Atlantic Regional semifinals competition in March and secured a slot in the final round of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. The Cornell group has made it to the semifinals twice in previous years and has now become the first group ever from Cornell to advance to the final competition. It also is scheduled to appear on NBC's "Today Show, Weekend Edition," to be broadcast on the morning of April 28 from Studio 1A of Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. The interest in a cappella singing has been building on college campuses over the past decade and Last Call is considered to be on the leading edge of the movement, with a combination of creative and original arrangements, strong individual voices and a commitment to simply having a great time with their eclectic mix of songs. For tickets or information on the competition see www.varsityvocals.com. For more information on Last Call, visit www.menoflastcall.com.

Train show weekend: The annual Finger Lakes Railfair will be held this weekend, April 27 and 28, at a larger venue than in the past -- The Field arena at 1767 E. Shore Drive/Route 34, four miles north of Ithaca. The Railfair will be the first exhibition in the newly built arena, an indoor soccer facility next to The Rink in the town of Lansing. This will be the 19th annual Railfair, sponsored by the Cornell Railroad Historical Society.

Recent shows have attracted up to 2,000 adults and children to watch model trains in operation, operate some of them and see all manner of railroad memorabilia and exhibitors with models, books, photos, videos, toys and railroad objects to look at or buy. The new site will allow the exhibiting of nine working model train layouts and a number of new vendors.

Visitors will have a chance to run model trains themselves and see working layouts in seven scales: from tiny Z, N and HO to S, Lionel O and Lionel Standard from the 1930s. Hands-on layouts will be in place for children in Lionel O gauge and for fans of all ages in HO gauge.

The event will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. For more information, contact John Marcham at 273-5754 or Bob Dolan at 533-4120, or visit the Cornell Railroad Historical Society web site at http://www.lehighvalleyrr.com.