Hut-Four

The Hut-Four are the Barbershop Harmony Society’s 1958 Land O’ Lakes District Champions. First organized in early 1953 with Herb Fane on tenor, Bob Dykstra on lead, Bob Moksnes on baritone, and John Hansen on bass. They were all in the US Army at the time and the name “Hut-Four” came from the Army. During their two years in the army, they would sing around base at Fort Riley and around Kansas. They performed on the Ed Sullivan Show, the Arthur Godfrey Talent Scout, and an Army talent show hosted by Arlene Francis. After the guys got out of the Army in late 1954, the quartet temporarily broke up. In early 1955, the quartet got back together with Johnny Wheeler on tenor and Don Sundt on baritone. Johnny left the quartet after a very short time singing with them to pursue a career in acting and was replaced by Bob Spong as tenor. They started competing and won the Land O’ Lakes District Championship in 1958. They placed as high as 11th in the SPEBSQSA International Quartet Contest. In 1962, Dan Howard replaced Don Sundt as baritone. They sang on a few USO tours between 1968 and 1970 entertaining hospitalized soldiers in Japan, Okinawa, and the Philippines who were injured in Vietnam. The Hut-Four retired in 1972 after nearly 20 years of singing together. They sang over 1,400 performances, traveled nearly 400,00 miles, sang all throughout the United States, Canada, Japan, Okinawa, and the Philippines, and sang as semi-finalists in the SPEBSQSA International contest seven times. Bob Spong went on to win the 1975 SPEBSQSA International Championship as the baritone of the Happiness Emporium. Bob Dykstra and John Hansen went on to sing together again for another 17 years in the “Salty Dogs” quartet. Today only Bob Dykstra and Dan Howard survive. Don Sundt died in 1999, John Hansen in 2019, and both Bob Spong and Herb Fane in 2021.