Kids from all over the county are prepping for their annual holiday music programs. And in coming weeks they will don their best seasonal colors of red, white and green and usher audiences into the holiday with song.
School Christmas programs have always been a favorite of mine. As a grade school pupil at Cherry Knoll in Traverse City, I remember music teacher Helen Callison getting us ready for the big night. In middle and high school, I was involved in the music program at Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools, which , as you can imagine, opened a whole library of religious selections. For several of those years, I sang with the choir under the direction of Ed Hahnenberg of Lake Leelanau. In addition to performing concerts, we had a “goodwill” tour, in which we traveled to nursing facilities to share seasonal favorites. We also sang at holiday parties for community groups, such as the Elks Club in Traverse City.
To this day, I can sing the alto parts for many of our selections.
Fast-forward, bypassing college and marriage, and going on to having my own children, I remember gathering with other excited parents for the student Christmas program at St. Mary School where my three children were then students. After returning from work and school, we hastily ate and headed for the lower level of the church. This was well before the school expansion, which included the new gymnasium.
The room was crowded with parents, grandparents and community members anxious to see the wee ones perform. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit harried what with dinner and getting them dressed for the big night. I barely had time to settle in when the room went silent and I heard the voice of a tiny child: my youngest, Grace, a kindergartner, singing the prelude to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
“You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen, But do you recall The most famous reindeer of all?” The sweet, pure voice of my little one, rose above the overcrowded, overheated room. I hadn’t known she was getting a solo. Right then, at that moment, all the tension felt earlier left me and I beamed, not unlike the Grinch when his heart grew three-sizes Christmas Day.
A few years later, I recall a holiday program at Glen Lake School, where a classmate of my son, Tim, stood out. Ample curly blond ringlets nearly overwhelmed the girl, who was very enthusiastic, dancing with her hands on her hips.
This youngin’ continues a presence in the county. How ‘bout a shout out to Dr. Cassandra Lee, DDS?
So as I looked forward with great anticipation to another school holiday program: my granddaughter Michelle’s event next week at Glen Lake.
I don’t know what she and her pre-K friends will be singing. But I’m sure all the parents, grandparents and community members gathered will carry the light and love throughout the season. Keep a song in your heart.
Merry Christmas!
