The 26th Annual Community Carol Sing hosted by the Rotary Club once again featured a variety of Nakusp musical talent at Nakusp Secondary School gymnasium. Kees Van Der Pol, Rotary president and emcee for the night, also praised the students of the Interact Club for their hard work on the event. The room decorated in festive cheer was full, although not quite the “standing room only” of some previous years.
Savage School of Music’s kids choir, directed by Danielle Savage, was the first of five choirs to perform. The eleven girls belted out the pop song “I Gotta Feeling” and also helped usher in Santa’s grand entrance up the centre aisle with “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The SSOM choir started this year and has been practicing at Nakusp Elementary School during the lunch break.
Next up were the Seniors Serenaders, performing “Christmas in Killarney” and a spirited “Jingle Bell Rock” that got both the singers and the audience in a jolly mood.
We heard from the NSS Band, under the direction of new band teacher Patrick MacGibbon, several times over the course of the evening as well. MacGibbon accompanied the band (who wore sunglasses) on the keyboard during the aptly chosen tune “Peter Gunn Theme” which the crowd found amusing as Nakusp’s own Peter Gunn (a Rotary member) was in attendance. The band even led some of the carol singing when Marilyn Massey was not leading from the piano.
The NSS Choir, with guest Pat Dion as the moustachioed tenor section, followed with a few songs, including “Do You Hear What I Hear” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” In past years, there had been a grade 6-7 band performance, but unfortunately there is no band for that age group this year.
In between performances, Ellen Weatherhead and Talassa Larder gave an update on the Interact Club’s activities.
“The Interact Club is going strong,” they reported. They thanked Christina Barisoff for her support throughout the year.
Rounding out the program were two more choirs: the United Church Choir and the Arrow Lakes Community Choir. The church choir performed three less familiar Christmas pieces, including “There Was a Child in Galilee” and “All Earth is Waiting.” The Community Choir got a great response from the crowd with the medley “Rejoice! For this is Christmas Day” featuring excerpts from Handel’s “Messiah.”
Kees thanked all those who had helped make the night possible; he expressed delight and surprise that the annual event was still going strong after so many years. The NSS Band brought things to a close by leading everyone in singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”