Hitting a high note in Superior

Drums were beat, strings were strummed, keys were hit and voices were raised to usher in the Christmas season at the Community Christmas Program at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Superior Monday, Dec. 3.

Program organizer Nancy Garcia said the program is always on the first Monday of December and has come to represent the start of the Christmas season. "It's a good way to start December and it's a good way to start the Christmas season. It really helps set the mood," she said. Garcia said the program sets a more solemn tone to the holidays. "It's not Santa Claus; it's a little more serious," she said.

"It's a tradition and has been for years," Garcia said. She said the program, which was going on for a long time before she moved to Superior in 1955, has become a tradition and an important part of the holiday season for a lot of people. She said the program started with a group of Methodist women getting together for a party in their houses. The party, where the woman would sing Christmas carols, soon became popular and became too crowded to hold it in a house. They decided to hold it in the Methodist church.

The popularity of the program only grew with the move to the Methodist church. After viewing people that had to stand in the stairwells and halls because there was not enough seats in the Methodist church, Garcia decided to move the program to a larger venue about five years ago, alternating each year between the Catholic and Mormon churches in Superior.

Nearly 200 people came to listen to the 18 performances at this year's program. "That was awesome, that we hit that amount," Garcia said. "It has grown every year," she added. The 197 in attendance were treated to a wide variety of music ranging from trombone, cello, and vocal solos to a guitar and mandola duet. Garcia said the program offers a variety of music that people can't hear everyday. "It's music you're not going to hear downtown. You're not going to hear the cello downtown," she said.

About a week before the program, Garcia only had eight performers signed up. She was worried that she wasn't going to have enough performers to fill the program, but Garcia was flooded with calls during the week and this year's program had the same amount of performers as it had in prior years. Despite the same number of performers, this year's program lasted under an hour and a half, compared to last year's two-hour program. Garcia said she tried to limit the performers to one song and only had the congregation sing one hymn to shorten the program and make it flow better. She said she knew she made the right decision while watching an attentive group of young children quietly sitting during the program. "They watched everything. There was not one disturbance," she said.

The program started with the St. Regis-Superior Community Orchestra playing a 20-minute prelude and ended with the Community Choir leading the congregation in "Silent Night," as the lights dimmed. Garcia said she never judges the performers, but the standing ovation at the end of the program spoke to the quality of performers at the program.

Denley Loge started the program with a trombone solo. He was followed by the Fourth Day Ladies Group singing "Come and Find the Quiet Time." Hannah Hollenback performed a piano solo of "Away in the Manger." She was followed by Manny Ruiz's and Kelly Garcia's guitar and mandola duet. Carol Bidwell then read "Let Us Live Christmas Day," and the LDS Youth Group sang "O Little Town of Bethlehem." Gail Chamberlain performed a vocal solo and Tamara Williams performed a cello solo. The Superior United Methodist Choir sang "We Want To Be Ready," and Darlene Kincaid read her "At Christmas Time." Kincaid was followed by Cary Chamberlain's "Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine," piano solo. Jamie Gibbons then sang "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," while George Regan played guitar. After a performance of "Good King Wenceslas," Dee Clement and J.T. McCellan sang "Little Drummer Boy," as Judy Seemann beat the drum and Amy Farris played piano. Ruiz then sang his original composition "Christmas Time," and Diana Betts played two piano solos. The Community Choir finished the night by singing "Beautiful Savior," and "Who Is He," before leading the congregation in "Silent Night."