The Ben Lomond community turned out en masse to the village’s Christmas carols at the War Memorial Hall on Monday night.
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Church choristers and local schoolkids had spent weeks rehearsing for the night – and the event, organisers Julie Stride and Nancy Prisk said, was a success.
“Singing is such a wonderful thing,” Julie said. “The community get-together was a great opportunity for people to enjoy themselves.”
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The Christmas Carols have been held in Ben Lomond for more than 20 years, and the Combined Churches Choir has been coming for 15 of them.
“They really add to the joyousness,” Nancy said. “All the people really appreciate it.”
This year, Ben Lomond Public School students were invited to take part. They donned paper antler hats, Christmassy T-shirts, and big smiles to sing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
"It was a really great community event, and the students had an absolute ball," principal Kirsten Reim said.
The kids chose the version of the carol they wanted to sing, and rehearsed for the last fortnight with music teacher Tanya Fiddell.
"Community involvement is really important to our little school," Ms Reim said, "so we thought we'd come on over, sing carols, and be involved in the night."
“We’re so happy to have the children here tonight,” Nancy said. “They really enjoyed it! Hopefully they’ll come again in future years.”
Brigitte Burridge, whose children attend the Ben Lomond school, called the carols a true community event.
“The carols bring everybody together in good spirit and goodwill,” she said.
“People love listening to that music, and catching up over a cup of tea and something to eat afterwards. It’s very connecting.”
The Rev. Mark Evers, from St James’ Anglican Church, Guyra, led the service, at short notice.
Beth White and Dorothy Every read from the Bible.
The Combined Churches Choir also performed at St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church, Guyra, on Sunday night.
The choir is interdenominational; its 22 members live around the Guyra area, including Ben Lomond.
Choristers include Guyra resident and WWII veteran Ron Vickress, and retiring Hunter New England Health Tablelands sector general manager Wendy Mulligan. Their longest-serving member may be Kevin Harman, of Guyra.
The choir also gained four new singers this year.
“We're always looking out for new people, especially younger people,” Julie Stride said.
“We’re not too serious; we’re a mixed bag of people – but we all enjoy singing.”