Sounds of Christmas
It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas, but that sound is not just the same old fa-la-la-la-la. People all over Butler County are ringing in the season with unique approaches to caroling.
Among them is the Double D Misfit Saddle Club. Weather permitting, the group will set out on Saturday with about 50 people, two teams of Belgium horses hitched to a wagon, a 25-foot trailer pulled by a Dodge pickup, and a dozen or so outriders on horseback for traffic control.
"There's nothing we can't do," said Dave Bruner of Chicora, one of the original founders of the club and a member for about 12 years.
The Misfits began caroling on a smaller scale about five years ago around Oakland Township, but the idea kept growing. They now have a sound system on the trailer and wagon to broadcast music as decorated horses jingle along.
This year the entourage will begin at Oakland Township's municipal building at about noon and end up at the East Butler Fire Department at about 5 p.m., stopping periodically to throw out candy, give pony rides or ask to use the bathroom of residents along the way.
"The kids really like it. Last year Rick and Theresa Stoner (of West Sunbury) brought a miniature wagon and ponies. Bob Ivory Jr. of Oakland Township brings his little miniature pony named Charlie Whopper and gives pony rides," Bruner said.
For the past two years the group of carolers has collected money for charity. "We made roughly $500 for the Caring Angels at Butler Memorial Hospital last year," said Bruner. But the event is not without its costs.
"It's expensive because the horses need shoes since they will be on blacktop. That costs each of us about $200. We usually would be done riding by December (if not for the caroling)," he said.
Other expenses include fuel and about $50 for a pillowcase full of candy that Santa, portrayed by Larry Giebel of East Butler, will throw to children along the way.
Also nostalgic is the sound of soft guitars strumming Christmas songs around the tree in a cozy, dimly lit coffeehouse. That was the scene recently at the Coffee Grove in Grove City, but with a slightly alternative twist."Your sister's bangs, she cut them herself. … K-Mart is closed, so is the bakery. Everyone's home watching TV," sang Mark Estes and his classmates from Grove City College, who entertained at the borough's Christmas extravaganza."About 80 percent of the songs we sang are arranged by Sufjan Stevens, a Christian artist," said Mark Estes. He and his brother Tyler, along with Kate DeWalt, Jonathan Kuciemba and Nate Hupa, play around campus just for fun."We don't have a lot of time to practice. We have 16 tunes total and we did them all twice," Tyler said.Both Estes brothers play guitar and have been playing for about four years. Kuciemba keeps the rhythm going with a tiny egg-shaped instrument that sounds like muted maracas. The rest of the group sings, sometimes in harmony."We play a lot at school at different coffee shops," said DeWalt. The group was invited to sing at the Coffee Grove by a friend of hers who works there.Estes and his fellow troubadours don't have any plans to become professional. In fact, they don't even have a name for the group. Like many music lovers with a Christmas song in their hearts, they carol to contribute to the joy of the season by using their talents, and for an occasional cup of hot cocoa or, in this case, coffee.
Another group of choristers making the rounds, with 16 events this season, is the Grove City High School Show Choir. The ensemble has performed at the Legacy banquet hall in Grove City, at Grove City High School, for Grove City's Christmas extravaganza and at other venues.But recently more than a dozen members of the group found themselves belting out their holiday show in a barn to an audience that included more than 100 people and about half a dozen horses.Their sounds of Christmas were accompanied by chattering children, the blast of a portable generator and whinnying farm animals. To add to the challenge, the muddy terrain on the Dream Peace Farm just north of Grove City was icy and slippery."Hold my coat while I go crazy," said director Dave Barron to his wife, Beth, who was there to support the group. They were now about a half-hour behind schedule due to problems getting the bus up a slick grade and into the parking lot."I don't think they (choir members) can walk on this," said Barron, gingerly making his way through sod and hay toward the performance space as he decided to scratch the group's usual, more elaborate entrance.The students, dressed in tuxedo shirts, gold cummerbunds and red fur-trimmed hats, carted in green and red bins, a three-step riser, stools, microphone stands and a stereo system.They propped a glittery green sled against a fence strung with lights that was flanked by a wooden platform where they would perform. Setting up was hectic, but once they got started, everything went like clockwork."I've got the mistletoe … shooby do wop, bop bop, shooby do wop," they sang while performing some nifty choreography.Another comedic number had the girls wearing gold tinsel halos trying to coach a boy angel who was having trouble hitting some heavenly pitches.The smells of fresh hay, mingled with gas from a heat generator and the pungent aroma of chili and other foods in the adjoining room, filled the air. Children made crafts and filed up to the buffet. At the same time, some fed carrots to the horses while other helmeted boys and girls lined up for pony rides just yards away from the singers.Amid the activity, Barron watched as his students enthusiastically delivered their repertoire."They are a great bunch of kids. We are really busy, but we have a good time."Though most of their material was contemporary and nothing the general audience would have been familiar with, one carol was as traditional as snow at Christmas."Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way," shouted the show choir and everyone else in the barn.With that, an old-fashioned Santa, sporting a long fur-trimmed coat jingled in with bells on his boots.The children giggled and squealed with delight — possibly the best Christmas sound of all.
