A real singing tree
Muskegon Michigan takes their school music program very seriously and to higher level than any other school system in the country. In fact almost 67 feet higher. The Mona Shores Singing Christmas Tree, which features a 220 – student high school choir and stands 15 rows tall, belted out 19 holiday tunes at a Muskegon theater this week and was set to perform two more shows on Saturday. The 67-foot-tall tree is adorned with 25,000 LED lights and loads of greenery. “The Singing Christmas Tree is 100% a spectacle,” said Shawn Lawton, who has directed the Mona Shores High School Choir and overseen the annual show for 30 years. The Singing Christmas tree is really a very tall scaffolding platform that holds over 100 singers from the local schools.
The towering tree-shaped structure has a hierarchy, with freshmen near the bottom, sophomores and juniors in the middle and seniors above them. The very top, just underneath the star, typically is reserved for the “tree angel,” a student chosen by Lawton who “is not your top singer” but has “all the heart.” This year’s pick is senior Makenzie Aney, who uses a wheelchair and performs at the base of the tree, close to the front of the stage. “It makes me real happy and excited and joyful,” Aney said of being selected this year’s tree angel. A 50-member Mona Shores High student orchestra surrounds the tree and a small army of parents and other volunteers makes sure all goes smoothly, both on the ground and in the tree (in the second video below).
The Singing Christmas Tree has been a holiday must-see for area residents for many years. But it increasingly draws fans from other states and even countries, with videos of past performances viewable online (3rd video below). “It’s become a bucket list item for a lot of people,” said Lawton, who is marking his final holiday season in charge of the performance. “Being a part of (the show) has been such a reward,” Shawn Lawton said. “And I am going to really miss that.”
Warning!
Some experts warn against listening to music with a high rate of beats per minute, or BPMs, while headed over the river and through the woods this holiday season. A study from the South China University Of Technology (SCUT) found songs with a BPM greater than 120 guilty of encouraging dangerous driving habits. The findings were compiled using information from the SCUT study that suggested that these types of spirited songs may increase accidents on the road. 1950’s “Frosty The Snowman,” first recorded by Gene Autry — and later that year, Jimmy Durante — was named by Insuranceopedia as “the most dangerous” to drive to, skidding to number one with a potentially crazy-making 172 BPM…
Don’t go “Thumpity, thump, thump” by singing while driving.
Christmas music to your ears
My wife told me to get out of the house because I can’t stop muttering Christmas songs.
I said, “But Baby, it’s cold outside.”
Do you know what would have happened if it had been three Wise Women instead of three Wise Men that came at Christmas? They would have asked for directions, they would have arrived on time, they would help deliver the baby, they would have cleaned the stable, they would have made a casserole, they would have brought practical gifts and there would be peace on earth.
I wrapped my Christmas presents early this year, but I used the wrong paper. See, the paper I used said “Happy Birthday” on it and I didn’t want to waste it, so I just wrote “Jesus” after every sentence.
Q: What is the difference between the Christmas alphabet and the ordinary alphabet?
A: The Christmas alphabet has Noel.
December 9th Birthdays
1934 – Judi Dench, 1970 – Kara Dio Guardi, 1962 – Felicity Huffman, 1969 – Lori Greiner
1977 – Shayne Graham, 1953 – John Malkovich, 1980 – Simon Helberg, 1957 – Donny Osmond