We want to say thank you to the folks who make the Singing Christmas Tree happen year after year – a quarter-century, to be specific. This year’s event was one to remember.
A very deserved special thank you to Paul Rowton, the now-retired choir teacher and advocate of music education, who has directed the Singing Christmas Tree over those 25 years.
We also sincerely wish the best for David Dominy, a talented singer who has co-directed the Singing Christmas Tree for the past three years with Rowton. Starting next year, he’s going to do it by himself.
The folks who make the Singing Christmas Tree happen do it for the community. The event is free to the public and has been since the beginning, and it is a quality performance. We thoroughly enjoy not only the music but the theatrics associated with some of the music.
We also would like to congratulate Loren Rye and Cole Stumbaugh for the honors they received last month, being named to the all-state choir. Stumbaugh also made the All-Northwest Choir, an even more competitive achievement.
Both are, clearly, passionate about music. We are happy to see their success at the high school level and wish them great success as they move to larger venues.
Sweet Home has plenty of musical and dramatic talent. At the high school, these musicians form bonds and friendships that last beyond high school and the teachers they will never forget are those such as Rowton and retired band teacher Ken Collins, and before him, Ted Marshall.
Rowton’s last choir class honored him with a special performance during Friday night’s Singing Christmas Tree. Other musicians in the community remember Collins and Marshall just as fondly and talk about the influence those teachers had on them.
Those students graduated and moved on to other things, but as Rowton says, music is something you can do all your life. These former students are still involved in music. Unlike sports, you’re never too old for music. The proof was a 92-year-old man who once performed in the Singing Christmas Tree.
Some Sweet Home graduates are enjoying some success as musicians on a professional level – Joe Kisselburgh is one of them.
This community has long supported its sports programs. They’re the surest bet for kids getting into this newspaper’s pages on any given week of the year. Unfortunately, music and drama don’t always offer something for us to write about each week. But we like to make sure they get in when they do.
This community has been a bit more moderate in its support of local music and drama. Music, such an undeniably important part of life, has been one of the biggest victims of budget cuts in local schools over the years.
But it’s also the victim of things we can change at little to no cost.
For example, we recently ran photos and stories on a winter choir concert and a play. The reader board in front of the high school had no information about either event, just promos for winter sports.
We’ve also heard that some folks are complaining about the Singing Christmas Tree’s fund-raising efforts for a new scaffold, that the Tree is pushing its fund-raising efforts a little too hard.
We think the Tree supporters’ asking for cash is a worthy request. If you don’t think the Tree deserves help in improving its program, then don’t give. But think about how much this community gives to its sports programs without batting an eye. The folks with the Tree have been giving for 25 years and asked for little in return from their community.
We don’t mean to belittle our sports programs. They definitely have our attention and support. We look forward as expectantly to the upcoming softball season, for example, as Coach Steve Hummer probably is.
On that note, we should mention that turnout for the recent high school and junior high choir concert was excellent. The audience filled First Baptist Church, and there were no parking spaces to be had.
That’s an indication that many people here in Sweet Home really do care about local music programs. Just keep caring.