The spirit of Christmas will come alive in song within the walls of the historic Marys River Grange Hall Saturday night with a new event that its organizer hopes will bring a positive feel to the season.
The inaugural “Philomath Christmas Sing-a-Long” is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m..
“I used to have sing-alongs in my home years ago here in Philomath and a few people had mentioned how fun they were,” event organizer Yvonne McMillan said. “So I thought, ‘well, why not do it at the Grange?’ It’s just the same idea of getting people together and focusing on the positive things that we can have in our lives instead of, you know, there’s so much negative out there.”
A songbook entitled “Christmas in Song” will be used for some titles.
“We’re going to start out with some rounds … well-known Christmas songs — sacred and secular,” she said. “And then the last part is singing out of this caroling book. There are a lot of carols in there that are not as familiar so we’ll have a bunch of copies of books and people can just look in there — we’ll call out a page number and turn to it and sing it.”
In addition to group singing, there will also be performances by country music duo Lloyd and Janet Tolman as well as from a quartet made up of locals.
“We’re decking the hall and we’re going to totally decorate the place,” McMillan said. “There’s also a dessert potluck so people are encouraged to bring some of their favorite holiday desserts.”
McMillan hopes folks will attend in their favorite holiday attire — whether that’s traditional wear or ugly sweaters. No alcohol is allowed and carpooling is recommended with limited parking on the Grange’s lot.
For those in the community who haven’t noticed, the Grange has become a center for music and dance through McMillan’s efforts. Monthly programs include the Country Dance on the first Friday and the Philomath Bluegrass and Jam on the second Wednesday.
“I feel like they’ve been very successful,” said McMillan, who has also organized a Talk Like a Pirate Day celebration for the past two years. “On the dance, for example, we’ve got a new gal who is involved and she’ll be starting to help teach the dances. … The dances have exploded.”
Over the past two dances, attendance has been 73 and 53. The Country Dance nights have become so popular that there’s an idea on the table to offer them weekly instead of monthly.
The bluegrass jams are also going well, she said.
“We have good attendance and people are progressing and seem to be enjoying it,” McMillan said.
Marys River Grange Hall is located at 24707 Grange Hall Road.
