Even with little to no snow on the ground, the holiday spirit abounds in and around Omena. A high point of the season is the annual Northport Holiday Concert, and it did not disappoint this year. The Village Voices opened the program with a wonderful selection of carols, both traditional and newer. The Northport Community Band followed with a really fun mix of holiday arrangements, from a beautiful medley of the Nutcracker dances to “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”, where Kevin LaRose was the best Grinch ever. The concert ended with the Village Voices joining the band and the audience for a sing-along of Christmas tunes. Everyone gathered afterwards to mingle and enjoy a huge selection of wonderful, homemade cookies. The band looked festive in their Ugly Christmas Sweaters.
The winner of the Ugly Christmas Sweater contest from the audience was Vesper Cavendish. Vesper is a first grader at Northport Public School. She is the daughter of Thomas and Laura Cavendish, and the granddaughter of Mae Thomas.
Congratulations and thank you to all of the volunteers who made the event possible. It was presented by the Northport Performing Arts Center (NPAC), and their wonderful stage, sound, lighting, ticket and greeter volunteers. The Village Voices and the Northport Community Band are both all-volunteer organizations that put in the time to give us such wonderful, professional level performances. Many thanks to Village Voices Director Amanda Kruk and Northport Community Band Conductor Tim Willson for their leadership. Thank you to the Leelanau Township Community Foundation for sponsoring the concert. And we can’t forget the many cookie bakers who provided the refreshments afterwards.
Omena resident Gary Roll is a member of the Village Voices. Omena residents Joan Kalchik TenBrock and her daughter Julie Schum. They are both trumpet players. Julie hadn’t played since she left Alaska 15 years ago. In another small world story, her band director in Alaska was an Interlochen alum.
The next big Christmas event in Omena is the arrival of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Everyone is invited to the Omena Community Room at the fire hall at 2:30 p.m. for a sing-a-long and to greet Santa.
If you are looking for a reason to get outside since we can’t snowshoe or cross country ski, you might enjoy the 124th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count. It is the nation’s longest running community science bird project. The country is divided into circles. The count date for the one that includes part of Leelanau County is December 20 this year. The compiler for that region is Kirk Waterstripe. If you would like to participate, you can contact him at [email protected]. You can go to the National Audubon Society website to see exactly what area that circle includes. If you happen to live in or are driving through that area, you may see a lot people in their cars with binoculars. Now you will know what they are doing.
Happy Birthday this week to Georgienne Hammer, Alex Edgley, Hayden Dailey, who turns 18, and Karl Krusel, who turns 20. Happy Anniversary to Kim and Linda Kemper.
