“Candlelight, angel light, Firelight and starglow, Shine on his cradle ’til breaking of dawn. Gloria, gloria, in excelsis deo, Angels are singing, the Christ child is born.”
So go the lyrics to “Candlelight Carol,” the final song sung by the MTHS choir at Vineyard Park at Mountlake Terrace, a quaint retirement home.
The choir visited Vineyard Park at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 11 to sing Christmas carols to local seniors living at the home. “Candlelight Carol,” as well as the event itself, was a massive hit among the seniors in the audience.
Besides “Candlelight Carol,” the choir sang songs such as “God Bless Us Everyone,” “Gloria,” “White Winter Hymnal,” “Mary, Did You Know” and “Count Your Blessings.” The choir successfully brought joy to the seniors through these songs that night.
This was the choir’s second year Christmas Caroling to the seniors. The event was organized last year by the choir and the tradition has carried on into this year. A choir student was put in charge of calling the retirement center, making arrangements and scheduling a day that worked well for the seniors and the choir itself.
Choir director T.J. Sullivan was extremely impressed by the choir’s caroling that night. Not only did the event go exactly the way he expected it, the main highlights of the event for him were the amazing soloing talents displayed by senior Olivia Donelson and sophomores Caitlyn Gilchrist and Ritika Khanal.
Senior Peja Shymko said the event was a wonderful opportunity for the choir to spread their music and do good for the community.
“I loved getting to perform at the senior center. It was lovely to talk with the seniors and share our music with them,” Shymko said. “It was definitely a heartwarming experience.”
The choir has been preparing for this caroling event since the end of October.
“The first month of school we just do songs to get us singing together,” Sullivan said. “Then, [we] see who is going to do what and how many parts we can do [for the event]. We were able to do nine parts, which was really amazing.”
