FEATURESPage 8 Friday, Saturday & Sunday, December 9-11, 2011 The Chronicle-News Trinidad, Colorado

YYOOUURR BBEESSTT NNEEWWSS AANNDD AADDVVEERRTTIISSIINNGG SSOOUURRCCEE

It has been a beautifultradition for more than 20years. Sometime in eachearly December, 35 to 40adult citizens from thegreater Trinidad area blendtheir voices together inbeautiful harmony to offerfree Christmas concerts tothe communities fromwhich they have traveledweekly during months ofrehearsals.

It’s also something of ano n g o i n gm i r a c l e ,because tohave a cho-rus thislarge froma town thislittle isunique insouther nColorado.And tohave pro-fessionaldirectorsand accom-

panists capable of bringing40 amateur voices to a per-formance level, from a pop-ulation base this small andscattered, is somethingquite amazing that speakswell of the type of peopleattracted to living inTrinidad.

Year after year from the1990’s until today the voicesof Trinidad have neverbeen silenced, and thisDecember, as always, ourcommunities are receivingthe gift of song in celebra-tion of the Christmas sea-son.

With director DenisHawley waving his batonand pianist Joan Beaumontweaving her nimble fingersthrough the piano keys,sopranos, altos, tenors, bari-tones and bases will merge

voices together in harmonyto offer the public“Christmas for Everyone,”this year’s holiday concert.It will be presented first inWalsenburg at the ColoradoState Veterans Home, at 3p.m. on Sunday. At 7 p.m.that same day, the Choralewill sing again, this time atthe Mt. Carmel Health,Wellness and CommunityCenter in a private concert.

Then the CommunityChorale will present its tra-ditional two free concertsfor the Trinidad communi-ty at the United Methodistchurch, at 7 p.m. on Mondayand at the same time onTuesday evening.

A famous German poetand author, BertholdAuerbach once wrote,“Music washes away fromthe soul the dust of every-day life.” What better time,then, in the hustle and bus-tle of Christmas prepara-tions, to take time to washout the dust of Christmasjostle, let in inspirationaljoy, and by listening to theharmony of your friendsand neighbors’ voices expe-rience the true meaning ofthis beautiful occasion!

Program choices reflectthe title “Christmas forEveryone,” with songs peo-ple of all ages will enjoy, aswell as a traditional holiday

sing-along with the audi-ence mid-way through theconcert.

Of course there will betraditional carols such as“Carol of the Bells” andwell-loved songs like“White Christmas,” butnew to the audience will bethe opening number byJohn Williams, “MerryChristmas, MerryChristmas.” Also new thisyear is “A ChristmasFanfare” by LindaSpevacek,. A repeat fromlast Christmas (broughtback by popular demand) isa moving Negro Spiritual,“Sweet Little Jesus Boy.”

Jean Beaumont will per-form a solo piano piece,

“Behold that Star”arranged by LarryShackley, Bob Giordanowill bring out his guitar tosing a Willy Nelson hit“Pretty Paper,” and theNoteables will present twonumbers, “Way down inBethlehem” by JayAlthouse and “JamaicanNoel,” arranged by RogerEmerson.

Of course, the programwill end with that magnifi-cent piece from Handel’s“Messiah,” the famous“Hallelujah Chorus,” bring-ing the audience to its feetand filling the Methodistchurch to the top of itsdome with holy energy andgrandeur.

Yes, the TrinidadCommunity Chorale is atreasured part of SouthernColorado Holiday tradition,and has been for over twodecades. The concerts arefree, but generous dona-tions by those who have

been inspired by theirmusic have been keepingthis treasure supplied withmusic for next Christmas,and next spring’s concert,and next Christmas….

Speaking as a memberof the chorale for manyyears, I can tell you honest-ly that we receive as muchhappiness as we give oth-ers in presenting thesegifts of music to ourfriends and neighbors.

And we thank you foryour enthusiastic support.

Come share our joy byhearing us sing on Dec. 12and 13 at the UnitedMethodist Church, the onewith the round gold domeby the Massari theater atState and Broom streets.We’ll be in full concertattire and ready to enter-tain and inspire you at 7p.m. each evening.

Submitted by CynthiaBerresse Ploski

natan@hughes.net

Cynthia Berresse-Plosk/Special to The Chronicle-News

Sopranos Sara Ferguson and Deb Padilla inspect the official vest and tie worn by everyCommunity Chorale member in concert.

CynthiaBerresse

PloskiSpecial to The

Chronicle-News

Community Chorale bringing gift of song toTrinidad

DEAR ABBY: I recentlymet a man I love dearly,but I don't agree with thetoys he buys for his 10-year-old son, "Dale." Theboy plays violent video

g a m e sand isobsessedw i t hguns tothe pointthat wec a n ' tleave theh o u s ewithouth i mbringinga toyg u n

along. The video games heplays (unsupervised) areviolent and gory and ratedM (17 and over).

Dale is not mature forhis age. In fact, he oftenwhines when he doesn'tget his way. He's allowedon the Internet withoutsupervision, and I havewalked in and caught himsurfing naughty pictures.When I told his dad, helaughed and said, "Boyswill be boys!"

Abby, I'm afraid for my6-year-old daughter. A fewweeks ago, Dale decidedhe wanted to play "goodguys/bad guys" with her.When he grabbed mydaughter in a choke holdand held a toy gun to herhead, she became hysteri-cal. I have since had night-mares that Dale will find areal gun, think it's one ofhis play guns and shootmy daughter.

I think Dale's obsessionis unhealthy, and I don'tthink it's healthy for mydaughter to be aroundhim. How do I handle thiswith my boyfriend? I lovehim and would like tospend the rest of my lifewith him, but I cannotmarry him at the expenseof my daughter. -- PARA-NOID AND PERPLEXED

DEAR PARANOIDAND PERPLEXED: Howdid your boyfriend handlethe "good guys/bad guys"

incident when youbrought it to his attention?The answer to that ques-tion will provide you withinsight into his ability toparent his son, and whatyour and your daughter'sfuture will be like if youmarry him. If his reactionwasn't to your satisfaction,then you must place yourchild's safety above yourheart's desire, and youhave assessed the situa-tion correctly.

DEAR ABBY: I am adivorced, childless, inde-pendent and financiallysecure woman. I live hap-pily in my upscale apart-ment.

How do I respond tofamily members, co-work-ers and friends who con-stantly ask, "Why don'tyou buy a house and quitthrowing your moneyaway paying rent?"

I don't want to buy ahouse and be tied to a 30-year mortgage. I'm perfect-ly happy the way thingsare. What is a properresponse to those ques-tions? Saying, "I don'twant to" hasn't beenenough. -- HAPPYRENTER IN HOUSTON

DEAR HAPPYRENTER: The responsibil-ities of home ownershiparen't for everyone, andmany individuals haverealized it as bills forplumbers, electricians,roofers, insurance andproperty taxes mountedup. You might mentionthat to the inquirers,although your response toyour well-meaningfriends, relatives and co-workers should have beensufficient. A way tochange the subject wouldbe to say, "Now, let's talkabout something else."

Dear Abby is written byAbigail Van Buren, alsoknown as Jeanne Phillips,and was founded by hermother, Pauline Phillips.Write Dear Abby atwww.DearAbby.com or P.O.Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA90069.

Girlfriend worriedabout violent toysman buys for son

DDeeaarr AAbbbbyyJeannePhillips

By Tim KellerSpecial to The Chronicle-News

RATON — When then a t i o n a l l y - t o u r i n gMinnesota a cappella groupHome Free took the Shulerstage last year and leapedinto its opening notes, thefirst thought was, “They’replaying recorded bass anddrum tracks … that’s cheat-ing!” But it wasn’t so.

When the five extraordi-nary vocalists return withtheir Christmas showSaturday night, the secretweapons will be “percus-sionist” Adam Rupp and“bassist” Matthew Tuey;audience members willdevote disproportionatetime trying to “see” how therhythm section does it. Thata full-size band emerges

from nothing more thanthese musicians’ mouths issimply amazing.

The current tour, called“Home Free – Christmas,”brings a show split betweenChristmas classics — onehopes to hear them producesome “jingle bells” — andtheir most popular year-round songs such as “Joy tothe World,” the Beatles’ “ISaw Her Standing There,”Jason Mraz’s contemporaryhit “I’m Yours” (whichbrought loud squeals ofdelight from teens in theupper balcony last year),and the instrumental surfclassic “Wipeout” completewith vocal guitar and drumsolos.

Rupp’s percussionanchors and propels HomeFree’s richly-layered vocal

harmony sounds. He’stwice won the first placevocal percussionist title atthe annual NationalHarmony Sweepstakescompetition. When theband does the Beatles, Ruppactually sits at an imagi-nary drum kit and hitsevery skin and cymbal beatwhile Tuey plays along onan imaginary left-handedHarmony bass guitar justas Paul McCartney wouldaccompany Ringo Starr.The other three singers —Rob Lundquist, Chris Rupp,and Matt Atwood — fill inthe Beatle vocal harmonies.

Half the show’s appeal isits comedy: the singers arelaugh-out-loud funny.They’ve figured out that thekey to the audience havingfun is for the singers them-

selves to have fun. Onehumorous element is thatthe smallest member of thegroup is its “sub-bass”Tuey, and the biggest guy byfar, tenor Lundquist, hasthe group’s high voice: theincongruity adds to theevening’s mirth. At lastyear’s show, the packedaudience laughed as muchas it applauded.

Saturday evening’sreserved seat ShulerTheater concert begins at 7p.m. All tickets are $20 eachand can be purchased inadvance from sponsorRaton Arts & HumanitiesCouncil at Old Pass Gallery,575-445-2052, or at the Shulerdoor.

Shuler Theater informa-tion is available daily at 575-445-4746.

Cynthia Berresse-Plosk/Special to The Chronicle-News

Denis Hawley directs the Trinidad Community Chorale atrehearsal in the United Methodist Church.

Tim Keller/Special to The Chronicle-News

Minnesota a cappella marvels Home Free return to Raton’s Shuler Theater with a Christmas show Saturday night.

Home Free returns to Shuler Theaterfor a cappella Christmas performance