This season we attended three holiday programs featuring youngsters.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Given the amount of time teachers have to slap their programs into place, it’s amazing how well everyone seems to perform.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We could, of course, wonder why every child sings the same thing for every song. Variation would be nice, soloists, for example, and perhaps a few different carols.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 By necessity the selections were secular: no more \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Away in a Manger,” or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Silent Night.” Instead, we got \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jingle Bells,” mega-doses of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Rudolph,” and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Frosty the Snowman.” This certainly is a secular season.<\/p>\n
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The programs timesported me back several decades, at which time the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed eight years straight, from 1946 through 1953, at our very own Immaculate Conception Auditorium.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Let me explain:
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Because Immaculate Conception was a parochial school, we took Christmas programs seriously. Soon after our homeroom teacher. Sister Mary Eyring welcomed us back, she went into her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153And now it’s time to start planning for our Christmas program” routine.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 After a dozen or more weeks of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Silent Night”-ing, we got to perform highly innovative and original presentations. Instead of standing riveted on risers, we stood riveted on the stage, which somehow accommodated every student in the elementary school.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Now, the appearance of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir might not exactly have been that highly trained group from Salt Lake City. Actually, WE were that choir, and some of us misunderstood when our homeroom teacher allowed us to bob for apples shortly before the program. What we got called was the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tub and Apple Choir.” At any rate, it SOUNDS a little like tabernacle.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Yet, no parent ever failed to believe that his or her progeny weren’t part of the most complete, melodious, resplendent, resonant choir on earth — or at least this side of the Gallinas.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I.C. Elementary had a few painfully simple rules for those choosing to participate in the Christmas program:
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u201a\u00acYou WILL choose to participate;
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u201a\u00acYou will be as happy and cooperative if you get chosen to be a shepherd as you would if you were selected to be Joseph or Mary; \u00e2\u201a\u00acWhen we keep you after school for rehearsal, your parents will be honored, not worried; \u00e2\u201a\u00acIf the archbishop shows up, as he has said he might, the first one to spot him needs to alert all the other students, and all of you will say, in unison, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Good eeeeevening. Your Excellency.” Each class made periodic performances in every other class, the high school, then the parents and some years even toured at nursing homes.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Attending this year’s schools programs made me aware of the manifold changes since the forties and fifties.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Not only did the parochial schools begin Christmas planning early, but the entire town did as well. And, with the exception of this week’s cold spell, Christmases were colder back then.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Around mid-January, when Christmas fever had dissipated, we pursued other activities.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Few people had ice skates, so several of us charter members of the Railroad Avenue brotherhood went skating on the Pecos River (yes, the Pecos used to trickle through parts of East Las Vegas), using our shoes. Once we tried gunny sacks.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Wilfred, the kid with the most ingenuity, who’d already read \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Tom Sawyer,” helped us survive a turf war when some tough boys from across the tracks accused us of invading their turf–which we most certainly had We were about to be run off when Wilfred whitewashed them. Quite simply, he explained, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well we heard — from some of the guys in WEST — that you guys from Pecos Street aren’t strong enough to pull us on our gunny sacks.” We used burlap bags and ropes to pull one another; the puller would run along the banks, while the pullee would enjoy the ride. Through deceit, guile, bluff, cunning and even bravado, Wilfred persuaded the tough guys to prove how strong they really were.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 As we showered them with assessments like, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, I think you ought to pull harder,” we got I good effort out of them, but some of the hairpin turns often brought us close to the weaker part of the ice.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We enjoyed some exciting slipping a sliding, courtesy of the East Side crew.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Unfortunately we did this only once, as the river soon thawed, and later, when we’d promised to return the favor, there wasn’t enough ice to support us.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Looking back, I believe the aftermath of getting dumped into the icy Pecos, or of becoming fodder for the Pecos-Commerce Street crew might have seemed benign compared to the consequences meted out by parents if we had chosen not to participate in the school Christmas program.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 And that attitude, I am sure, is shared by lots of I.C. alumni.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This season we attended three holiday programs featuring youngsters. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Given the amount of time teachers have to slap their programs into place, it’s amazing how well everyone seems to perform. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 We could, of course, wonder why every child sings the same thing for every song. Variation would be nice, soloists, for example, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}