Callaway Singers Choir Director Marlene Railton was overflowing with Christmas spirit by the time Thursday's concert arrived.
"Christmas music starts in my house in June," she confided.
The performance was her 11th time directing the Callaway Singers at a Christmas concert.
"We have some of the best singers in Callaway County," she said. "We hail from all over: Mokane, Portland, Fulton."
This year, for the third year, Railton said, half of the donated funds from the audience is going to a charity.
"Tonight we're giving half our free-will donations to Faith Maternity," she said.
Last year, they donated $850 to the VFW.
Railton seems to be the glue that holds the group together. Many of her 50 choir members said she recruited them to the choir.
"My husband Todd sang in a group with Marlene and she invited him to join," choir member Ann Crawford said. "I was the tag-along."
Crawford and the other choir members gathered backstage before the concert began. The prevailing mood was cheerful, not nervous.
"If you get scared, you can just stop singing and let everyone else carry you," Robbie Humprey joked.
A three- or four-year veteran of the choir, and a lifelong singer, she didn't plan on getting scared.
It was Bill Gibson's first Christmas with the Callaway Singers.
"I've been singing all my life, though it's my first time singing with this group," he said.
He was there more to make music than to celebrate the season.
"(Marlene) calls me 'Bah Humbug,'" Gibson said.
Choir members range in age from 19 to
"Well, oldest is a matter of opinion," Kelli Buettner said diplomatically.
She's been with the choir for four years, ever since moving back home to Fulton from Washington, D.C.
"My mom, aunt and cousin were already singing for the choir," she said. "It's part-family-outing for me."
While she loves making music, the chance to make friends was also a big draw.
"At my age it's difficult to move back home and find new people to connect with," she said. "Here I can connect with people who share in common a love of music."
She likes how multi-generational the group is - and the fact that under Railton's direction, they're actually a really good choir.
Before long, it was time for the choir to line up and file onto the stage at Dulany Auditorium. The audience of friends, family members and Fulton residents settled into their seats as the lights dimmed.
"Sing out with joy a new song!" the choir began, and a true Callaway County Christmas tradition continued.