This Christmas season, the Callaway Singers will perform songs with messages that inspire hope, peace and harmony, with a few notable Christmas carols in the mix.
The Callaway Singers Community Choir has been rehearsing since the first week in September to bring the community two concerts. This year, the choir boasts 50 voices from throughout the county (with a few defectors from Boone and Cole counties,) and is under the direction of Marlene Railton.
"The selection of songs this season has everything to do with being thankful for the many things in our everyday lives that we so easily overlook," Railton said. "Our lives sometimes get so hectic, that we forget to slow down and enjoy, appreciate and be thankful. And with the world environment being terribly divisive, I thought a concert promoting unity, harmony and unconditional love would be inspiring and contagious."
The concerts will be 2 p.m. Dec. 3 and 7 p.m. Dec. 7 in Dulany Auditorium at William Woods University. They are free and open to the public.
This season, the Callaway Singers will have special guests. Railton invited the Fulton High School Chamber Singers, under the direction of Laurey Lehman, to collaborate on two songs, filling the stage with 75 voices. Lehman, who will be directing "Thankful," said her FHS students are very excited.
"It's been a joy to bring these talented high school singers into a group of adult voices," Lehman said. "Rehearsals have been energetic and filled with beautiful harmonies."
For the past four concerts, the Callaway Singers have selected a local nonprofit organization to be the recipient of half of the free-will door donation proceeds. Recipients to date have been Central Missouri Honor Flight, the VFW, Faith Maternity and the Fulton Public Schools Foundation.
This year, the choir chose the Back Pack Buddy Program. According to the Rev. Bill Nigus, of Central Christian Church, more than 300 students in Callaway County are in need of weekend food supplies. It costs $180 to supply one student (throughout the entire school year) with food supplies. There is limited seating. Handicap accessibility is on the north side of Dulany Auditorium.