Do you remember what it was like on December 21 last year? The students at Aurora Middle School do. It was cold. So cold that school buses weren't running and most folks weren't travelling. It was also the day the school was supposed to have its annual Christmas concert. The cold weather stopped that too.
Three weeks later, in a new year and a new month, and days after Ukrainian Christmas — on the eve of the Orthodox Ukrainian New Year, staff and students at the Lac La Biche middle school brought the celebration of the season back to the stage.
In front of an audience of family and friends packed into the school gymnasium on Friday afternoon, Christmas came back to the community. Festive trees were on display, Santa made a visit to the stage and dozens of students performed the songs they had been planning before Jack Frost had his way.
It was the first community concert at the school since 2020, and even though it was a few weeks late, the students carried the spirit across the crowd.
Jingle Bells, Good King Wenceslas and the First Noel were just some of the festive tunes. Poetry and band performances also filled the hour-long program.
One parent leaving after the show called it "a belated Christmas present."
Other schools in the area have been holding their re-scheduled holiday performances as well. Students at Vera M. Welsh Elementary School held their show on Thursday, January 12.
