Waterville Playshop Entertains With Songs Of The Seasone
BY BECKY JACOBS — MIRROR REPORTER
Waterville’s Zion Lutheran Church was filled with local residents who attended Waterville Playshop’s second annual Christmas concert on December 15. The concert was directed by Sam Macera.
Each person attending donated a nonperishable canned food or made a monetary donation to the Anthony Wayne Food Bank.
The program consisted of favorite Christmas songs sung by the adult chorus, with a few songs having new renditions.
Tom and Karen Wiggins created a new lighthearted version of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” causing many laughs.
Special guests were the Instruments of Joy. Jessica, Joseph and Julia Schuster shared “Winter Fantasy” and “Rock the Little Baby.”
The children’s chorus joined the program, singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” They were directed by JoAnna Umlauf.
The audience was led in a sing-along before ending with the adult chorus singing “A Christmas Blessing” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
Adult chorus members were Joe Barton, Annette Blair, Sarah Boss, Pat Dickey, Lloyd Everingham, Deb Harley, Roy Heinz, Elden Lee, Julie Oster, Inge Klopping, Joseph Schuster, Julia Schuster, Jessica Schuster, Diana Waugh, Gary Waugh, Karen Wiggins, Tom Wiggins and Matt Zwyer.

Six Area Children Perform With Kenny Rogers
BY KAREN BERGER — MIRROR REPORTER
While dressing up, getting miked and practicing their five songs, the six youngsters had the butterflies.
But once the singers from children’s choir of Northwest Ohio took the stage with country music stars Kenny Rogers and Billy Dean, all their fears melted away.
“It was exciting getting on the stage and singing with a country star. I love his songs,” said Faith Briars, who sang the beginning of Rogers’ “Closing of the Year” all alone under the spotlight.
The Fallen Timbers Middle School fifth-grader and fellow choir members Megan Maccariella, Chloe Knapp, Kathryn Roth, Rachel Koeniger and Drake Honaker performed several holiday songs, staying on stage for most of the second half of the concert, said choir executive director Lisa Alleman.
Because Rogers likes to have youth perform during the second half of shows in every city, his production assistant researched area groups and contacted Alleman after hearing songs on the website.
“I know she was considering other groups, so we had to compete in a way,” Alleman said.
Once the choir was chosen for the December 14 performance at the Stroh Center in Bowling Green, Alleman had the children work on the songs for a month.
But when the kids first learned of the opportunity, a few of them said, “Kenny Who?”
“At first I didn’t know who he was. I thought he was just a guy. He’s an awesome guy,” said Chloe, a fifth-grader at Glenwood Elementary in Rossford. Now Chloe said she plans to tape a piece of paper to the dress she wore.
“It will say ‘Kenny Rogers touched this,’” Chloe said.
The post-concert buzz at Monday night practice ramped up.
“Billy Dean held my hand!” Faith said.
“Kenny put his arm around me!” added Megan, a Toledo Christian School student from Maumee.
In one song, Kenny told Drake that he was lucky to be able to hold two girls’ hands. “Uh, really? My grandpa always teases me about that,” Drake said with an eye roll.
The staff put the children at ease, Alleman said, starting with the backstage practices.
“I thought they went in well prepared,” Alleman said. “Billy Dean and the music director did a good job keeping them well directed and having fun. When I saw they were so excited and not nervous, I knew they would be OK.”
The students talked about how at first they thought Dean was part of the stage crew.
“He was just hanging out in jeans and a sweatshirt and he was checking his phone,” Megan said.
Part of their preparation was getting microphones taped on their faces – an experience that Rachel said is “once in a lifetime.”
“Those mikes hurt,” Chloe said.
“I lost circulation in my left ear,” Faith added.
“I liked wearing a mike and being up on the stage,” Kathryn said. “You could hear your voice go out and come back at you.”
While on stage with the lights, the kids couldn’t tell how many were in the audience. But they were surprised to learn that it was just a few thousand, not sold out.
“But he’s a famous country star!” Faith said.
The girls flawlessly performed the refrain from “The Gambler.” Rogers shared his secret handshake with the youth, but no one would demonstrate.
“It’s classified. If you meet him and don’t know the handshake, it means the night didn’t mean anything,” Faith and Rachel explain.
All six hope to have the opportunity to perform with Rogers again. But Alleman said she would want to let another six get the experience if Rogers came back to the area.
The Children’s Choir of Northwest Ohio is in its fifth season, and is open to children in grades three through nine. Rehearsals focus on teaching children to sing with pure tone, blend their voices, sight-read music and sing expressively.
For information, visit www.ccofnwo.org or call Alleman at (419)-377-7710.