Enthusiasm for Christmas spilled over

Pat, Berney and I and Berney’s sons Max and Remy attended the first Christmas concert by my daughter Jenny’s students at Assumption Catholic Church in Walla Walla last week.

Jenny teaches music to all K-8 students at Assumption School. And she’s about to start her last quarter at Walla Walla University toward a degree in education with a minor in music.

I wasn’t going to miss the first concert by her first students. From K-5, each grade group sang well to very well. All of the kids were enthusiastic and happy to be there.

Assumption is a large building, and it was full. I thought that might intimidate the kids. It did not. The kids were well prepared.

Each group sang two or three songs. One group included a bell choir. Another group played a song on recorders.

The highlight of the evening was the performance of a boy named Baker. He is a second-grader.

Baker was the only kid in his group with glasses - black rimmed - right smack in the middle of his choir. His enthusiasm spilled over. So I leaned toward Berney and quietly said: Watch the kid with the glasses.

Berney started to do that and, as we both watched him closely, Berney started to smile and even laugh a little – as I was doing. Baker was so enthused that he often beat the rest of the group to the start of phrase. Each time he did, he realized it, stopped and waited for the group to catch up.

Baker’s group was singing the Gloria line of “Angels We Have Heard on High” when I first noticed him. Because of the glasses, he stood out.

But what really got my attention was the way he formed his lips and mouth like a perfect “O” as he belted out the Gloria line. His face was the perfect picture of someone singing Gloria.

The more Baker sang, the more Berney and I smiled and laughed. I was feeling a little embarrassed when the song ended. Along with Pat, we were seated right in front of Baker, first row.

But Berney and I got no break. The group went right into “Deck the Halls”. On the very first Fa-la-la line, Baker upped his game. He tore into the phrase in such a way that the entire church burst into laughter. It wasn’t just Berney and me.

At some point I think Baker sensed he had become the star of the show. But instead of slinking with embarrassment, he doubled down.

He went after the Fa-la-la line so hard he couldn’t hold the key. It didn’t matter to the audience. We were simply taken by his enthusiasm.

The song finished, and the entire church broke into an applause that usually accompanies a standing ovation. After the concert was over, I asked Jenny about this little singer who was really into Christmas. She smiled and laughed.

“Oh, Baker. He was like that at (dress) rehearsal today, but not as much,” she said. “I asked him to tone it down for tonight, but he went the other way.”

I told Jenny it hadn’t really been a problem. No matter how the day had gone for anyone in that church, this kid made it a great day at the end.