Community Christmas Choir back in Russellville Dec. 5-7

RUSSELLVILLE -- The Community Christmas Choir, under the direction of Jamie France, will present its 13th annual Community Christmas Choir concert at the Russellville Community Center on Dec. 5, 6 and 7.

This year's concert, "My Heart Longs for Christmas," was created by Tony Wood, Allie Lapointe and Nick Robertson and arranged and orchestrated by David T. Clydesdale.

The ever-popular event is open to the public and everyone is invited to experience the sights and sounds it has to offer. The free Community Christmas Choir concert will be performed at the Russellville Community Center on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. Each performance will last approximately one hour.

"My Heart Longs for Christmas" features a 100-member adult choir, children's choir, multi-character drama team, visions of praise, soloists and various special effects.

Dinner will be served by the Russellville Community Center one hour prior to each performance. Salisbury steak is planned for Friday evening, beef and noodles on Saturday evening. Chicken and noodles is planned for Sunday and will be served starting at noon.

Everyone is encouraged to come early for a hot meal and warm fellowship. A freewill offering will be collected for the meal and all the proceeds will go to benefit the Russellville Community Center.

Christmas bake sale items will also be available before, during and after each of the three performances. These holiday cookies and candies are donated by the volunteer members that make up the Community Christmas Choir. A freewill offering will also be accepted for these goodies and all the proceeds will go to benefit the 2015 Community Christmas Choir.

The choir formed 13 years ago when three small churches, Browns Valley Christian, Freedom Baptist and Parkersburg Christian decided to unite their small choirs into a single 35-member group. Over the past 13 years, the choir has grown in popularity and size to include choir members from a variety of churches in northern Putnam, southern Montgomery and northeastern Parke counties.

In 2005, the choir's venue was moved to the Russellville Community Center, where last year more than 1,500 people attended the three-day weekend.

The Community Christmas Choir is again taking this opportunity to provide for individuals in the community who are less fortunate and will not have enough to eat this winter. Non-perishable food items will be collected at the door and then distributed to food banks in Parke, Putnam and Montgomery counties.

All are asked to donate generously for this cause. The kindness, consideration and generosity will make a considerable difference to someone in the community this year.

Anyone who enjoys good food, warm fellowship or beautiful, soul-stirring music that captures the imagination and opens hearts is invited to the event. It offers an opportunity to praise the birth of Jesus Christ through song, fellowship and celebration.