SCHOOL CONCERTS

     I don't know about your end of the world but here at one time the school Christmas concert was the highlight of the school year. Now I realize that in many areas, Christmas is not celebrated but here it is. There are many traditions. I'm going to tell you about one tradition. 

    When I grew up in the forties, much of western Canada was very rural. Because of methods of transportation and distances, the one room country school was the major school organization. 

    So in these country schools the school Christmas concert was the major event of the year. 

    What's a school Christmas concert? It's a concert put on by the teacher and his/her  students. In the school I went to the highest enrolment was 17. 

                           In this photo I'm the little beaner on the far right  at the bottom. I was in gr one. I have my head twisted .

       In this photo I was in Gr. 3. I'm right behind the teacher on her left. 

    With a combination of music, skits, plays, drills and recitations all students were included in the performance. For these isolated areas it was entertainment and they saw their kids perform. 

    A farmer would go to town and the lumber yard would lend him planks to make a small stage and seats. Stage curtains were made from bedsheets brought from home.

    Finally the big night came and the show went on. All the time there was great excitement as the kids knew Santa Claus would come at the end of the show. They also knew that Mom and Dad were watching as well as the rest of the district. They were nervous. The teacher gave each kid a present and students chose names and gave the kid a present . The school board gave each kid a bag of candies, nuts and an orange. 

     With some good visiting, finally everybody went home

    Many stories about these concerts went on for years. My brother and I were teamed up to do a little drill to music. We were elves and had paper costumes and shoes. During the performance my brother stepped on a tack. When he stopped the routine he said, "I stepped on a tack." Loud enough for the audience to hear. I went over and pulled out the tack and we completed our act. Mom and Dad laughed about this for years. 

    Many schools still have some form of Christmas program but it has changed. There are no small rural  schools anymore.

    So at this time of year I look back at the wonderful Christmas concerts. In my teaching we'd have all kids go to the gym and we had music and then the kids were dismissed for the holidays. So some of the exciting things like Santa Claus didn't happen. 

    Merry Christmas everybody.