The village of Maryfield has been the site of a wonderful Christmas concert for many years.
The brainchild of Maryfield resident John Van Eaton, the concert celebrated its 15th anniversary with the performance on Sunday, Dec. 19.
The story behind the Maryfield 'Spirit of Christmas' concert is one which helped direct both the concert itself, as well as the charitable direction in which it is focused.
The concert has its origins in a personal disaster that faced the Van Eaton family.
A fire, which had started in the family home, consumed both the house, and all of the contents, leaving the Van Eaton's destitute.
"We were the receivers of community support," Van Eaton said. "Now we work to give something back by raising funds and food donations for the local food bank."
In the 15 years the concert has been performed, the 'Spirit of Christmas' concert has been able to deliver much relief to families and individuals who have been in need of a helping hand.
"Last year, the donations we received at the concert managed to fill about 25 hampers for the food bank," Van Eaton said. "There was a blizzard last year on the afternoon of the show, so not as many people came as we are expecting this year."
Indeed, the weather seemed to play along with Van Eaton's endeavour, with the temperatures relatively mild, and the sun shining through the clouds.
Kicking off at 2 p.m. with a presentation by the piano students of Carlyle Veysey, the show hosted a total of 13 performances.
Young members of Maryfield's school made a presentation of several Christmas classics, as well as a couple of interesting ditties, like 'Santa's Coming,' sung to the tune of 'Brother John.'
Following the students was a special treat in the form of the Jacob Tiessen Family.
Emigrating from Germany in 2006, the family, which consists of father Jacob, mother Anna, daughter Belinda, as well as brothers Dietrich and Christoph, played several Christmas carols in their native German.
"We could do the songs in English, but everyone else is doing that," said Dietrich. "We decided to sing the lyrics in German so they would be a little different from the other performances."
One of the signatures of the 'Spirit of Christmas' concert has always been its use of local performers and groups to provide the days entertainment.
While some, like the Tiessen family, move away after a while, the ties the bind the community of Maryfield are strong enough that many use the Christmas concert as a reason to travel back to the village.
"Every year the number of people we get varies according to the weather," said Van Eaton about shows past. "The hall holds about 400 people, and we've had the audience as small as 50 to as high as 250 or-so."
"We're very lucky that so many people are willing to take part in the event," Van Eaton continued. "We get a lot of people performing at the show every year, even after they move away."
While the year was an undoubted success, the show ended on a sombre note as Van Eaton announced that this would be his last year organizing the event.
Despite his stepping aside, it was apparent that he hopes someone else will step in to fill his shoes, as he final farewell of the evening was, "We'll see you all next year!"
