Concert line-up includes ‘Dr Holly’ on saxophone and 7-year-old singer Delaney Pedersen
Nativity scenes will be the centerpiece of the eighth annual Nativity Festival this Sunday, Dec. 8, at First United Methodist Church in Jefferson.
The Nativity Festival not only celebrates the Christmas story, but it provides an opportunity to support the Heart of Iowa affiliate of Habitat for Humanity and its ongoing work to repair and replace substandard housing for those in need across Greene County.
The event’s tagline, “Everyone deserves a stable home,” describes Habitat’s efforts.
Public viewing of the nativity sets will begin at 3 pm. There is still time for anyone to reserve a spot and share their sets with others. Call Jill Lamoureux at 515-370-4785 for more details and to reserve space. There will also be a silent auction of nativity sets. Those wishing to donate a set for this cause are also asked to contact Jill Lamoureux.
A variety of area musicians ranging in age from 7 to 70-plus will present a concert of holiday music at 4 pm in the church sanctuary. Harry Ahrenholtz will be master of ceremonies.
Pianist Rita Rasmussen will begin the prelude at 3:30. At 3:55 the Central Christian Brass will summon those who have not yet found their seats.
A trio of new “acts” are included in this year’s concert.
Delaney Pedersen, 7-year-old daughter of Mary and Keith Pedersen, will sing ‘Oh Come Little Children.” Delaney sings occasionally at Trinity Lutheran Church, where her grandmother Rita Pedersen is choir director.
According to Delaney’s mother, she’s been singing since before she could talk. Delaney was 7 months old when Carrie Underwood played the role of Maria von Trapp in a televised live production of “The Sound of Music.” Mary and Keith recorded it and Delaney watched it for months, listening, singing, and dancing along. “She has picked up music quickly, singing along and making up her own lyrics,” Mary said.
Delaney’s “public debut” was singing the National Anthem at the elementary school track meet when she was in kindergarten. She sang it again last spring and also at the Rams’ home track and field meet last spring.
Delaney told her mother, “Singing makes me happy and I like when it makes other people happy.”
Saxophonists Dr Holly Van de Voort, pediatrician in the Greene County Family Medicine Clinic, and Kyra Babcock, band director at Guthrie Center/Adair-Casey, are also new to the Nativity Festival.
Van de Voort said musical talent comes from both sides of her family. She started playing sax in fourth grade when her family moved to Georgia. While in high school, she was a member of the Atlanta Olympic Band for two seasons, performing in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
She didn’t major or minor in music in college, but continued to play as a recipient of a non-music scholarship program. The scholarship required her to take weekly lessons and participate in wind, jazz, and saxophone ensembles. She found music to be “my way to get away from studying,” she said.
She joined the Augusta Concert Band when she went to medical school. “The band was a way to provide balance in my life,” she said. She played in the band for 10 years until moving from Augusta.
Her next home was in Athens, GA. There she stayed involved in music with her church and a community choir.
After moving to Jefferson last summer, Pastor Julie Poulsen asked her to play in a concert at the Methodist church. She connected with Kyra Babcock and the two have played duets at church.
Babcock will also be part of Brass Times Five, a three-generation ensemble counting music teachers and their students as generations. Babcock’s major instrument is French horn; Brass Times Five is a French horn quintet.
Playing with Babcock will be Victoria Chargo, one of her students when she taught at J-S during the 2006-07 school year. Chargo is band director at Audubon High School. The third “generation” is Audubon junior Anna Campbell, a member of the 2019 All-State Orchestra. Greene County High School senior Mitchell Stevens, a member of the 2019 All-State Band, will play, as will GrCo HS band director Wes Anderson. Babcock is also a mentor to Stevens, as they both play in the Carroll Symphony.
All three Greene County All-State members will perform as part of a woodwind quintet. Kaitlin Tjostem and Jacob Hanson were in the All-State Chorus. They’ll play oboe and clarinet, respectively, in the woodwind quintet, along with Stevens. Rounding out the quintet will be Emily Hofer on flute and 2017 All-Stater Kassie Lamoureux on baritone saxophone.
Also on the program are Joyful Noise from First Presbyterian Church in Jefferson, the Praise Powered Trio from Rippey/Grand Junction, Central Christian Brass and Tori Riley, who will again read an original poem. Gary Haupert and Jim Rose will provide music while Greene County clergy collect an offering for Habitat for Humanity.
The Greene County Singers, directed by Sheilah McGregor Pound, will conclude the concert. The last piece will be “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” The audience will be invited to sing along.
The concert will be followed by a soup supper at 5:15 and a pie auction at 5:35. Some of the best bakers in the county are donating pies for the auction. All proceeds from the free will donation supper, the pie auction, and a silent auction of select nativity sets will benefit Habitat for Humanity.
“The Nativity Festival is our only public fundraising event for the year,” said executive director Jeff Lamoureux. “We always look forward to it not only for the money it raises, but also because it gives us a chance to talk about the good work Habitat for Humanity does in the county. We hope to see many familiar and new faces at the festival.”
