Over 200 musicians of all ages entertained a capacity crowd as Community Bank & Trust and the Habersham Medical Center Auxiliary presented the 2010 Love Light Concert on Tuesday night, December 7th, at the beautiful Torch Worship Center in Cornelia.
Called “an overwhelming success” by its organizers, this year’s holiday event continued a 35-year tradition of providing Christmas community choir programs for Community Bank & Trust and marked the eleventh year the bank and hospital auxiliary have co-sponsored the concert which ushers in the Christmas season for many Habersham Countians. This year’s concert benefited the HMC Foundation and proceeds from the Love Light campaign will be used to purchase new equipment for the Medical Center. The concert has become so popular and so well attended that the decision was made several years ago to move it from the bank’s Main Office lobby to the sanctuaries of area churches – perfect settings for the event that brings so many individuals and families together from across Northeast Georgia. This year’s audience numbered approximately 600.
Those choirs, choruses, and instrumentalists performing excerpts from their Christmas musical programs before the large and enthusiastic crowd included: Don Bagwell, at the keyboard, who provided music throughout the program, the Torch Worship Center Praise Team, “Cross Walk”, a women’s choral ensemble from Bethlehem Baptist Church, and “Kip’s Crew” – the 4th and 5th grade chorus of Clarkesville Elementary School.
Also the Tallulah Falls School Hand Bell Choir, The Bethlehem Baptist Church Celebration Choir and orchestra, pianists Mary Turner and Nikolai Peek, and “Mountain Voices” a vocal ensemble of men, women and children from five Northeast Georgia counties. The Habersham Central Concert Women’s Choir and vocalists Portia Burns and Megan Holmes also captivated the audience. The program concluded with an audience sing-a-long of traditional Christmas “favorites” – “White Christmas”, “Let There Be Peace on Earth”, and “Silent Night”.
“This annual event has become a tremendous way to showcase the extraordinary amount of talent in and around Habersham County and, at the same time, to benefit a most worthwhile cause. We are honored to sponsor the celebration with the Medical Center Auxiliary” said Jeff Fulp, market president of Community Bank & Trust.
“Our thanks go out to those groups who performed and to The Torch Worship Center for the use of their beautiful facility. What would Christmas be without music, and the old familiar melodies and carols of the holiday season? Community Bank & Trust and the HMC Auxiliary are proud to be able to help put folks into the holiday mood, and to show off this remarkable spirit of community unity especially at Christmas,” according to Dick Dwozan, president of the Habersham Medical Center. “We also owe a tremendous ‘thank you’ to the planning committee for this event: April Reed, Carol Dill, Evelyn McClain, Linda Ramey, and Bill Loyd,” Dwozan concluded. |