Performance brings holiday spirit
From left, Alexa Lagos, Camryn Anderson, Malanna Hertig, Joely Miller, and Addalei Larkin, members of the 5-and 6-year-old junior company at the Center for Performing Arts in Carmichaels, sing at the Carmichaels Senior Activity Center.
Members of the Center for Performing Arts company perform a benefit concert at the Carmichaels Senior Activity Center.
CARMICHAELS – Students of the Center for Performing Arts in Carmichaels brought a bit of the holiday spirit to the Carmichaels Senior Activity Center in Cumberland Township last week. Vocalists from 5 years old to adult took the stage for the nearly two-hour performance.
“It is always our goal to have activities that bring the community and our seniors together. There is nothing better than events that bring the seniors and the kids together,” said Mary Bokat, director of the center. “It was extra special to have the kids bringing the Christmas spirit to the center through their beautiful voices.”
The first-annual event drew 125 guests to the center to enjoy the celebration. Half of the $10 admission fee from each guest was donated to the center. These funds will help purchase of various items, such as gas cards for volunteer drivers of the Meals on Wheels program that delivers hot meals to seniors’ homes, Bokat said.
One of the smallest members of the company, Alexa Lagos, 5, now in her second year with the Center for Performing Arts, said she gets a little bit nervous sometimes before a performance. That didn’t show when she and her fellow members of the junior company, including 5 and 6-year-olds, sang their part of the “12 Days of Christmas.” Lagos, mouth agape, sang above the crowd their line of “five golden rings.”
“She is hoping Santa brings her two front teeth for Christmas,” said Lagos’ dad, George, of Carmichaels laughing. “She is an absolute ham. She is always performing, always putting on a show.”
Susan Zalar, director of the Center for Performing Arts said it is children like Alexa that make her job so rewarding.
“I am so blessed to be able to watch children grow and become more and more confident in their abilities,” she said. “To have an opportunity to share that talent with the community and give back at the same time is a real gift.”