The final weeks before the winter break contain many holiday celebrations intended to bring a festive t one to the often-stressful first weeks of winter term. Preparations are underway for these traditional holiday events.
One traditional event on campus is the Hanukkah dinner hosted by Hillel. The dinner takes place at 6:00 in the Spears Common room tonight, December 7th. The event will include traditional Jewish food including the ever-popular latkes, as well as games. According to Jillian Ruben ’08, the head of Hillel, a rabbi will be present to lead prayers, and all participants will listen to songs and play games. Ruben adds, “It is wonderful that this year the dinner will actually happen during the time of Hanukkah.” In previous years, scheduling concerns have sometimes pushed Choate’s celebration outside the actual holiday. But this year, all are invited to enjoy the festivities, chocolate, other food, and games at the Hillel dinner during Hanukkah.
Another traditional event is the Lessons and Carols performance, taking place on December 9th in the Seymour St. John Chapel. Outside Choate as well as within the community, the program is well known and highly anticipated each year. Rev. Trister says, “People call in from all over town to inquire about the program.” Lessons and Carols includes performances by Choate’s Festival Chorus and Chamber Chorus, directed by Mr. Ralph Valentine, and sermons delivered by Rev. Trister, and Father O’Connor. The program was adapted from a similar performance put on in the Kings College Chapel in Cambridge, England.
The largest gathering of the Choate holiday season is the traditional all-school Holiday Ball. The ball is considered the single largest school event of the year, and is generally very well received by the school population. According to Jim Yanelli, Director of Student Activities, a great amount of time is devoted to considering all aspects of the ball, to help it live up to the high and sometimes grandiose expectations of the student body. Organizers must take care of components such as food, technical considerations, sound quality, music, and decoration. Action has already been taken in preparing the Hill House Dining Hall for the event, thought the most intense work will start the week directly preceding Holiday Ball. Yanelli stated that, for decoration, “We will be concentrating on a winter theme this year, with possible snowflakes for the mood. A new idea we started last year, the large holiday tree in the entrance of the Dining Hall, will be included this year as well.” The refreshments will, as usual, include chocolate fountains, which are very popular with most students. Other treats, some intended as surprises, will be served as well—one has been revealed as a type of chocolate chip cheese ball, served with cookies.
Once again, songs will be played by DJ Montez, a DJ traditionally popular with Choate students. Montez, who appeals to students because of the energetic atmosphere that he infuses, has hosted the Holiday Ball for three years. As before, he will provide a mix of music that students are accustomed to hearing, with seasonal tunes to fill the space in between the other songs. With December 8th coming quickly, involved personnel are working to ensure a wonderful experience, with student volunteers working in shifts on Friday and Saturday to decorate and light the fires. These students will receive a discounted ticket; the regular price is $10.
Another holiday event, approached with mixed anticipation by many students, is the Special Program on December 13th. When asked about the program, Rev. Trister responded, “It’s going to be Fun! Fun! Fun!” This event involves a show put together by Rev. Marc Trister, Mr. James Davidson, Mr. Joel Backon, Mr. Steve Glassman, and Mr. Dean Easton. The show takes a great deal of work, with long meetings by the producers, totaling to about 10-12 hours. According to Rev. Trister, though, the team has a great deal of fun with this task, and their meetings are very funny and enjoyable. Together, they pull clips from various sources, new and old, including traditional cartoon favorites. They hope that students will bring their holiday spirits and singing voices to sing along with the dancing dot on screen. The program, which will last about 1 hour and 15 minutes, is not a special dress event, because it is meant to create an enjoyable, unified, holiday celebration among students. Additionally, the program will include performances by all a cappella groups: Whims, Maiyeros, Milagros, Stonatoes, Kapriphones, and Lilith.
The first version of the current program was initiated by Rev. Trister three years ago. It was designed to be much more appealing to students then the previous style of program, which was more “educational” in that it included traditional events such as choir performances and speeches by members of campus ministry.
Soon after the Special Program, at 6:00 am, students will begin to filter home to celebrate and rest with their friends and families. The school hopes, as the roster of holiday events at Choate begins to unfold, that the spirit of the holiday season will be well begun even before the many journeys of Friday the 114th. And some students expect this wish to come true: Brian McDermott ’08 says, “This truly provides a great lead-in to my holiday events at home.”
