Christmas Time Is Here

It was one of those nights. One of those rare evenings when everything was just right. The Yesterukes arrived at The Woodlands at Furman for the first Christmas program of their season. They found their way to a lovely room and were surprised to see only three rows of chairs set up for the audience.

But there wasn't too much time to wonder why so few chairs. They went to work setting up, tuning instruments, getting everything ready for the show.

Residents and visitors began to find their way to the room. And come they did. Soon, folks were scrambling to pull out more chairs. Then they rolled in even more chairs from the dining room. People lined the walls. And the last ones to arrive stood in the doorways and listened from the hallway.

The program started with a few old standards just to get everyone warmed up. Smiles started to spread across the room when they realized the Yesterukes play songs they all know.

The band then began the Christmas portion of the program, playing for the standing room only crowd that had come to see what a "Yesteruke" was. 

The Yesterukes always invite the audience to sing along. And sing along, these folks did. 

They sang favorites like Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow and Winter Wonderland. They sang Mele Kalikimaka and Christmas Island, along with many others.

There were the kids' favorites, too. They sang about Rudolph and Frosty and Santa Claus. And the evening ended with some carols.

When the music ended and the applause died down, people came forward to thank the band. One lovely lady said, "This is the finest program we've ever had here." And another explained why there were only three rows of chairs at the beginning. "I've never seen this many people here. We usually don't have too many come to these programs. You really drew a crowd." 

Another wanted to say, "I've seen you several times and I announced today that if people didn't come hear you they would miss the best group to ever come here. You didn't let me down!" One man found the band leader to tell her, "You need to call Garrison Keillor. You are exactly the kind of act he likes. If you call now, maybe next year you could be part of his Christmas program." And the last gentleman only had a question --"How soon are you coming back?"

It was one of those wonderful evenings for the band and the audience. Christmas time is here.

Christmas Time Is Here, by Vince Guaraldi, 1965