MUSKEGON, Mich. — It's not that an oversized tree
adorned with ornaments is uncommon as a student choir sings carols
in the days leading up to Christmas. It's more that the towering
steel tree is decorated with garland, twinkling lights . and
hundreds of teenagers.
The Mona Shores Singing Christmas Tree combines the usual
elements into an unusual show that will draw thousands of
spectators this weekend. The 67-foot-tall tree features 25,000
lights, 5,000 linear feet of greenery, and 15 tiers on which about
220 choir members stand. About 50 other students sing from
positions near the base of the tree.
"It's basically ... a bunch of choir students standing in a tree
singing Christmas music," said Brynne Wilcox, a Mona Shores High
School senior who is taking part in her fourth and final set of
shows, which run through Saturday at the Frauenthal Center in
Muskegon.
Freshmen are relegated to the bottom of the five-story tree,
while sophomores and juniors populate the middle. Seniors set up
shop in the upper levels. The very top is the domain of the "Tree
Angel," a senior selected by Shawn Lawton, the director of the Mona
Shores High School Choir.
"It's not that kid who's the greatest singer, necessarily,"
Lawton said. "But instead just someone with a lot of heart and
maybe has lived through a lot and still smiles."
Lawton picked two Tree Angels this year, marking only the second
time that's been done in the 31-year history of the show. They are
alternating shows atop the tree.
Wilcox is positioned just below the angel. "It's definitely a
little scarier when you're 14 rows up than when you're standing on
the ground," she said.
But Wilcox needn't worry, because Darcy Welsh and her fellow
"tree monkeys" are never too far away. Welsh is one of the two
dozen or so choir moms and dads who climb into the innards of the
tree and stand watch on platforms located behind the singers, ready
to assist those who are overcome by the height and heat from the
lights shining on them.
"If we have to bring them out of the tree, we have an area with
nurses, and there is food and drink," said Welsh, herself a Mona
Shores High graduate and a former Singing Christmas Tree
participant.
All of the 275 student singers made it safely through a free
dress rehearsal Wednesday night for members of the community with
special needs, the elderly, and others who might not otherwise be
able to come to the show.
Audience members roared in approval when the Singing Christmas
Tree — shrouded in darkness at the start of the show — burst into
light as the choir belted out "Gloria."
"It means the world to me to carry on the tradition," Lawton
said.
