‘Country Christmas’ Packs Lakeview AuditoriumThe auditorium at Lakeview Middle School was packed for Saturday’s “A Country Christmas” concert benefitting Toys For Tots.
It was announced at the beginning of the concert that nine large boxes were filled for Toys for Tots. At the end of the concert, elementary school choir members performing during the concert put toys in boxes in front of the stage.
Elementary choirs participating this year - Lincoln, Eisenhower, Madison and Washington - helped open the concert with gospel country singer Susie McEntire and husband Mark Eaton, with guest Grammy-winning country music singer Linda Davis, for “Let There Be Peace on Earth.” The choirs performed on their own to close the concert with “Joy to the World.”
McEntire said this is the ninth year for the concert and she said it was a pleasure to see how many people were in the audience Saturday.
McEntire and Davis were joined by singer and musician Jenifer Wrinkle.
Davis said when McEntire asked her and husband Scott Lang to be part of the concert three years ago, McEntire knew they loved Christmas. They as a family had a Christmas show in Nashville, Tenn., three years ago. Wrinkle sang with them at their Christmas show.
Davis said her family is the “Christmasyest” family she knows. They would go Christmas caroling when their kids were younger.
When McEntire asked Davis and Lang to be part of the concert, it was so easy to say yes because “any time there’s fun and Christmas and especially the kids, we’re in,” Davis said.
The purpose of the Christmas season came up. McEntire said it doesn’t matter how well a present is wrapped. It doesn’t matter how perfect the dinner is.
“If we don’t have the love of Christ in our hearts for one another, or we’re at odds for one another,” or if people don’t take time for one another, “if we’ve got that attitude, then we’ve missed the whole purpose of the whole thing,” she said. “And then we’ll look at the whole thing a week later and think ‘What did I just do? Did I take time for the loved ones or did I do just do the thing?’ The thing is not worth putting loved ones aside,” McEntire said.
Wrinkle brought up current events.
“I know we’re all having a good time here in America. We’re very blessed. We’re a very rich nation. And we haven’t seen war on our homefront for a very long time. But for the people elsewhere in this beautiful world that God has given us are not having such a good time right now. There’s a lot of things they need. Most of all, Jesus. Everybody needs Jesus. And they need love and we need to reach out and keep taking care of them. And I’m proud that America is the most benevolent country in the whole world,” Wrinkle said.
She said her thoughts and prayers go out to the people in Ukraine. “We need to be thinking about our neighbors, no matter where they are, and helping them as much as we can.”
Songs performed during Saturday’s concert included “Silent Night,” “Mary, Did You Know?,” “Jingle Bells,” “Walking In A Winter Wonderland” and “Jingle Bell Rock.”
McEntire and Eaton were scheduled to be at Leesburg United Methodist Church at 9 a.m. Sunday for services.
