Carolers croon ... in 55 degrees

By Mary Carey
Staff Writer

Published on December 22, 2006

On the 10th day before Christmas, there were 50 people singing, seven brass players playing, four dogs a scampering, two girls doing cartwheels, one shorts-wearing cyclist, and a man in a Santa's cap serving hot cocoa - on the South Amherst Co-o-om-mon.

It was also 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

A tradition of an indeterminate number of years but at least a couple of decades, caroling on the common in front of the South Congregational Church went off without a hitch - and without any snow this year.

On the one hand, not having any snow makes it a little harder to get in the holiday frame of mind, some carolers said. On the other hand, conjuring the holiday spirit is what the annual caroling on the South Amherst Common is all about.

"More often than not, it's been really, really cold," said Nancy Torrey, who grew up in South Amherst and married the boy next door.

No matter. About the same number of people come every year whatever the weather, Torrey said.

Caroline Meyers, pastor of the church for the past year or so, and her dog, Buddy, were at the combination church and neighborhood event.

"You see people driving by and they'll just stop and join in, and that's very cool," Meyers said. "There's people of all ages, with and without canines."

Members of the pick-up brass band - call them "the brass band," they said - performed 15 tunes beginning with "O Come, All Ye Faithful," and including such old standards "Deck the Hall" and "Jingle Bells."

The instrumentalists did the heavy lifting. But carolers said there were at least nine good voices among their ranks. They were the ones who went caroling around the neighborhood earlier in the day.

Eighty-six-year-old Barbara Tiffany, who has sung in the church choir since age 15, was among the "good voices."

"Oh heavens, I don't know" how long the South Amherst Common carol tradition has gone on for. "I'm not sure I even know how it did get started," she said.

Her favorite song? "Silent Night." It's a lot of people's favorite, Tiffany said. Moreover it has an interesting story behind it, something about someone composing it because the church organ wasn't working, she said. She was going to look it up.