Belvoir celebrates with lights, concert, Messiah

By Margaret SteeleDecember 3, 2009

Belvoir celebrates with lights, concert, Messiah
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT BELVOIR, Va. -- Fort Belvoir residents, employees and local community members have at least three wise opportunities this weekend to enjoy the spirit of the season without having to battle traffic, mall parking lots or general, all-around, pre-holiday chaos.

Friday is Belvoir's annual Belvoir Holiday Tree-Lighting, which begins at 5 p.m. at Belvoir Chapel.

Chaplain (Maj.) Kristi Pappas, Installation troop support chaplain, said the event is an ideal time for family, community and the reason for the season.

"It is time to get into the holiday spirit which is about peace, love, joy and hope and the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ. The coming weeks are in the season of Advent, which is a time of preparation and waiting, for both the birth and the second coming of Christ, held in tension with each other," Pappas said.

"It is good to come out and participate in the true meaning of the season, which is the celebration of the birth of Christ," she said. "The Christmas Tree Lighting reminds us that we bring the festivities to both inside and outside our homes. We will have a visit from Santa Claus for the children, but we need to remember that he developed from Saint Nicholas, a fourth-century bishop who cared for the poor and less fortunate," the chaplain said.

Concert

Part of the tree-lighting festivities includes a teaser song from members of the Sea Chanters and Country Current, both groups of the U.S. Navy Band.

Chief Petty Officer Daryl Duff, Sea Chanters leading CPO, and instrumentalist Petty Officer 1st Class Kenny Ray Horton of Country Current, are expected to perform for the tree-lighting crowd before the groups' full performance at 7 p.m. at Wallace Theater.

"This is the first time the Sea Chanters will perform for the public on Belvoir," Duff said. "and, this is the first time ever that the Sea Chanters and Country Current will be featured together for their own holiday concert."

Duff said the performance will be of sacred, Christmas and country music.

"This is permanent duty for us," Duff said. "We are the official chorus of the Navy, assigned to the White House. We are preferentially staffed sub-units of Navy Band Washington D.C., established to perform for heads of state and dignitaries."

"I have always thought Belvoir had a great audience, and my Belvoir neighbors have always been curious about what I do. These performances will give people a taste of what we are all about." he said. Duff, a Belvoir resident since 1992, said he wants to bring the band's quality performances and the amazing talent of his Navy shipmates to his own back yard.

"We want people to know us and that we can definitely draw a crowd," Duff said.

Pappas said of the Navy bands, "The concert, A Chorus and Country Christmas, will help to get us into the spirit with both Christmas religious classics and the secular holiday favorites.

Lisa Baden of WJLA and WTOP is event guest narrator and Doug McKelway of WJLA will also be part of A Chorus and Country Christmas.

Concert tickets are free and are available from the chaplain's office. Ticket information is available by calling 806-4316 or 4317.

Messiah

The Belvoir traditional holiday weekend continues Sunday, with the performance of Handel's Messiah.

Mary McAdory, Protestant music director, said the Belvoir Chapel and local communities have combined their efforts - and their voices, for 25 consecutive years in the annual presentation. "We know this, because the soprano soloist's baby was born six weeks before our first performance of Handel's Messiah," she said while laughing.

She lauded the performance's professional orchestra and soloists who also participate in the annual event.

"This is our gift to the community," McAdory said. "It's a wonderful experience and a great way to start the beginning of the Christmas season. It's tradition."

Pappas said the Messiah is Handel's classic work which gets sung all around the world at this time of the year.

The Messiah performance is Sunday at 7:30 p.m. at Belvoir Chapel.

Information is available from McAdory, 703-878-0551, mzzmac@aol.com.