The Laie Temple Visitor Center is hosting a Christmas themed fireside from 6 to 7 p.m. every Sunday for the month of December leading up to Christmas.
“I think it’s a great way to kick off December and the holiday season,” said Paige Nemrow, a BYU–Hawaii professor who sang in one of the songs on Dec.6.
Elder Jean Priday, director of the Visitor Center said, “These firesides have been planned for two or three months in advance. What we do is we bring in different [musical] groups every Sunday to provide music around the theme of Christmas. Guests won’t be disappointed. The music is beautiful and will help them get in the Christmas spirit.”
The Southwind Celtic Ensemble, a band of BYUH professors who share a passion for performing Celtic music, performed Dec. 6.
The SCE has conducted a Christmas fireside at the Visitor Center every year for the past five years and also puts on a similar concert at BYUH in the same month, said harpist Rebecca Carlson.
The group consists of Amy Gold on violin, Randall Allred on guitar, Keith Lane and Russel Carlson on whistles, and Rebecca Carlson on harp.
On Sunday, the string and whistle group was accompanied by the drumming talents of Darren Duerden and garnished vocally by Jacosa Ainu’u and Paige Nemrow.
Duerden and Nemrow both work for BYUH while Ainu’u is employed by Kahuku High School. To kick the fireside off, Elder Priday had all in attendance sing “Joy to the World,” then followed it by showing the church’s new Christmas campaign video, “A Savior Is Born,” and invited everyone to focus on what feelings and thoughts the video provoked in them.
“[The video] really helped remind me that the gospel is worldwide and not just an American thing. It’s good to see so many different cultures made happy by the gospel,” said Mike Farnsey, who is visiting from Idaho.
Following the video, the SCE delivered an hour-long mix of original arrangements and Christmas classics with a Celtic flair.The program included well-known works such as “Away in a Manger” and “Unto us a Son is Born,” accompanied by several lesser known pieces like, “Tra Va Ruggit Creest,” “The Holly Bears a Berry,” and “How Far is it to Bethlehem.”
The SCE musicians chose to end their fireside in the same manner it started by inviting the audience to sing along to their rendition of “The First Noel.”
“I felt the spirit strongest during the last song when we were all participating and singing along. The thought of Christmas and what it means really flooded my heart,” said Amy Lund, who is visiting from Utah with her family.
According to Elder Priday, the next group the visitor’s center will be opening its doors to will be the Koolauloa Children’s Chorus, a vocal group made up of 30-40 youth ranging in age from 8 to 17.The final Christmas fireside will be conducted by a family by the name of Tonga, living right here in Laie.
The Tonga sisters have performed at Pearl Harbor, baseball games, and are all “very talented singers” said Elder Priday. “We should be in for some very good shows coming up.”