The Singing Christmas Tree

The 38th annual Singing Christmas Tree of Sweet Home, Oregon, is a free Christmas musical concert held in the Sweet Home High School’s auditorium on December 6th, 7th, and 8th of 2019.  The program starts at 7:30pm on Friday and Saturday, and at 3pm on Sunday. The concert consists of forty singers and over twenty Christmas songs, including audience sing along songs such as “Here Comes Santa Claus,” “Away in a Manger,” and other Christmas favorites. Sweet Home Children’s Choir will be performing as well, singing four songs before joining the Singing Christmas Tree Choir for a fifth song. Majority of the singers are from Sweet Home, but some are from Lebanon, Albany, and Brownsville. Singers in the tree range in age from twelve to ninety-four.
Sue Olson, the program chairman and bough coordinator, as well as alto singer, can hardly contain her excitement for another year of Sweet Home’s Singing Christmas Tree. Olson has been involved with the program since it’s fourth year, when her eldest son played in a brass quintet. “I was completely mesmerized by the lights, by the music —just everything. I just knew I wanted to be apart of it,” Olson explains. The Christmas tree itself is handmade by Olson and the support crew. “They’re real boughs. Cascade Timber Consulting trims alongside the roadsides, then members pick them up for us and bring them down. We’re very lucky the fire marshal let’s us use real boughs, we have to spray them all with fire retardant beforehand,” Olson says while demonstrating how the crew weaves the boughs through wire to make the tree.

  Board members meet throughout the year in order to organize the finest program possible for their audience. Rehearsals, the making of the tree, and decorating begins in late November.

Second year music director and conductor for Sweet Home's Singing Christmas tree, John Kluttz, leads the choir through practice in the decorated and lighted Christmas tree for the first time, days before their first performance. 

During rehearsal, singers in the tree practice using candles while singing "Candle in Your Heart."

Judy Stevens, the Singing Christmas Tree's rehearsal accompanist, is assisted by a page turner during practice several days before the first performance of the 38th annual Singing Christmas Tree. Bill Langdon will be the program accompanist with his son, Michael Langdon, as page turner for the performances on December 6th, 7th, and 8th.

Week 10 Forum

The best photo(s), I think, I took for this class were the photos I took of the Poetry Club. They stood out because it was much more difficult than I thought it would be getting good photos in an environment where they're really just sitting and reading poems the majority of the time. I learned that it's possible tot get good photos and stories even with "lack of action."(Poetry Club photos attached below) My photography skills were little to none at the beginning of the term, but I've improved way more than I thought I would. I know how to actually hold a camera now, and I've learned how to approach subjects and actually make people comfortable, even thought I'm there with an intimidating camera and seemingly endless questions. At first, especially with the first HUMANS OF LBCC assignments, I was super nervous and didn't even know how I should properly introduce myself without scaring them away.
Week 1 Forum "Goals":

My goals for this class:

To gain experience and knowledge in photography, and to get some of my photos published in the Commuter.

 I would still like to improve on my photography skills even more, but I have gained much more knowledge and experience in photography and journalism than I had before. I knew almost nothing. I also had a few of my photos and captions featured in the Commuter, so yay! I did achieve my goals for this class . . . eek!

Book Report

“It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War,” by Lynsey Addario was an educational, and thrilling read for me. I found the “Women Are Casualties of Their Birthplace” chapter to be the most riveting story. Addario’s telling of the African women’s traumatic stories and their strength even through their horrific experiences was heart wrenching and eye opening. The women survived kidnapping, rape, contracting fatal illnesses, and bearing their rapists children only to escape and find their husbands/families unaccepting of them for being taken against their will, and in turn suffered abandonment of the worst kind. I look up to Addario’s passion to show raw, unfiltered stories to the public through her photos. I admire her sense of moral responsibility when pursuing war zones -- she empathizes with the people and their stories, and respects the cultures. If I were in her place, I hope that I would have half the courage, empathy, and righteousness she holds. Although she’s sometimes shy and tentative with subjects, her passion for her photos always came through, she managed to get her shots regardless. I was able to use that this term. Like many others, I’m also sometimes shy when it comes to shooting subjects, and looking at where Lynsey Addario is today is inspiring. She has received international awards for her work, she’s a New York Times bestselling author, she’s considered one of the most influential photographers from the last quarter of a century, and much, much more. I liked her work with transgender prostitutes in New York in the late nineties, before she was a war photographer. She showed them as is in her photos, and they were obviously comfortable with her. I appreciated her open mindedness, and I also loved how they referred to her as “The Camera Lady.” (Pictures shown in Chapter 4: “You, American, Are Not Welcome Here Anymore”) But my favorite photos of her’s were the images that went with the stories that stuck with me: of the African women Bibiane, Vumila, and Mapendo. The photos are of the women in their homes, emotional, straight-faced, and suffering from illness, but resilient and accepting of Addario with her questions and camera. 

Bibiane, 28, South Kivu
lynseyaddario.com

What resonated with me the most in Addario’s memoir was when she wrote, “The women also put my life of privilege, opportunity, independence, and freedom into perspective. As an American woman, I was spoiled: to work, to make decisions, to be independent, to have relationships with men, to feel sexy, to fall in love, to fall out of love, to travel. I was only twenty-six, and I had already enjoyed a lifetime of new experiences.” I think it really puts it into perspective for most of her readers. It’s easy for me to forget how very privileged I truly am as a young American woman. I can receive an education (including higher education), I’m blessed with endless opportunities, I can marry for love -- if I want to, I can travel independently, and just have rights and freedom.

My Hometown

The Hope Center is a women and children's shelter in Sweet Home, Oregon. It's Oregon's longest lasting shelter for the homeless that has never received government funding. It's made up solely of volunteers. They offer Bible studies, mentoring, and aid women in finding employment.

A statue of two loggers in front of the East Linn Museum in Sweet Home, Oregon, honors the rich logging history of the small town. The East Linn Museum pays tribute to the history of primary people of east Linn County. Inside, you can visit a recreated pioneer bedroom, sitting room, and kitchen. The museum holds thousands of records, photos, and artifacts from early loggers, farmers, and families of Linn County. The museum is open to visitors Thursdays through Saturdays from 11am to 4pm.

The Weddle Bridge at Sankey Park in Sweet Home, Oregon, was originally built in 1937. The covered bridge hosts many of the town's events including fundraisers for breast cancer, the "October Fest," and private events such as parties and weddings. 

Keeanna & Penny

Keeanna Selby lunges her green broke five year old Quarab mare, Penny, at Windfall Farms in Lebanon, Oregon. Selby purchased Penny recently, just this last October. Selby has been a horse owner her whole life, Penny being her sixth horse. "The previous owners didn't put a lot of work into her, so she hadn’t really been desensitized to anything. She spooks easily, and I'm still trying to get her comfortable in a saddle. She's young and has a lot of potential though, she's very gentle and an incredibly fast learner," Selby says as she continues lunging her.

Selby successfully runs with Penny over a small jump for the first time. "She must be showing off for the camera, she usually just stops and goes around it!" she exclaims while laughing.

After Penny is comfortable with a saddle pad on her back, Selby introduces a western saddle. Selby places the saddle on and off of Penny while calmly speaking to her until she's relaxed. This is done to build Penny's confidence until she's ready to have a rider.

Week 7

My Hometown / My Neighborhood

Currently, I live in Sweet Home, Oregon. So for the "My Hometown / My neighborhood" assignment, I plan on shooting the most popular places in Sweet Home, I want to make sure to get people in my photos. I'm thinking about shooting the Foster Reservoir, A&W restaurant, Sankey Park and/or bridges -- where town events are usually held. I plan on checking bulletin boards, The New Era, or online for upcoming local events to capture this coming week as well. 

Photo Story Ideas

 

I have no solid plans for the photo story -- yet -- but I've been considering my local middle school, or high school, cheer team, since competition season is coming up. I also know someone who is going to be competing in horse shows, barrel racing and more, through this month and next. I plan on checking the local high school for their school plays, they usually have performances this time on the year. I could shoot their rehearsals leading up to the main performance, and behind the scenes. 

Environmental Portrait

Barbi Riggs is the principal of Hawthorne Elementary School in Sweet Home, Oregon. This is her third year as principal. Before becoming principal, she started her career in education as a classified teacher's assistant at Foster Elementary school in 1997. After she acquired her BS degree, she was hired as a certified teacher at Hawthorne. She was a 1st and 2nd grade teacher at Hawthorne for seventeen years. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Education from Western Oregon University, her Masters Degree in Education from Northwest Christian University, and eventually received her Administration Degree from the University of Oregon. She's extremely passionate about education and children. Her favorites parts of being an elementary school principal are mentoring teachers, and making sure children are getting the education they deserve in a safe, welcoming environment.