Donegal townlively.com
DECEMBER 4, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LXV • NO 43
Festive fun at Community Christmas Night BY CATHY MOLITORIS
Need a break from the hustle a nd b u s t l e o f t h e h o l i d ay season, but still want to stay in the festive spirit? Head to
Glossbrenner Church for Community Christmas Night. The event will be held at the church, 713 Church St., Mount Joy, from 5 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 14. It will feature activities See Christmas pg 5
Members of the Donegal High School marching band after their championship win
Marching band soars to victory BY CATHY MOLITORIS
“We worked so hard. We rehearse a lot. Marching band is our life during the season.” division as well as honors for High Visual Effect, High Overall Effect and High Auxiliary. “Our show was about how people navigated by looking to the stars, the North Star and the constellations to find their way,” said senior Aidyn Zell, who plays the trumpet and is the band vice president. “We performed five songs at the competition.”
The show opened with a solo performed by Aidyn, followed by a second section that featured a solo by Sadie. Next, the band moved into “Follow the Drinking Gourd,” where a quartet of singers performed a traditional piece used to instruct slaves how to navigate the Underground Railroad. “They called the Big Dipper the ‘drinking gourd,’ and they would follow the North Star and finally be free,” explained Samantha Alampi, a junior who plays the synthesizer and is the band secretary. The show concluded with music focused on more modern methods of space exploration and aviation. “No other band had a live vocal part at the competition,” said Samantha. “Some had recorded vocals, but ours were performed live at every single performance.” The 30-member band performed in six competitions throughout the region this year. Last year, the band won first
Members of Glossbrenner Church with some of the crafts people can make at Community Christmas Night
Music at Donegal will bring joyful sounds to local residents BY CATHY MOLITORIS
“The series is a wonderful way to enjoy a variety of music on a winter Sunday afternoon,” said Debra Ronning, coordinator of Music at Donegal. “Music at Donegal is offered to the community free of charge as a musical outreach.” Each concert in the series will begin at 3 p.m. at Donegal Presbyterian Church, 1891 Donegal Springs Road, Mount Joy.
Music at Donegal will kick off on Sunday, Dec. 15, with “Christmas at Donegal.” “Holiday music will be presented by the Donegal church choir, the woodwind group valleyphonics, organ/piano music performed by John and James Landis, saxophone solos by Terry Millard, and a special performance artist, Luke Harnish, bass-baritone,” Ronning shared. “He will perform excerpts from the ‘Messiah’ as well as his own See Music pg 9
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See Band pg 4
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hroughout this past season, the members of Donegal High School’s marching band set their sights high - very high, actually. With a theme of “Look to the Stars,” their show focused on using what’s above us to find our way. They found their way right to the top when the band took home first place at the Cavalcade of Bands Championship held in early November. It marked the end of a very successful and award-winning season for the group. Coming off a first-place finish at a Manheim Central competition earlier this year, the band lost the top spot to a Pen Argylbased band, which squeaked by the Donegal band in the next competition to win first place by just half a point. Donegal wanted friendly revenge at the Cavalcade. “We were first in our division all season, so having someone 0.5 ahead of us going into the
championships was not a good feeling,” recalled Sadie Hakkinen, a senior who plays the clarinet and is the president of the band. “We were trying to keep morale high.” The band walked away with awards for first place in its