HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2011-12-22, Page 17THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2011. PAGE 17. Teacher spends 25 years on piano for concert
Cheryl Cronin has tickled the
ivories at and directed Christmas
productions for the Blyth Public
School for 25 years and she’s always
been impressed by the evolution of
the school.
“I started as a special education
teacher at the school in 1986 and
joined Shirley Vincent, a local music
teacher, in putting together the
Christmas concert,” she said. “Along
with Shirley and the teachers, the
concert was produced every year and
it was like seven to eight concerts in
one at the beginning.”
Cronin said that as time went on
the play has evolved from a mish-
mash of musical numbers to a more
streamlined event that was first
guided by themes.
“As time went on we would start
brainstorming themes that classes
would stick to,” she said. “Often we
would have a narrator that would
link the scenes together, but for the
most part it was just music that
shared a similar theme like
‘Christmas around the World’.”
Vincent stayed on until 1988 when
she retired and at that point Cronin
become more involved with the
productions along with the teachers
at the school.
The next big change was really
two changes; one situation that was
created and a second that was as a
result of it.
“In 1991 there was a library added
to the school and that caused a huge
shift throughout the building,” she
said. “The library was put on the
stage, so the concert had to be put in
front of the stage.”
As the concerts were usually
packed full with mothers while
fathers stood in the hall and
attempted to watch through the
doorways, losing more space to
create a stage on the floor was a
problem.
“It was already standing room
only, so with this change it became
more so,” she said. “Even for the
dress rehearsals it was always
packed and hot. We had great
community involvement.”
They only did two shows like that,one in 1991 and one in 1992, before,in 1993, then-Principal Al Harrison
suggested a change.
“He saw how packed the plays
were and how hot it got in there,”
she said. “He suggested we try to
move to the Blyth Memorial Hall.”
Harrison did the majority of thegroundwork according to Cronin.“He contacted the Village of Blyth
and secured the use of the theatre,”
she said. “We never had to pay a
dime for it, it’s been donated to the
school to use for the concert since
Keeping warm
Jeffrey Walden, left, Reid Button, centre, and Kiera Henry, right, were singing and keeping
warm on Dec. 14 for the final Blyth Public School Christmas concert at Memorial Hall. (Vicky
Bremner photo)
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MANY THANKS FOR YOUR
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Home for the
Holidays
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Away In A Manger
“And when they were come into the house they saw the young child with Mary his
mother and fell down and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures,
they presented unto him gifts: gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
Matthew 2:11
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By Denny Scott
The Citizen
Continued on page 20