Choirs perform at Festival of Trees

An annual routine for the group, Concert Choir, the top choral group at Bettendorf, performed at Festival of Trees on Monday, Nov. 19.

Festival of Trees is run by the non-profit organization Quad City Arts and Festival of Trees is their fundraiser that takes place every year in November.

According to the Festival of Trees website, Festival of Trees “takes more than 3,000 volunteers, 650 designers, 3,500 CenterStage entertainers, and 150 sponsors,” and more than 100,000 people attend. The choir sang three songs, “The Winter’s Night” by Nicholas Myers, “This Little Babe” by Benjamin Britten and “O Holy Night” arranged by Mark Hayes.

The group is directed by Andrea Cooper, who worked diligently with the choir to prepare the music. The choir’s singing was well received by the audience.

“The performance was good, we even got compliments from the people who performed after us,” sophomore choir member Havyn Fish said.

The choir enjoyed themselves not only in the performance but also in the atmosphere. Junior choir member Eva Rasmer said, “The Festival of Trees is always really fun; it’s a good atmosphere.”

“We went and sang Christmas and winter songs and then walked around and looked at gingerbread houses and treats. The gingerbread houses were cute,” said Fish. “It’s a good way to start the Christmas season and be with friends.”

One of the Christmas decorations was a tree from a program called FIRST, which the Bettendorf Robotics team partners with. Robotics teams from across the Quad Cities were represented, including Bettendorf’s.

“It’s very heartwarming to see people gathering together as a community to celebrate the holidays,” said robotics member Sarah Rogers.