In 1966, the state of South Carolina wanted to celebrate Christmas by the lighting of the state's Christmas tree on the grounds of the State House in Columbia in December. They invited choirs from all over the state to participate one Sunday night in Columbia for an event called Carolighting. The choirs were all supposed to sing the Hallelujah Chorus by Handel at the end of the program.
I was in the Junior Choir at First Baptist. Our director wanted us to have as many singers as possible, so we joined the Adult Choir for the presentation. I had never seen the kind of music we were going to sing. It came in a book. There were a lot of notes on each page, and the words were scattered throughout every page. Sopranos would sing one section and Altos the next. The Tenors and Basses had their sections, too. I was a tenor, since my voice hadn't changed. You had to keep your eyes moving the whole time, because the parts jumped around a lot.
When it came time for the Carolighting, it was outside. We stood on the steps of the State House along with other choirs. It was very cold. Almost every choir wore their robes from their churches. Thanks to all of the choirs squeezed onto the steps, our body warmth kept us from freezing to death. The program lasted an hour, and we had to stand the entire time. I couldn't feel my feet.
After the finale, we got to our cars and headed back to church to get warm. It was only a few blocks, but it seemed like an eternity. I got warm enough to head back home with my parents.
The Carolighting has continued each year, and the choir participation has gotten smaller. They can barely cover a fourth of the steps, where we had a massive crowd on the steps. I did the first five years of the Carolighting. First as a choir member and then doing handbells with Kilbourne Park Baptist Church. Thankfully, we didn't have to learn the Hallelujah Chorus on handbells.
