Even though we’re already getting a good start on the new year, I find that many people are still talking about their 2023 Christmas events. So perhaps I can sneak in this column about our slim history of Christmas concerts before the first month of 2024 slips away. 

One might think the Golden Belt Community Concert Association has had its fair share of Christmas concerts in our 85 years of existence, but after a thorough search of our records, I found only two of them in all of those years. One reason for an extreme shortage of Christmas musical celebrations may be that we have shied away from the month of December because of the many other local celebrations going on during that time. The Diamonds and Ernie Haase & Signature Sound have performed our only two Christmas concerts.

The truth is, I found no mention of the word Christmas in any concert on our list until I got to our 2017-2018 season. We’d had the Diamonds here before with their rock and roll concert during our 2013-2014 season. Singing their biggest hits from the late 1950s – “The Stroll” and “Little Darlin’” – they made a great impression on our large and enthusiastic audience.

The Diamonds remained after their show because we had invited them to stay for a formal reception honoring two of our board members retiring after many years, Joe Boley, past president, and Maurice Hammeke, our board treasurer.

We found the Diamonds in person to be naturally friendly and down to earth. I especially remember Jerry Siggins, who sang bass, and Gary Owens, who had become leader of the Diamonds in 1973, singing baritone and playing saxophone and flute. They were as friendly as they were talented. They also were friends of two members of our music community, Kurtis Koch, drummer, and Steven Lueth, playing keyboard, whom they often asked to play in their backup band when they performed in our area.

Fast forward to season 2017-2018. I remember the subject of a Christmas concert coming up as we were planning that season, and we discovered “Silver Bells and Diamonds” on the list of concerts available. Having the Diamonds play our Christmas concert was a unanimous decision. The group gave us a fun and upbeat performance with favorite Christmas songs and carols in the style you would expect from a rock and roll band.

I knew nothing about the Diamonds before their first performance here. I soon learned that the Diamonds started as a Canadian vocal quartet in 1953. Yes, they are an old group. Their first performance was a Christmas minstrel show in a church basement. I wonder, had they come full circle when they started their 2017 Christmas concert tour?

The impressive thing about the Diamonds is their longevity. As many groups might have fallen apart after a decade or two, the Diamonds kept going, and when their original leader, Dave Somerville, left the group in 1961, they found another leader. This became a tradition. When one or two members would leave, the Diamonds added others to replace them.

All of them along the way have definitely had the talent to keep the group intact and consistent in style. We have proof of that as the Diamonds are entering their eighth decade, and they still keep their audience wanting encores.

That was the case when they performed their Christmas concert for us in December 2017. Jerry Siggins, who joined the Diamonds in 2000, has retired from the group in the past few years. Harlen and I last saw him performing with the Diamonds in 2021 at a Community Concert in Oakley. Gary Owens also was performing in that concert, plus Koch and Lueth from our area, all performing with the same energetic style we have admired.

Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, who have performed on our stage three times, brought us our second Christmas concert in the 2019-2020 season. Haase, who first sang with the Cathedrals and later joined the Gaither Homecoming Tour, now leads Signature Sound, which he formed in 2003. Since then, the group has been performing worldwide.

Haase created “Inspiration of Broadway,” which our association hosted in our 2017-2018 season. Their next time with us was their Christmas show, “A Jazzy Little Christmas.” Singing classics such as “Winter Wonderland” and “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas,” as well as some sacred Christmas music including “Oh Holy Night,” “Silent Night” and others.

As usual they performed with a jazz combo exuding a fresh sound reminiscent of the Four Freshmen, the Beach Boys, and crooners Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. They always sing with a great vocal blend and shining showmanship. They topped their Christmas concert off with snow falling as they sang. It was a very realistic artificial snow and the audience loved it.

I believe we may be due for another Christmas concert before too long.

Linda Jerke is 2nd vice president and publicity chair of the Golden Belt Community Concert Association. She was Localife Editor for the Tribune for 22 years and was a communications specialist in the Office of College Communications at Barton Community College for 17 years before her retirement in 2011. She can be contacted by email: lindajerke@gmail.com.