The Brightest Celebration

The town's annual Tree Lighting took place in the Nutley Park Oval and was held on Sunday, December 5 at 4:30pm. It is always a big celebration and Nutley is known to always be very festive in the winter -- from the school celebrations to the decorations, and, of course, the tree lighting.

Led by Mr. Stephone Gaines, the NHS choir performed holiday favorites at the event. “In terms of the actual music, we began learning our music back in September," Gaines said.  "By the time December comes around, we are in good shape”. He  says that the tree lighting is  more of a teaser for the Yuletide Concert, held later in December at NHS.  

This year for the choir, Gaines was happy to report that COVID-19 had less of an effect on their performance. Everyone was well-spaced and enjoyed themselves. This is how Gaines sets up the performances and says, “Before I present the schedule of events to the students, I go through all the dates, select repertoire, set goals and then plan around how we are going to successfully achieve them.”

Gaines elaborates, “It feels great to direct NHS choral ensembles at such important town events. While at times there's a lot of pressure to live up to tradition, I think that motivates us to push ourselves and provide our best work every time.”