Residents gather for 7th Holiday Sing-Along

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GLEN RIDGE, NJ — The Glen Ridge Congregational Church and the Women’s Club of Glen Ridge held its seventh annual Community Holiday Sing-Along, on Sunday evening, Dec. 23.

According to Jill Simmons, a former WCGR president, the first sing-along took place December 2012, at Fitzgerald’s Sidecar.
“It was created by the church as a community outreach program to provide the community with an opportunity to sing the songs of the season,” she said.

But in three years, popularity caused the event to relocate to the club building.
“The Women’s Club of Glen Ridge offered to combine forces with the Congregational Church as part of their mission of community outreach,” she said.

A light supper was served at the BYO event which was attended by more than 100 people. The music was under the direction of pianist Tom Mustachio, the minister of music at the church. He has been leading the event since its inauguration. Lyrics to the songs were projected.

“In 2016, we moved from using song booklets to projecting lyrics on a large screen onstage,” he said. “After receiving two letters of request, the popular song ‘Dominick the Donkey’ was added to the repertoire this year.”

Mustachio said annual favorites include “Feliz Navidad,” often involving a conga line; “Jingle Bells,” with the children helping to lead the singing and “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” For this song, each table is assigned one of the 12 days. Guests then invent choreography to interpret that day. “A great time was had by all,” Mustachio said of recent sing-along. “Be sure to save the date for next year — Dec. 22, 2019.”

— Photos by Daniel Jackovino