Augusta’s Christmas Carol Tour brings singing downtown
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ELKINS -- Officials estimated 70 area residents came out to help spread the spirit of holidays during Augusta Heritage Center's Christmas Carol Tour of downtown Elkins Tuesday night.
It was the second consecutive year that Augusta has hosted the event on Elkins' city streets. Last year the tour was centered more in residential neighborhoods, while this year's gathering happened right in the heart of downtown.
"It was bigger than last year and I think it's definitely the beginning of a tradition now that we've done it for two years in a row," said Augusta Heritage Center Executive Director Seth Young. "It was just a really great event and it was nice to see the whole town kind of come out like that."
Participants of all ages, experience and skill levels started the evening off at the Old Brick Playhouse, where Young and Augusta Heritage Center Artistic Director Miller went over some of the Christmas favorites that the group would sing during the outing.
From there, Young and Miller led the group, which also featured fiddler and Augusta program coordinator Tessa Dillon, to Elkins City Hall, where Mayor Jerry Marco and a host of others joined the crowd for several songs on the front steps of the historic building.
"I thought it was awesome that a very diverse group came together and went through town spreading the Christmas and holiday spirit," Marco told The Inter-Mountain. "I'm just very honored that they were willing to stop by City Hall and include us. For me Christmas is a very special time of the year and the spirit was very much alive with their singing."
After leaving City Hall, the carolers made stops at the Elkins-Randolph County YMCA, Jimbo's, Elkins Sewing Center, Fancy Paws and the Mossy Merchant. Young said the group was welcomed with open arms at each location.
"Everything went really well, I thought it was a super vibrant community activity," Young noted. "All the chorusers had a lot of fun and everyone we surprised at the different locations with caroling was just over the moon that we had that kind of activity going on. We sang about three songs at every stop we made and everyone just loved it."
The evening was capped when the carolers made their way back to the Old Brick Playhouse for refreshments.
"Everyone welcomed a cup of hot cider and some cookies when we got back to the Old Brick," Young said. "We were all able to hang out and enjoy each other's company."