Giving Delafield a Dose of KMHS-NHS Cheer

On a handsome winter evening, a week before Christmas, Irene and I noticed how many people were sprinting about frantically trying to get ready for the holiday. This did not seem right to us, we realized that everyone was so wrapped up in their own seprate lives that they were forgetting to have fun, be cherry, and grateful. So, naturally we decided the best way to remind those unfortunate souls was through expression of song and festive music, within the community of Delafield, Wisconsin.

We decided to do this when we realized how serious everyone was while shopping, rushing to look for gifts, turning the holiday into a time of stress. We decided that we needed to change this and remind local shoppers that holidays are not just about shopping for last minute gifts, but about cheer, love and family. This is what we represented in our fantastic song choice and friendly atmosphere

Our project went off with out a hitch, Irene supplied many instruments, I supplied the good looks and contributed my guitar skills, Tom Hogaurd played his trumpet to add some well needed extra texture to the songs, while Olivia, Tess, and Anna Weinkauf made us actually sound good when we sang. We then treked around Delafield making stops at Sports Authority, Marshals, Sentry, Emperor's Kitchen, Water Street Brewery, Panera, Noodles and company, and finally capping it off with some stops in Irene's neighborhood. We received many encores as well as generous tips for returning light-hearted spirits to local shoppers, which at the end of the night were collected and given to the Salvation Army.

While looking out onto all the smiles we put on the faces of these shoppers I learned how much poeple have grown out of touch from the real holiday spirit. People should be emulating the gratefulness and love that older generations once did not the stressful need to get gifts that will soon be forgotten, unlike the memories I made on that night. The goal of my group was to try and return this seemingly absent feeling of happiness and bliss to the community.  I believe this Goal was accomplished because of the many "thank you"s we recieved as well as the plentiful encores and smiles. This project really taught me that such simple acts, such as caroling, can have such a large impact on the lives of others. About a week after our project Irene came up to me and told me that one of the houses we stopped at, who appeared to be having a party, was actually haveing a get together to remember the life of someone recently lost. The resedints later told Irene that our singing brightened a sad night and made a huge difference in the attitude of the gathering. It astonished me that such a simple act of kindness had an such a large impact on the spirits of a family, we enjoyed spreading Christmas cheer so much so that we decided to go more times to help other families as well.