Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Carolers hit the right note in S. Florida
In an era when many South Floridians don’t know who lives next door, some happy holiday revelers are ringing their neighbors’ doorbells and spreading holiday cheer through old-fashioned Christmas songs.
Carolers are a rare find these days, but the merrymakers say they are maintaining a tradition that shouldn’t disappear with the advent of other forms of amusement.
Wearing Santa hats and casual Florida clothing, they parade through their streets, motley but enthusiastic crews determined not to let this December tradition vanish.
“We are sharing our joy,” said the Rev. Lawrence Palmer of Unity of Pompano, who led 15 carolers through the streets of Pompano Beach on Friday night. “We just start singing, and people come out of their houses to listen.”
Across the country, it’s become unusual to find carolers walking through neighborhoods. They stroll more often through confined spaces, such as a school or a nursing home.
Gary Keating, director of choral programs at Dr. Michael Krop Senior High School in Miami, led 122 carolers through the school’s halls last week. He also led the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus as they serenaded residents at two rehabilitation centers.
Members of Unity, at 261 SE 13th Ave., commenced their neighborhood caroling just last year, when volunteers began brainstorming ways to get homeowners around the church more involved in church activities.
Palmer said the singers, wearing red and green, walk two or three blocks around the church in each direction,
singing “Joy to the World,” “Jingle Bells” and “Away in a Manger.”
They ring doorbells only of people they know. These houses get a peppermint candy cane gift and a card bearing Christmas greetings.
“It’s a way for us to reach out and become better known in the community,” Palmer said.
Carolers from the Boca Square neighborhood of Boca Raton are already well-known, said Sherri Croyle, one of the singers. For the past 12 years, a dozen neighbors have strolled their neighborhood a few nights before Christmas singing a loop of just three songs: “Jingle Bells,” “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” and “Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer.”
Croyle introduced the tradition when she moved to Boca Raton from Wadsworth, Ohio. She began asking around to see if her neighbors were interested in caroling.
“So many people complain that they don’t know their neighbors,” Croyle said. “The unique thing caroling has done is we now know them all.”
The tradition among the carolers, who all live on Southwest 14th Street, is to not only sing but party, before and after they parade through the streets.
They wear random Christmas gear ranging from ugly sweaters to reindeer antlers to Santa tiaras. First, they “loosen up with refreshment,” Croyle said, drinking wine and beer and eating finger foods.
After the carols, they return to a different house each year for dinner and spontaneous music, with several men taking out their guitars. The party lasts until midnight, Croyle said.
Neighbor Janine Anderson has been opening her door to the 14th Street carolers for the past five years, when she first moved into the neighborhood from Virginia. She grew up in Barbados, and had never seen carolers in any of the places she has lived.
“I was a little taken aback and thrilled and excited,” she said. “We all stood there with our mouths open.”
Now, her sons, ages 8 and 12, think caroling at Christmas is perfectly normal and typical, she said.