More than 1000 people attended Carols by Candlelight at Woronora Memorial Park on Saturday, December 9 making it the biggest in the five year history of the event.
Clear skies and warm weather made it a enjoyable evening allowing families and friends from the community to celebrate the spirit of Christmas under the stars.
And the carols concert raised $1247.00 plus four crates of toys and food which were donated for Anglicare Toys’n’Tucker to go to families who may otherwise go without.
Woronora Memorial Park was one of the first of the major cemeteries in Australia to support Carols by Candlelight.
Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust in NSW chief executive officer, Graham Boyd said that many parents and grandparents took the opportunity to dance with children while singing along with the ‘Christmas Crackers’, and the staff, family and friends from Woronora Memorial Park and White Lady joined in the Christmas Spirit.
A special appearance from the Flamingo Dancing Santa was a highlight for the children, he performed on stage to the Carol classics, and then greeted kids for pictures on his throne.
“In fact, the line up was so large it exceeded 50 metres,” Mr Boyd said.
Face painting, free sausage sizzle, coffee, and cold drinks and Christmas sweets handed out.
Many families who attended the event bought their own food, blankets and drinks and enjoyed a picnic on the lawn while listening to the angelic voices of the ‘Christmas Crackers’ reciting many favourite traditional Christmas Carols.
A “manger scene” was on display, highlighting the wise men who had been inspired by the Star of 2,000 years ago to visit Bethlehem.
During the evening, Woronora Memorial Park staff gave away over half a tonne of Christmas bush which came from 24 flamed-coloured trees in the cemetery.
“In the early days of modern Australia, there was no tinsel, coloured decorations were few and far between and if you were lucky, you might have been able to obtain a holly plant imported from overseas with which to decorate a room,” Mr Boyd said.
“Something which many could access was Christmas bush, named for its vibrant colours during this special season of the year. For many early European settlers, certain native plants became special reminders of Christmas, especially for the aptly named Christmas bush. For several years Woronora Memorial Park has harvested some of its Christmas bush and given it away.”
Graham Boyd said he spoke to a young father with his young son in the queue waiting to see Santa, and the dad told Mr Boyd that, after Carols finished, he and his son were going to visit his three-year-old boy whose home is now in one of the special children’s areas in the cemetery.
He was going to visit, to wish his son a Christmas greeting, and to reflect under a star filled evening. Mr Boyd recalled during the evening of Carols how all the stars that stand so far away, and particularly the natal star for which the first Christmas is famous, reminds of something more, of something higher, of spiritual hope.
“Christmas is all about hope, and the words of traditional Carols reminds of incredible hope through a baby boy child who changed the world forever,” Mr Boyd said.
