The holidays wouldn't be the holidays without tradition and for the last quarter of a century the Lima and Ada communities have found theirs thanks to the students at Ohio Northern University.
“It’s a really fun opportunity, especially knowing that we get to bring joy I guess, it’s such a wholesome show, to these kids in Lima and the people of Ada,” said Holden Davenport, 3rd year in Holiday Spectacular.
“It means a lot to our students, they look forward to being a part of this production because it brings so much joy and happiness to a lot of people,” said Kirsten Osbun-Manley, Resident Artist in Music at ONU.
That’s right! It’s the holiday season and the students at Ohio Northern University have been hard at work getting the annual Holiday Spectacular ready for the stage. It’s a short rehearsal window for the students, but the veteran performers know the drill.
“You got to be learning your music really fast, you got to learn your choreography really fast. But since it’s such a joyful and rewarding experience and it really means so much to the audience when they come out to see it,” said Elena Matchen.
This is the 25th year for the Holiday Spectacular and the students who may not be 25-years-old themselves, understand just how important this show is to this area.
“It’s so cool knowing I am part of a tradition, something that has been done at ONU so long and it’s going to keep going after we leave. It’s cool that we got to leave our mark, we got to sing these songs at one point and there's people in the past and future that are going to do it the same way,” said Holden Davenport.
"It’s more than just singing acting and dancing," explained Kirsten Osbun-Manley. "Our students learn how to be good citizens and how to be ambassadors for the university. They're role models and mentors to these young children that are part of the production."
While the students are excited to put the show on every year, some are looking forward to the day they can see it from a different angle.
“There's all of these beautiful stage pictures and all of these effects that I've really gotten the chance to appreciate being in the show. So I'm really excited to come back and buy a ticket and sit in the house and watch this show that I was involved in,” said Elena Matchen, 4th year in Holiday Spectacular.
The show runs this weekend at Ohio Northern then moves to Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center December 6th through 8th. Tickets for the Lima performances can be purchased at any Kewpee Hamburger locations, and thanks to the Shutt Family they have only been 5 dollars each for the last 25 years.
