Statewide Christmas carol sing-along coming to eastern Idaho

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BLACKFOOT – Idahoans across the state will lift their voices Monday evening in a round of holiday carols and residents of Bingham County have been invited to join in.
This Idaho Community Christmas Sing-Along takes place from 6 – 7 p.m. on Monday, December 21 at a number of parks and church parking lots in Blackfoot and Shelley. The sing-along will take place with people sitting inside their cars to maintain COVID-19 social distancing guidelines.
“We feel it’s a great opportunity for the community and folks of our faith and other Christian faiths to come together and worship together and celebrate the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ,” Dan Cravens, a representative for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints involved in planning the sing-along, told EastIdahoNews.com.
This multi-faith sing-along sprouted from an idea Meridian businesswoman Diane Bevan had during a conversation with her husband.
“A friend of mine mentioned to me ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could all gather safely in a parking lot and sing Christmas carols,” Bevan said. “I actually shot it down. I said that’s never going to work, we’d have to get a stage and an A.V system or a karaoke system and that’s never going to work.”
“Later, I was sitting on the couch, talking to my husband and he said ‘Diane, what about radio,’” she continued. “He said ‘There are some people who tie their Christmas lights to the radio.’”
That idea seemed like it could work and Bevan began reaching out to her partners in media to find a radio station interested in putting together a broadcast for the show. She was put in contact with Magic 97.9 FM in Boise and from there, she reached out to different faith leaders and other members of area leadership to put the event together.
From there, the sing-along took on a life of its own.
“It’s reached Blackfoot and Shelley and Fruitland and Ontario … Pretty much anywhere you can download the (Magic 97.9) app from the App Store you can participate.”
The sing-along will operate like a drive-in movie. Participants in Bingham County and other locations outside the reach of the Magic 97.9 signal will need to download the Magic 97.9 app. From there, they can connect their phone to external speakers or sync it to their car audio system if their vehicles have Bluetooth connectivity.
“It’s giving people a chance to gather together, but not gather inside of a building, and safely sing some Christmas carols and celebrate Christmas together,” Cravens said. “This is an opportunity to feel some of the Christmas Spirit that may be missing because of social distancing and some of the precautions that people are having to take these days. It’s a safe way to gather with others and feel the Christmas Spirit.”
Locations in Bingham County include:

Dawn Lloyd Park in Shelley
Jensen’s Grove City Park in Blackfoot
Blackfoot South Stake Center, 900 Riverton Road in Blackfoot
Blackfoot East Stake Center, 1289 Mt. Putnam Drive in Blackfoot
Blackfoot West Stake Center, 101 North 900 West in Blackfoot

More information can be found on the Idaho Community Christmas Sing-Along website or on the event’s Facebook page.

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Source: eastidahonews.com