Senior Celebration

23 December 2007

Students and staff from St Brendan’s Catholic Sixth Form College in Brislington, Bristol put on a festive treat for local elderly citizens.  The annual ‘Senior Citizens Party’ sprang in to life with its traditional blend of carols, student entertainment and plenty of tasty mince pies!

The event is a highlight of the college calendar and this year with a large number of willing students and staff volunteering.  The turn out of senior citizens was high, with around ninety people attending from a variety of care homes and parishes.  

The afternoon began with a traditional carol service interspersed with a reading from the Prophet Isaiah, a prayer from visiting priest Father Gerry Walsh of St Joseph’s, Portishead.  Bidding prayers were read by a selection of RE students.  

Lunch was served, with students both acting as waiters and waitresses.  They also chatted with their guests, helped pull the crackers and tell the exceedingly bad jokes.
 
After lunch, the entertainment exploded in to life with musical theatre students putting on a sing and dance rendition of ‘Candy Man’.  Solo songs included the Christmassy ‘Let It Snow’ and the Beatles classic ‘Yesterday’.  Paul Perkins’ version of ‘The Way You Look Tonight’ and Martin Davis’ Saxophone solo of ‘When I’m Cleaning Windows’ had the audience humming along.  A rock and roll tribute band concluded the performances.
 
The party climaxed with a special visit from the jolly fat man himself.  Father Christmas waddled in accompanied by a selection of elves – laden with presents to disperse to the guests.  Father Christmas even took the unprecedented step of having two of his elves walking on stilts, to reach all those difficult places of course!

All in all, the party was another resounding success, and students and staff, as well as the guests of course, are already eagerly anticipating next year’s event.

Nick Graves