CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 49 T he Heart of Christmas Show is Fayetteville's own holiday benefit performance. Di- rected and founded by Laura Stevens, a vocal performance coach and piano instructor throughout the year, e Heart of Christ- mas Show features Voices of the Heart, the award-winning Fayetteville teenage Chris- tian vocal group directed by Stevens, and a cast of 32 other singers and dancers who range in ages from five to eighteen years old. e singers, dancers, set designers and parents behind the scenes are all volunteers who do what they do because they love the show and its mission to donate 100% of ticket sales to Fayetteville charities help - ing sick and abused children in need. Over the years, e Heart of Christmas Show has raised over $675,000, supporting the Falcon Children's Home, Child Advocacy Center, Cape Fear Valley Health's Founda- tion Friends of Children and Autism So- ciety, to name a few. "at's a tremendous amount of good [done] with that money," Stevens said. In 2011, e Heart of Christmas Show was listed in Life:Beautiful Magazine as "one of the best Christmas performances in the country," and the e Heart of Christ- mas Show picture was the featured image for the magazine spread. Stevens couldn't believe it. "To see little old Fayetteville next to big cities like Nashville, Tennessee; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Branson, Missouri; Sacramento, California and Dallas, Texas, was a pretty big deal. It blew my mind. It was very humbling." Christmas year round A show of this caliber requires pure dedication which means the holiday sea- son begins early for everyone involved. In the months of September, October and November, cast members sacrifice their Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for a full day of rehearsals. For Stevens, it is "Christ- mas all year long." She is always planning, researching and making one-of-a-kind Christmas tracks with Milton Smith, a lo- cal orchestrator, in her studio at home for the show. e three Heart of Christmas show per- formances take place right aer anks- giving. For the young students in her cast, Stevens takes advantage of the anksgiv- Burglar Alarms Fire Alarms Camera Systems Access Systems Central Vacuum Systems 24 Hour Local U.L. Monitoring Station 127 Hay Street˖Fayetteville, NC˖28301 (910) 483-1196 www.HolmesSecurity.net I Want You To Get a Holmes Security Alarm System! Since 1908 Burglar Fire Alarms Camera Access Central Systems 24 Hour Monitoring 127 Hay Street˖Fayetteville, (910) 483-1196 www.HolmesSecurity.net I Want You To Get a Holmes Security Alarm System! Since 1908 Burglar Alarms Fire Alarms Camera Systems Access Systems Central Vacuum Systems 24 Hour Local U.L. Monitoring Station 127 Hay Street˖Fayetteville, NC˖28301 (910) 483-1196 www.HolmesSecurity.net I Want You To Get a Holmes Security Alarm System! Since 1908 Burglar Alarms Fire Alarms Camera Systems Access Systems Central Vacuum Systems 24 Hour Local Monitoring 127 Hay Street˖Fayetteville, NC˖28301 (910) 483-1196 www.HolmesSecurity.net Since 1908 I Want You To Get A Holmes Security Alarm System! • Burglar Alarms • Fire Alarms • Camera Systems • Access Systems • Home Automation • 24 Hour Local U.L. Monitoring Station 119 W Broad Street St Pauls, NC 910.865.5149 Sustainable, wearable art

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