Celebrate VIII Kicks Off Christmas Island Style

The eager crowd arrived a half hour early for Celebrate VIII, the kickoff of Christmas Style at Marco Lutheran Church on Thursday, December 4. They were not disappointed.

“This is our eighth year doing Celebrate,” said Craig Greusel, show producer. "We started this to get our season started for church, but it is also part of Christmas Island Style. We're on their calendar. And it is the first opening for everybody to get them excited about the season. Now we go from here to the tree lighting, to the parade, and all the other things that Marco Island is known for.”

Celebrate is basically a variety show, featuring some very polished local talent.

“We mix up a little bit of sacred, a little bit of secular, try to get our act together and get people excited about the season,” Greusel said.

Judging by the reaction of the appreciative crowd, Greusel and Company accomplished their mission.

Greusel, who acts as a master of ceremonies for the event, loves what he does, including singing and playing acoustic guitar.

"I love doing it,” he said. "We sit together in the summertime and decide what we're going to put together. And we always pull the story of Christmas in. The reason for the season is still the birth of Jesus. But we throw that with Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman and everything else, using the folks from Naples, the dancers from here, and our special guest soloists. We just put it all together in a variety that kind of works for us.”

Greusel’s stage presence matches his goals for the program.

"I like the energy,” he said. "I think energy drives everything. And you can go quiet energy and you can go bold energy. This program has a little bit of both.

Keyboardist John Davis certainly delivered both.

"John Davis has been here for years now,” Greusel said. "And virtuosity. That's his word. He can take a melody and just bend it to make passion come out of it. And he did that tonight a couple of times.”