Ecumenical Christmas Carol competition 2015 and celebration of New Year 2016
/
The winning teams along with guests, judges and organisers... Scroll down to view all photos
Once again, Western Sydney Malayalee Association had its Ecumenical Christmas Carol Competition at the Redgum Function Centre, Wentworthville. Attended by around 300 people, this event was a great family get together.
Before the programs kicked off, James Chacko acknowledged the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which the event took place. Johny John welcomed the guests, participating groups, judges, supporting team, and the audience. James Chacko gave an excellent introduction to the judging panel of the competition - Timi Thomas, Sasi Kumar and Uma Ayyar.
The priests who attended the function were Rev. Fr. Joseph Kunnappilly of St Mary's Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, and Rev. Fr. Joby Kadambattuparambil of Syro-Malabar Community, Parramatta. Though the choir groups were represented, Rev. Fr. Benny David of St Mary's Indian Orthodox Church and Rev. Fr. Thomas Koshy of Bethel Mar Thoma Church could not attend the function.
Through the opening prayer, Fr. Joby Kadambattuparambil highlighted the importance of loving one another and encouraged people to practice it. In his brief message, Fr. Kunnappilly enlightened the audience on two important commandments from the ten commandments.
In spite of her busy schedule, Michelle Rowland MP (Federal Member for Greenway, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Shadow Minister for Citizenship and Multiculturalism) arrived in time. James Joseph introduced Michelle to the audience. WeSMA was delighted to have Michelle joining the Christmas Carol Competition and New year celebrations and giving a speech. James Chacko gave a vote of thanks to Michele. Fr. Kadambattu, Fr. Kunnappilly, Michelle Rowland and WeSMA Organisers joined to light the lamps and declare the event open.
Wearing decorated clothes for X’mas, five choir groups participated in the carol competition. These were Bethel Marthoma Church Sydney, Catholic Community, Wentworthville, St. Mary's Indian Orthodox Church (IRC), Sydney, St. Mary's Jacobite Syrian Orthodox (JSO) Church, Sydney and Sydney Malayalee Roman Catholic, Strathfield.
There were few entertainment programs to spice up the evening. Solo performances were by Aleena Anil, Lijo Dennis and Vimal Vinodan.
Between the Carol competition songs, the audience was entertained by an awesome devotional dance (Yahoodiyayile Oru Gramathil…) by Winnie Vincent, Lena Mariya Regin, Sanctus Jo, Megha Renjith, Irene Berley, Andrea Elizabeth Nair, Isabel Sonia Nair, Sharon Sebastian.
Choreographed by Manju Suresh, her team presented a dance program based on a Christian devotional song (Nin Swaram Thedi...). It was indeed a visual treat and the audience applauded Ammu Varghese, Hanna Mariya Jiju, Aliena Daiby, Sharlate Jo, Ann Berley, and Sandra Sebastian.
It was quite impressive when the eight-year-old Loveena Ann Varghese presented the Hidden Christmas Facts in a speech without any reference. Loveena educated the audience on the origin of Chrismas Papa’s gifts and history of Christmas cake. She also explained a lovely experience from Mother Theresa’s life. An excellent job, indeed.
Since all teams were performing very well, it was difficult for the audience to predict who will win the first prize and rolling trophy.
Finally, Uma Ayyar, representing all three judges, announced their verdict. The first prize of the ever rolling trophy and cash award went to Bethel Marthoma Church team. The WeSMA Rolling Trophy for first prize was distributed by Fr. Jobby Kadambattuparambil. A cash award of $750 sponsored by Punnackal Financial Services was distributed by Varghese Punnackal. The second prize of the ever rolling trophy and cash award went to Catholic Community, Wentworthville. The WeSMA Rolling Trophy for second prize was distributed by Fr Joseph Kunnapilly. A cash award of $500 sponsored by Peterson Travel was distributed by Eldho Jiju Peter.
In his vote of thanks, James Chacko thanked everyone and appreciated the support with heartfelt words of gratitude.
Our catering sponsor, Blue Moon Restaurant, was ready with dinner halfway through the event. Everybody enjoyed a sumptuous meal before departing, but with a concern that they have to wait for another year for this kind of a celebration.
SBS Radio has published a 9 minutes news item on this program. Click on http://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/malayalam/en/content/carol-competition-wesma-sydney to listen.
Click on one of the images to enlarge it, and then use direction keys to move left or right and view all photos in enlarged size.
