On one special day of the year, the entire Stone Ridge community joyfully choruses in a song other than “Coeur de Jesus.” Though this may sound like disloyalty to our school anthem–a betrayal to the Sacred Heart Network, even–the holiday spirit kindly nudges “Coeur de Jesus” to the side for a bit and replaces its usual hymnal slot in our all-school gatherings with a fan favorite: “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Feast Wishes 2016 is upon us, folks, and it is time to start warming up your vocal chords.
Feast Wishes is one of Stone Ridge’s oldest and most treasured traditions. Defined as “an all-school gathering before the Christmas holidays where students present the gifts of song and cards to every member of the administration, faculty, and staff,” its symbolic significance resonates in the hearts and minds of so many in our community.
For some reason, Feast Wishes is notably distinct from other school gatherings that we have during the year. Maybe it’s the holiday spirit and the oh-so-close reality of winter break in the air. But there is something beyond that even, something that is particularly unique to Feast Wishes: spirit.
Feast Wishes is one of the few times that all Stone Ridge students share together. This one tradition has the ability to transform a community into a family. Some of us have made it from sitting in the small, blue chairs as first graders to finally sitting in the grown-up chairs as seniors. For those people, Feast Wishes is a bittersweet reminder of the family they are soon to leave behind. I am one of those girls, having been at Stone Ridge since the Junior Kindergarten, and I am dreading my last Feast Wishes–solely because it reminds me that this long chapter of my life is coming to its inevitable close.
Since the JK, I, along with 14 other girls, have watched and waited. We sat in those blue chairs, mouths agape at the handbell players harmoniously chiming “Carol of the Bells.” Intimidated by the high schoolers with the color-coded sweaters and the Santa’s Senior Helpers, and by every Step Team performance and Heartfelt’s rendition of “O Holy Night,” we waited and longed for the day that we could fill the shoes of the girls that came before us.
Time seems to stand still and tradition comes alive as Mrs. Fazio sits on her piano bench, effortlessly tapping the ivory keys with a vivacity only equalled by the students in the room enthusiastically screaming their grade’s part to the Twelve Days of Christmas. At one time, our fate as “partridges in a pear tree” seemed unescapable. Yet somehow, we have finally made it to “twelve drummers drumming.”
Arianna Scott, ’16, a Stone Ridge lifer and once a partridge in a pear tree, “think[s] that what makes Feast Wishes so memorable and my favorite day at Stone Ridge is that I see the most smiles on people’s faces that day–even more so than on Prize Day. Everyone is so happy, teachers and students and alike, because we are celebrating such a festive season together.”
Maddie Carr, ’16, another lifer like Scott, relishes this feeling of togetherness, taking a special note of “the special moment when you walk into Feast Wishes and see everyone sitting in a different part of the gym than they had the year before. It is a whole different perspective, and each year you look at all of the grades above and below you, and it is so cool seeing everyone stand up for their parts in the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’
having changed so much in a year.”
Scott and Carr both agree that Feast Wishes is most special because, as Scott says, it “gives back to the faculty who have constantly given us so much over the years. Feast Wishes is unique to Stone Ridge because we are finally able to give back to them in a special way.”
As Feast Wishes comes upon us this year, Carr and Scott are both preparing to live the day they have waited for for the past 14 years. Scott will be a drummer, as will Carr, who has been planning many of the logistics for Feast Wishes. For these two girls, Feast Wishes has always been a special day, and Carr, like Scott, “is honored to have the opportunity to contribute in her last and final Feast Wishes so that she might give back to this great Stone Ridge tradition.”
Leave a Reply