By MARK SHAFFER
South Point Elementary School choir performs at courthouse

On Thursday morning, a crowd of veterans and county employees gathered under the dome in the rotunda on the third floor of the Lawrence County Courthouse to hear the South Point Elementary School fourth and fifth grade choir sing a selection of patriotic songs in honor of Veterans Day.

Bill Christian, the assistant principal at South Point Elementary said the students were very excited to do the show.

“We have a Veterans Day concert every year, but this is the first time they have taken it off the road,” he said. “They were very excited and they were amazed when they came in and saw the dome. They were very excited to sing under the dome.”

Tim Carpenter, the Lawrence County Veterans Service Officer, called the performance “outstanding.”

“They did a great job,” he said, adding that this as far as he can remember, this is the first time a school choir has come to the courthouse to sing for Veterans Day. “They did an awesome job.”

Choir director Jill Young said some of the students didn’t know what a rotunda was and some had concerns about how they would sound.

“I was concerned on how the echo would affect them, but they brought it,” she said. “I love the acoustics. I enjoyed, they enjoyed it I think they will remember this for a long time.”

County commissioner Deanna Holliday thought the concert was marvelous.

“I really enjoy how the community honors its veterans and when we pull the youth in to celebrate them, I think it takes it to another level,” she said. “And it was phenomenal. I was shocked at how good the choir sounded in the rotunda. It made them sound like they were quadrupled in size.”