By Renee Hunter
In mid-December, heaven will come to Springhill Baptist Church when the Half Notes and B Naturals children’s choirs present “Hark, the Herald Angel.” The plot of the 45-minute musical revolves around the heavenly choir’s preparation for the announcement of a major event, although none of the angels knows what the event might be. Hark, a young angel played by Hayes Grooms, dogs Angel Gabriel’s footsteps trying to find out what is going on.
Eventually, the big event is revealed to be the birth of God’s son. Hark is told about God’s salvation plan and the purpose of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. For the finale, the Holy Family, shepherds and sheep, portrayed by the smallest children, enter.
This will be Katie Patrom’s sixth year of directing the pageant. Jennifer Hill is her assistant director.
“This is a musical that I did when I was a little girl and my mother (Sharon Duncan) was the director,” said Katie. Jennifer was also in that musical.
Ashley Tennis, a high school student and a piano student of Katie’s, will be accompanist for the two-day production.
“I think the musical asks questions that kids would ask, like how could God become a baby?” said Katie.
More than 50 children from ages 3 through the sixth grade will participate in the pageant, which has 15-20 small dialog parts and numerous short solos.
“I like to sing the songs Mrs. Katie picks out,” said Rachel Harris, one of the participants.
Making the whole thing happen takes faith and work. Rehearsals began in August with a kickoff “Christmas Party.”
“The kids thought that was too funny; a Christmas party in August,” Katie said. “I try to kick it off as energetically as I can because the kids are going to be singing these songs forever and ever.”
The choirs spent August learning the songs. Katie put the lyrics on PowerPoint and loaned each child a CD to play at home to facilitate memorization. This is important, because Katie has only 30 minutes a week with each choir. “Kids are like sponges,” she said. “They just soak it up.”
“I like to practice with my CD of the music,” Taylor Snowden agreed.
From August through October, the participants practiced every Sunday night.
“I like practicing,” said Caity Hiland. “It is fun!” 
In September, staging and dialog practice began. The goal is to have songs and dialog memorized by November, when Saturday practices begin and sound engineering enters the mix. These practices can last two to four hours. Katie likes to hold practice from 10 a.m. to noon and follow practice with some kind of reward.
“If we practice on Saturdays, we get pizza!” said Tymber Crawley.
Jana Hiland is set director. White light-bedecked cloth will cover the wall behind the choir loft and the stage. At one side, Zion, the heavenly city, will be depicted, with pearly gates opening into it from the bottom of the choir-loft stairs. Leading from the gates into the congregation will be a street of gold.
“This is a long, grueling process,” Katie said. But, she adds, she thinks the kids feel a oneness and a sense of teamwork that keep them coming back year after year until they are too old to participate.
“I enjoy being involved with other members of my family in choir,” agreed Sarah McClung.
“I think getting them on the stage early is a wonderful, wonderful thing,” Katie said. “I tell them, “You’re going to get up and do this for God’s glory.”
“We enjoy singing about God,” Tanner and Hannah Tilley said.
Costuming comes toward the end, and this year, new angel costumes are in the works. The old ones were worn out, according to Katie. Members of the congregation have been asked to sponsor a child for costume fabric, and several congregation members have offered to sew the costumes. 
“I like putting on costumes!” said Claire Hiland.
Performances will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, and Sunday, Dec. 14.
And finally: “The parties after the plays are over are really fun!” said Jaci Duvall.