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Coghlan Christmas a sell-out for Aldergrove music fans

“Christmas Swing” concert presentation by Mike Sanyshyn, Tianna Lefebvre and Craig McGregor
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KURT LANGMANN PHOTO Mike Sanyshyn, Tianna Lefebvre and Craig McGregor performed their Christmas Swing concert for a sold-out crowd at Coghlan Hall on Sunday afternoon.

For the second time in as many months a special concert at the historic Coghlan Community Hall was sold out on Sunday afternoon.

This time it was the “Christmas Swing” concert presentation by Mike Sanyshyn, Tianna Lefebvre and Craig McGregor that filled the hall with appreciative fans.

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Last month it was the Ceilidh at the hall that filled the hall with Scottish dancers, and this ongoing success has encouraged Aldergrove Festival Days Society (AFDS) members to plan yet another show this spring.

The AFDS has been operating the hall in recent years, and has been renting it out for community functions such as wedding parties to help pay for the hall’s operating expenses. The two concerts have raised more funds for the hall’s operations.

Sunday’s event was also a fund-raiser for the Abbotsford-based Extreme Dance group, which is sending 15 of its students to an upcoming competition in New York. The club members were selling Christmas goodies such as cakes and cookies on Sunday.

The AFDS also holds its planning meetings in Coghlan Hall, where the society prepares for the annual Aldergrove Fair Days in the summer and the Light-Up Aldergrove Christmas events in December. Coghlan hall has been an important centre for the community since 1910.

AFDS spokesman Bob Long says he is looking at organizing a Maritimes-style Ceilidh in the spring, possibly March, as part of the concert series.

On Sunday, Dec. 17, the Christmas sounds of Sanyshyn’s ensemble went over well, with Tianna’s brassy Brenda Lee-style vocals offset by the sweet sounds of Mike’s traditional fiddle and Craig’s understated guitar accompaniment.

All three members of the trio are award-winning musicians, and Mike and Tianna are also a married couple with a long history in the west coast country music scene.

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KURT LANGMANN PHOTO Mike Sanyshyn, Tianna Lefebvre and Craig McGregor performed their Christmas Swing concert for a sold-out crowd at Coghlan Hall on Sunday afternoon.
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KURT LANGMANN PHOTO Members of the Extreme Dance team were selling Christmas goodies to raise funds for the dance team’s upcoming trip to a competition in New York.