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Choir Director Kelli Burchill leads the Cochrane-Fountain City Jazz Choir through holiday classics Dec. 16 during "The Sounds of Christmas" at Merchants Bank in Winona. Burchill has led her choirs to the traditional concert for nearly nine years.

The historic Merchants Bank lobby is more than a work place for Dale Newcomb; it houses Christmas memories that no other building in Winona can hold a candle to.

Newcomb has been an employee of Merchants Bank in Winona for over 40 years, but before he started working there, he participated in the very beginning of a 45-plus-year tradition each holiday season at the bank: “The Sounds of Christmas.” The annual event hosts Winona area school groups who sing Christmas carols in the lobby throughout a full week during the holiday season.

Newcomb was a senior at Winona Senior High School in 1963 when he remembers singing in the remarkable lobby. Now, as hundreds of students fill in and out of the risers set up in the large lobby space, he has a special place in his heart for the songs and the participants.

“I like to sing along with them up there,” Newcomb said as he pointed to his second floor office space. “I try to pick out the part that I would have sung. Some of the songs are the same as the ones we sang back then.”

Many employees took a few minutes out of their work schedules to enjoy the tradition as the Cochrane-Fountain City Jazz Choir filled the building with Christmas classics Dec. 16. Some stood along the second floor balcony, while others simply sat back in their seats away from their computers to take in the tunes.

“The employees really enjoy it,” said Jane Knothe, executive administrative assistant at Merchants Bank and committee chair for “The Sounds of Christmas.” “For those of us who sit right next to the performance space, it’s kind of a non-productive time because we can’t talk on the phone, but it allows us to take a few moments to really enjoy the tradition.”

For over 45 years, the event has stayed true to that tradition, and the committee hopes to keep it that way for decades to come.

“Right down to the sugar cookie, it has always been the same,” said Knothe.

And past participants like it that way as well. Many of the bank’s employees volunteer to be greeters for their former alma maters, welcoming students from elementary schools up to the senior high schools. Seeing the delight in the children’s faces is one of the best parts for employees, according to Knothe.

“When you sit here every day, you just sort of overlook the treasures of the building,” she said. “When they come in, their eyes light up. They look at the tree in the lobby and think it’s the White House Christmas tree.”

Director Kelli Burchill led her students through more than a dozen Christmas carols Dec. 16, proud to be attending the annual concert for about nine years.

“I like my kids to have the experience of providing a service during the holiday season and to share their talents with the community,” she said.

The grandness of the Merchants Bank lobby also gives the choir inspiration in other ways.

“The acoustics are great,” Burchill said.

According to Knothe, the committee strives to have a wide array of area schools participate in the event and are excited to include choirs that may often be passed up during other events due to size and transportation limitations. Burchill agrees that making the trip to Winona is always an exciting time for the students and for the school.

“Sometimes I think people forget about us across the river,” she said. “Through events like this, the community sees us as part of that Winona area musical family and that’s important.”

“The Sounds of Christmas” continues through Dec. 18, and the calendar is as follows:

Thursday, Dec. 17

10 a.m.: Bluffview Montessori (Grades 7-8), Director Jean Jorde
11 a.m.: Winona Senior High School Choir, Director Bruce Ramsdell
1 p.m.: St. Matthew’s (Grade 4), Director Kay Abts

Friday, Dec. 18

9:30 a.m.: Ridgeway Community School, Director Mandi Rupprecht
10:15 a.m.: St. Mary’s Kindergarten, Director Deb Beech
11 a.m.: St. Stanislaus Middle School Band, Director Tara Welch
1 p.m.: Lewiston-Altura High School Choir and Brass Band, Director Matthew Wilmes