{"id":32466,"date":"2015-12-10T15:49:20","date_gmt":"2015-12-10T21:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=32466"},"modified":"2015-12-10T15:49:20","modified_gmt":"2015-12-10T21:49:20","slug":"why-these-san-angeloans-could-not-enjoy-the-concho-christmas-celebration-until-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2015\/12\/10\/why-these-san-angeloans-could-not-enjoy-the-concho-christmas-celebration-until-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Why These San Angeloans Could Not Enjoy the Concho Christmas Celebration Until Now"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Larry<\/a>

Larry Gillett, Dana Felps, John and Sheryl Meador at Saturday’s Concho Christmas Celebration. They are signing ‘love’. (LIVE! Photo\/Joe Hyde)<\/p><\/div>\n

Why These San Angeloans Could Not Enjoy the Concho Christmas Celebration Until Now<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Joe Hyde<\/p>\n

December 7, 2015<\/p>\n

San Angelo’s Concho Christmas Celebration kicked off Saturday evening with joyous music from the San Angelo Community Band accompanying the Twin Mountain Tonesmen all-men\u2019s chorus in a packed parking lot on the northwest corner of S. Chadbourne St. and W. Concho Ave. Holiday song after song was played, and over on the right side of the Tonesmen\u2019s stand was a woman delivering the entire program in sign language.<\/p>\n

Until you looked more closely, however, you couldn\u2019t determine why Concho Christmas Celebration hired a sign language interpreter for Christmas music, much of it instrumental. Your next thought was how many in San Angelo needed one? One or two people, maybe? This isn’t New York City!<\/p>\n

Upon closer examination, it appeared that the sign language interpreter was having a conversation in sign language with several members of the audience during breaks in the music.<\/p>\n

They were engaged and asking questions. In all, approximately 20 deaf citizens were seen enjoying the Christmas music and cheer.<\/p>\n

Who goes to a Christmas music concert that you cannot can\u2019t hear? Apparently, until last night, not many. This year, Dana Felps, a certified sign language interpreter, volunteered to help and this is the first time that deaf citizens had the opportunity to enjoy the ringing in of the Christmas season in San Angelo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my first time here, and I really enjoyed it,\u201d said Larry Gillett through Dana\u2019s interpretation. Larry is deaf and having someone actively interpret our conversation brought Larry\u2019s thoughts into the open clearly. \u201cWithout an interpreter, I wouldn\u2019t be able understand what was going on, so I never came. But this is a wonderful presentation and I really enjoyed it tonight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Larry is a longtime resident of San Angelo. He\u2019s lived here since his military father moved his family to Goodfellow AFB when he was just a child in 1963, but he\u2019s never enjoyed the annual Christmas celebration until Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was born this way, so I\u2019ve been deaf all my life,\u201d he said. Larry is an expeditor at the U.S. Post Office. He works on the dock, bringing in San Angelo\u2019s mail daily. He looks forward to retirement. \u201cIn about five years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Standing next to Larry were John and Sheryl Meador. Sheryl said she\u2019s been deaf since suffering spinal meningitis as a small child. \u201cThis is our first time here,\u201d she said. Though in past years, they had driven through the Tour of Lights along the Concho River. Neither ever showed up to enjoy the celebration and the lighting of the downtown Christmas lights and tree, however. John was born in San Angelo and has lived here his entire life. Sheryl is from Waco.<\/p>\n

John said he has some hearing capability, but not much. \u201cI\u2019m hard of hearing,\u201d he said. He was not just saying that as a hyperbole of being a grouchy husband either. His hearing was damaged from a premature birth. \u201cI could not enjoy it without sign language,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sign language doesn\u2019t translate the entire experience, though. It\u2019s the melody and the tonal music that many who are deaf will still miss. Sheryl said that she couldn\u2019t feel the vibrations of the music, either. \u201cIf it were indoors with a wooden floor, then maybe I could feel the vibrations,\u201d she said. Yet, for Sheryl and John, having a conduit to understand what was happening in the social realm made the event an engaging experience. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a wonderful time. We\u2019ve really enjoyed it!\u201d Sheryl said.<\/p>\n

Of the 20 people in the group, two drove down from Big Spring and two more drove up from Eldorado. The deaf community in San Angelo is becoming more social, Dana explained.<\/p>\n

Dana moved here with her husband from El Paso three years ago. Her husband works the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Dana provides sign language interpretation services to the deaf throughout the region with her home business, the West Texas Interpreting Network<\/a>. She is state and nationally certified, the rewards of a four-year bachelor\u2019s degree that included two years of intense study of sign language. She earned an associates in signing at San Antonio College and finished with a bachelor\u2019s at Sul Ross University in Alpine.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/westtexasinterpretingnetwork<\/a><\/p>\n

Dana said when she found out about Saturday\u2019s Concho Christmas Celebration, she thought it would be a fun event for the deaf community to enjoy. Usually, Dana\u2019s services are used for medical appointments or job searches with her clients, so this was a fun departure, she said. Social media, particularly Facebook, has empowered San Angelo\u2019s deaf community to organize, Dana said. A group meets monthly at Stango\u2019s Coffee Shop. The meetings are organized on Facebook. If you\u2019d like to join, their Facebook group is called San Angelo Deaf Coffee Social (click here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/1072575519454519\/<\/a><\/p>\n

SOURCE:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/sanangelolive.com\/\/news\/san-angelo\/2015-12-07\/why-these-san-angeloans-could-not-enjoy-concho-christmas-celebration<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why These San Angeloans Could Not Enjoy the Concho Christmas Celebration Until Now By Joe Hyde December 7, 2015 San Angelo’s Concho Christmas Celebration kicked off Saturday evening with joyous music from the San Angelo Community Band accompanying the Twin…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[4621,81,1616,35,24403,12859,2175,40,24402,24405,24404,5814,24401,10776,191,861,30,553,24325],"class_list":["post-32466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-article","tag-big-spring","tag-christmas","tag-community","tag-concho-christmas-celebration","tag-dana-felps","tag-eldorado","tag-interpreter","tag-joe-hyde","tag-john-meador","tag-larry-gillett","tag-san-angelo","tag-san-angelo-deaf-coffee-social","tag-sheryl-meador","tag-sign-language","tag-starbucks","tag-waco","tag-west-texas","tag-west-texas-interpreting-network"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-8rE","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14966,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/07\/11\/west-texas-church-event-72311\/","url_meta":{"origin":32466,"position":0},"title":"West Texas Church Event 7\/23\/11","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"July 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Laurenda MacWilliams wrote: Calvary Chapel c\/o Calvary's Hands 1735 Industrial Avenue San Angelo, TX 76904 http:\/\/www.calvarychapelsanangelo.com WHAT: Our deaf ministry called Calvary's Hands wants to invite deaf community with their hearing family members, our church sign language students,\u00a0deaf students, and anyone, in Concho Valley Regional areas, interested in being\u00a0involved with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15763,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/09\/07\/deaf-fellowship-free-foods-west-texas\/","url_meta":{"origin":32466,"position":1},"title":"Deaf Fellowship & Free Foods – West Texas","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"September 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Deaf Fellowship & Free Foods - West Texas Dear: Calvary Chapel Members and Guests, We thank you for your prayer and moral support with Calvary\u2019s Hands and His deaf population. 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For more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22113,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/03\/07\/san-angelo-deaf-asl-bowling-social-3913\/","url_meta":{"origin":32466,"position":5},"title":"San Angelo Deaf & ASL Bowling Social 3\/9\/13","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Deaf & ASL Bowling Social San Angelo! 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