Annual Turkey Choir brings the Thanksgiving spirit to Rexburg

REXBURG, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - Thanksgiving day comes with many traditions, some food-related, others sports-related, and for The City of Rexburg, music-related.

For more than forty years the annual turkey choir has brought the Thanksgiving spirit through song on Thanksgiving morning.

“They come in and for an hour they get a focus musically on things that remind us of who we are and what we're grateful for,” said choral director, Steve Dresen.

Dresen has been directing the choir filled with non-professional volunteer singers from Idaho Falls to Ashton and everywhere in between for six years, reaching the hearts of the community through song.

“I think that music is universal and there's something about the human voice that tends to reach through to people to speak to their hearts,” said Dresen.

Around one hundred singers gather to participate in the choir that has been made possible for many years prior by the program coordinator the last thirty years, Gwyn Harris. It’s a tradition that Harris’s daughter, Anna Bjornn, hopes to carry on for many more.

“I want to make sure this tradition stays and so this is something that I think I will continue to, to make sure happens every year,” said Bjornn.

Families, friends, and strangers gather together to participate in the choir, for Jeff Hopkin, it’s become an annual tradition of his turkey day celebration the last twenty-four years that at one time included his children.

"They have all grown up. I still come because I love it," said Hopkin.

Like many others, Hopkin hopes to participate for many more years to come.

"It just sets your mood for the entire day. You know, you're not worried about football you're not worried about the meal, you're just giving thanks, it's a gift that we give to each other, and then we go and get with our families," said Hopkin.

The choir practices once a week for six weeks prior to the performance and new singers are welcomed each year.