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A Christmas gift for the homeless

JANESVILLE — They've got beautiful voices.

And wonderful hearts.

A group of Craig High School students lead by Claire Olson and J.P. Merz has created a CD of Christmas music to benefit the GIFTS men's homeless shelter.

It's called "A Christmas to Remember," and it's a gift to the community that's been more than a year in the making.

"Last year we talked about getting a CD out there, but it was too late to get started," said Olson.

This year they got started in October, and the result is a surprisingly professional work that contains 13 songs ranging from classic hymns to jazz arrangements.

Listeners get a jazz-infused "White Christmas," an a cappella version of "Silent Night," "O Little Town of Bethlehem" with Quinn Huibregtse on sax, "Away in a Manger" featuring April Kath on flute and several songs featuring Olsen's voice and Mars's guitar arrangements.

"We also did 'Ave Maria,'" Olson said. "That's my grandma's favorite song."

Along with creating the song arrangements and gathering the musicians and singers, creating the CD took hours of practice and production time.

But Olson and Merz wanted to create something that would go further than their high school circle.

"We wanted to give back to the community," Olson said. "We thought we should put money toward something."

Olson and Merz performed a concert last year for the homeless shelter guests when they were staying at St. John Vianney Church, Janesville.

The homeless shelter, which runs during the coldest months of the year, rotates locations through a variety of churches.

"It was one of the most fun performances I've done," Olson said.

She liked meeting and talking with shelter guests.

In the end, raising money for GIFTS seemed like a perfect match.

Performing on the CD are Olson, Kath, Merz, Huibregtse, Brandon Stottler, Alex Nguyen, Vince Perez, Alina Capanna, Emma Bitter, Jamie Berg, Scott Sroda, Alec Johnson and Patrick Terry. Phoenix Ramsdell designed the CD cover.