South Laguna Community Garden Park strikes a jolly chord at 10th annual sing-along

There’s nothing quite like caroling to get a community in the spirit of the holidays, and representatives of the South Laguna Community Garden Park invited their neighbors Saturday to sing and play along to the season’s discography.

The holiday sing-along began a decade ago when musicians and garden members Tony Bisson and Tom Joliet led the caroling.

Using binders filled with lyrics and guitar chords, community members gathered at the garden on the corner of South Coast Highway and Eagle Rock Way to share in the songs and potluck.

“Tony and I started playing for festivals at the garden. We call ourselves the South Laguna Garden Band and people said they wanted to get together just to sing Christmas carols,” Joliet said. “We got flute players, opera singers, little kids playing shakers, and it’s really been a fun community gathering.”

The band was joined this year by members of the Laguna Beach Ukulele Academy from the Community & Susi Q Center.

“Every time we have an event ... we invite the public to join,” Joliet said.

“All of those things bring the community together, both in South Laguna and ... the rest of the city of Laguna too,” he added. “We don’t charge for these things. We just offer them as community gatherings — come if you can.”

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