Saturday Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. Phalanx performed in the Koon’s Activity Venue (KAV), bringing the joy of the holidays to Elizabethtown College.

Phalanx represents the all-male a cappella group on campus. This was one of their biggest shows of the semester. Phalanx offered the audience cookies that the members made themselves.

The show was free, but the group encouraged the audience to make a donation to the Churches for Streets of Hope, a coalition of churches.

The coalition’s mission is to encourage members of Southeast Baltimore County to work together in their Christ-centered mission to help provide relief for their area’s poor, distressed and underprivileged. The coalition wants to spark a community of hope.

During the show, Phalanx performed a mix of Christmas pieces and songs that they had performed during their homecoming set earlier in the semester. The holiday songs that they sang included: “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” “Silent Night” and “Jingle Bells.”

Some of the numbers that the group performed were not holiday-related. These included a mash-up of Disney songs, “Seize the Day,” “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You” and “What Do You Mean.” They closed their set with their famous song, “Brown Eyed Girl.”

The group decided on these songs by having each member submit two songs for consideration. Then, they took a group vote on which songs to perform in their show.

First-years Shaelah Best and Lauren Shakes agreed that the mash-up of Disney songs and “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” were their favorite songs of the set.

First-year Jamie Verrekia was motivated to come to the performance because she loved seeing the group perform at their showcase during the beginning of the semester and wanted to hear them perform again.

“I came to hear the music, and the group is always very welcoming to the audience, and they always look so put together,” junior Jaime Ramos said.

Phalanx kept the energy level high throughout their performance. They had the audience participate in their show by selecting volunteers to go up to the stage and be serenaded during some of their numbers. They also encouraged the audience to sing along with them.

During the intermission, to keep with their tradition of doing an ugly sweater contest, all of the members wore holiday sweaters. The audience decided the best sweater by how much they applauded.

Then Phalanx opened up the contest to the audience members who wore their own holiday sweaters to the show. Phalanx and the rest of the audience judged who had the best sweater.

First-years Elizabeth Bach and Corrina Wyatt thought that the whole performance was well organized.

Junior Eugene Werley, who was the announcer for the group and introduced the next song and its soloist, reflected on what it means for him to be a part of Phalanx.

“The friendship has been incredible,” Werley said.

Sophomore Noah Gaylor, another member of the group, considers Phalanx his second family on campus. Gaylor said regarding how it feels to perform, “It was fantastic. A lot of work went into putting the performance together, so it was great to see it all put together.”