Christmas blessings often abound as plentifully as winter snowflakes.
Just listen to Columbus resident Jerry Cox expound on those enjoyed by his family members in Lei’gacy, the Hawaiian-rooted group also known as the Cox Family Singers.
“For starters, we always have each other,” he said. “And to us, there is nothing more sacred than family.”
Area residents can get a taste of the Coxes’ family unity at the free 28th Annual Cox Family Christmas Concert at 7 p.m. Dec. 22 at The Commons in Columbus. Eleven siblings and their children will perform, not counting perhaps a dozen younger relatives — nieces, nephews, grandchildren — who will entertain with pre-concert music.
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Last year’s event was popular enough to attract crowd estimated at nearly 500 people.
“I think that’s just part of the Christmas spirit,” Jerry Cox said.
The concert usually includes a wide range and style of holiday tunes, from Amy Grant’s family-themed “Heirlooms,” which once closed such shows, to Mark Lowry’s “Mary, Did You Know?” to more traditional tunes such as “Away in a Manger.”
Matriarch Lily Makuaole Poliahu Cox taught her children to sing and blend — and to appreciate her Hawaiian heritage — when they were only youngsters. Perhaps the most classic story that gets retold regularly is this about her children’s musical gift: Before mom’s death May 3, 1995, while she lay in bed at Columbus Regional Hospital, she heard lovely vocal music down the hall one day.
“Those are my kids coming to see me,” the patient told a nurse.
“No,” the nurse responded. “I think it is somebody’s radio.”
Daughter Kim Hyden last year summarized her mother’s impact simply and directly. She mentioned that the music keeps alive the memory of their mother and their father, Marlin Cox Sr., who played ukulele and harmonica.
“She is the sole reason we are the singing group we are today,” Hyden said. “She gave us the gift of our voices, our passion for music and many other talents. She taught us how to harmonize and how to blend as one, presenting the sound that many have commented on.”
As a salute to their parents, the clan always performs the 1949 standard mom taught them: “Mele Kalikimaka” — Hawaiian for Merry Christmas.
Even their grandparents, Hawaii’s George and Mary Poliahu, found joy in performing. Moreover, an uncle in Hawaii was a college professor of music.
With that pedigree, no wonder family members estimate their repertoire at nearly 4,000 songs, from boogie to ballads, from rock to rhythm, from pop to patriotic. And this year’s concert will include a few new numbers, such as the gospel tune “A Christmas Blessing.”
“We found the sheet music and just really liked it,” said Linda Cox Roberts. “So we just went with it.”
Cousin Melinda Forney’s favorite tune from the gatherings is “The 12 Days of Christmas,” normally a staple of the concerts. The song always is aimed squarely at the audience’s funnybone, with each family member enacting a silly, unrehearsed dance step, sometimes with more energy than 10 lords a leaping.
“It always cracks me up,” Forney said. “I’m not sure I can pick a favorite. I love them all. (But) I do love Linda (Cox Roberts) singing ‘No Place Like Home for the Holidays,’ though.”
In the past, group members have joked that they have tried every style of music imaginable in concerts. Except opera.
And the group is so popular that when it recently sponsored a $2,000 fundraising campaign for the concert — mostly for the venue rental — the total landed at $500 more than the Coxes expected.
“When you see something like that happen,” Jerry Cox said, “your heart just melts.”
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What: 28th Annual Cox Family Christmas Concert.
When: 7 to 9 p.m. Dec. 22.
Where: The Commons, 300 Washington St. in downtown Columbus.
Admission: Free.
Information: Facebook page for 28th Cox Family Christmas Concert.
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