San Antonio International Airport's busy pre-holiday schedule has begun. Over the holidays, major airports like San Antonio International can seem cold and impersonal. The stress can be overwhelming. But then you round a corner and hear a band playing It's a Holly Jolly Christmas right there in the terminal.
"This is really cool! And, they sound very good."
Paul is in town visiting his mom and is heading back to Casper, Wyoming. The Jefferson Middle School band was playing in Terminal B, but I told him there was also a choir in Terminal A.
"In that case that's where I'm going, because I'm a retired middle school choir teacher!"
A hundred-yard stroll into Terminal A reveals a chorus of children from Ben Franklin Elementary School Choir singing "Feliz Navidad." San Antonian Kayli was rushing by to get to her Colorado flight, but stopped to hear the Ben Franklin Elementary School Choir, all decked out in red and green with Santa hats. A smile spread on her face, and it didn't go away.
"I love that. I love when schools do things like that," she said.
"Kinda the last thing you'd expect to see at the airport, isn't it?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, I definitely wouldn't have expected seeing them here. Seeing them all dressed up, seeing the ornaments. It was a really nice surprise," she said.
Local elementary, middle and high schools have been performing at the airport here for 26 Decembers now. That said, airport volunteer Jan says most passengers wandering by look surprised.
"They are surprised. Normally in an airport it's kind of hectic and you're kind of frantic and frenzied, and here you hear cheerful music and it catches people off guard, and really maybe gets them in the Christmas spirit."
People pulling their wheeled suitcases approached quickly, but slowed, then stopped to watch and listen.
"And they smile. It's very nice," said Jan. She said that when the travelers move on, "They step a little bit lighter."
Choirs and bands will continue to play at the airport every day through Friday, Dec. 16.
Find more on who plays when here.
