{"id":58,"date":"2022-11-30T18:20:48","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T18:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/?p=58"},"modified":"2023-10-18T19:03:58","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T19:03:58","slug":"herd-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/2022\/11\/30\/herd-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"Herd Holiday tradition brings Marshall family together"},"content":{"rendered":"
“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas; with every Christmas card I write.”<\/p>\n

The Old Main Carolers hold their music high as they sing in front of a dark tree on the Memorial Student Center Plaza. The group is just one of several to perform on this night in front of a crowd of hundreds gathered for the spectacle.<\/p>\n

The audience sways to the sound of the acapella voices.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Old Main Carolers performing White Christmas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“May your days be merry and bright – and may all your Christmases be white!”<\/p>\n

Suddenly, a collective hush falls over the crowd, followed by oohs and ahhs.<\/p>\n

It’s happening.<\/p>\n

The temperature in Huntington may be an unseasonably warm 55 degrees, but snow begins to fall, nonetheless.<\/p>\n

Smartphones and cameras are held high, as arms stretch to capture the perfect shot.<\/p>\n

President Brad D. Smith steps up to the microphone to offer a countdown, as the crowd joins in.<\/p>\n

“Five! Four! Three! Two! One!”<\/p>\n

\n\tThe temperature in Huntington may be an unseasonably warm 55 degrees, but snow begins to fall, nonetheless.<\/span>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n

A giant switch on display beside the microphone is flipped – cueing a dozen volunteers standing by, ready to plug in tinsel-covered deer and shiny LED Christmas trees perched in planters and flower beds around the plaza. It’s their time to shine.<\/p>\n

Thousands of white lights on the 20 foot tree towering above the student center entrance suddenly flash on, glimmering bright.<\/p>\n

The holiday season is here.<\/p>\n

It’s a scene that creates a memory that will live on for students and community members of all ages.<\/p>\n

A festive Marshall moment.<\/p>\n

Children frolic and dance in the snow, hoping the man running the machine on the roof that’s creating the magic will leave it on a little longer.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt’s a scene that creates a memory that will live on for students and community members of all ages.<\/span>\n\n\t<\/div>\n\n
\"\"
Say cheese with Santa Marco!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Festive music blasts from opening doors, as the crowd begins to venture inside where hot cocoa and smores, crafts, story time and hand-written letters to Santa await. Marshall’s mascot, Marco, dresses up in a big red suit for the occasion, ready to take photos with adoring fans.<\/p>\n

Nights like these only come once a year, but have the potential to create memories that last a lifetime.<\/p>\n

A tradition, bringing the Marshall family together to celebrate the start of a new season–filled with hope, joy and laughter.<\/p>\n

A true Herd Holiday.\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I’m dreaming of a white Christmas; with every Christmas card I write.” The Old Main Carolers hold their music high as they sing in front of a dark tree on the Memorial Student Center Plaza. The group is just one of several to perform on this night in front of a crowd of hundreds gathered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":203,"featured_media":62,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-moments"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/203"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":372,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58\/revisions\/372"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/moments\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}