Clarinet caroling

POST FALLS — The jingle of ringing bells can easily be lost or blended with the hubbub of the holiday bustle.

But the soothing, velvety notes of Christmas carols floating from a clarinet make busy shoppers stop for a moment and remember the joys that surround this festive season.

Just ask 12-year-old clarinet player Nevaeh Witherspoon. She's seen the magic happen.

"I like how I can brighten people’s day because it makes me feel good," Nevaeh said Tuesday afternoon. "I like seeing people happy instead of grumpy or upset.”

The Post Falls Middle School seventh-grader has traded the traditional ringing bell for her clarinet as she works to fill her red kettle with donations for the Salvation Army on Sundays.

“I just like helping the community," she said. “I thought of it because I’ve always wanted to play my instrument in front of people."

Nevaeh plays songs such as "Jingle Bells," "Angels We Have Heard on High," "We Wish You A Merry Christmas," "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Silent Night" — songs that drum up those feelings of nostalgia and yuletide memories. She said the first Sunday she played was a success on many levels.

"After 10 minutes, we had over $30 in the kettle, so I was super happy," she said. "Everyone was just putting in money, over and over, and a whole bunch of elderly people liked the music. I just felt relief and I felt happy for everyone and I felt good. I felt like everything that was in my life at that moment that was upsetting went away. I was happy the rest of the day."

Nevaeh volunteers with her mom, Diana Witherspoon, and they are sometimes joined by her 8-year-old little brother, Mike.

"I’m really proud of them," Witherspoon said. "They’re excited about doing things like that."

Witherspoon described her daughter as a talented musician who "is very musical" and picks up new things quickly. She said Nevaeh's clarinet playing is very much enjoyed by those who walk by.

"A lot of people have a really positive reaction, almost everybody smiles or waves, it really gets people’s attention," she said. "People come by and say, ‘That's so cool.’ She makes connections with people who just stop and chat with her. It's a really nice community connection."

Nevaeh has only been playing the clarinet two years, but she is already in an advanced music program at her school. She also plays the flute, the bass clarinet and the saxophone, but said she prefers to play the clarinet at her kettle station because it does better in cold weather than a freezing flute. She said she loves playing and has even inspired her friend, a French-horn player, to bring her instrument along during a bell ringing shift. Nevaeh also volunteers at the Post Falls American Legion, serving breakfast on Sunday mornings.

"For other bell ringers, and people who go to homeless shelters and the American Legion and help and serve food on Sundays, and the people who try to help around the community — God bless them," Nevaeh said. "Everyone deserves to have good holidays and a good life and family that cares. Everyone should try to do something good in the community and they should do what they love."

Nevaeh will be serenading shoppers and collecting donations for the Salvation Army at the Post Falls Walmart from 2-4 p.m. Sunday and at other locations throughout the season.