By MICHELLE BROOKS
Democrat staff
RUSSELLVILLE - Rows of pajama-clad tikes sang songs and waved at their families during the Cole County R-1 Elementary School Christmas program Thursday.
The pre-kindergarten through second grade classes performed "Night Before Christmas." Then the third through fifth graders shared a version of "The Nutcracker."
In the audience were hundreds of proud parents and friends.
Hunter Kueffer's mother Jessica brought out the video camera to capture his lines in The Nutcracker.
"He's never done lines in front of anyone," she said.
In his "Duck Dynasty" camouflage sleepwear, Hunter took the stage with more than a dozen other students who had been practicing before and after school for several weeks.
This was also the first program for new music teacher Taylor Chandler.
"They've been working hard," said assistant principal Matt Cullum. "This show is going to knock your socks off."
Chandler agreed, "That's a lot of difficult music in a short amount of time."
The younger students' program included a visit from St. Nicholas, some sleepy participants and lots of energy.
Sarah Oligschlaeger was among the many parents taking pictures for their scrapbooks.
Oligschlaeger's daughter Kate wore red and white striped pajamas to sing in the first-grade choir. The outfit is part of their family tradition of buying new Christmas pajamas on Black Friday, she said.
With a first grader and two third graders, Oligschlaeger arrived early and stayed the entire evening.
"Everyone comes out for this; it's exciting to see so many people," she said. "The kids work really hard."