Undoubtedly, the most beautiful and the sparkliest time of the year is the Christmas season. People are bustling about decorating their houses while listening to carol-full music playing smoothly from the background and little children dancing and prancing around the triangular-shaped Christmas tree. It is the time of the year when every nook and corner of the world is packed with Christmas excitement and brightened up with vivid lights.

This ‘Santa-approved’ holiday season was made a mesmerizing one by ‘A Memorable December 2020’; a wonderful project which was used by Santa to deliver presents to everyone around, in this extra-ordinary year.

‘A Memorable December 2020’ was a three-phased project which was purely hyped up by this Christmas vibe. This was organized by the Club Service Avenue of the Rotaract Club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura with the sole purpose of enhancing the bond between the club members and as well as the other Rotaract Clubs. Spreading Christmas cheer to everyone while ‘staying at home’ was a fantastic experience, and it was the main objective of this initiative.

In the first phase, all the skilled personalities were summoned by the Handicrafts Competition and the Photographic Competition. The ones who have inventive hands in creating decorative ornaments and the ones who have picturesque eyes sent heaps of entries of different mind-blowing Christmas decorations.

After an enthusiastic voting period until the 1st of January 2021, the winners were finally chosen. Rtr. Nelufa Sariffodeen won the Handicrafts Competition for her unique Christmas decorations while Rtr. Chamika Nadun Liyanage and Rtr. Hansani Kawshadi won awards for their wonderful captures of Christmas adornments in the Photographic Competition.

Mellifluous melodies backed up with the Christmas spirit came along as the second phase of the project. “A Virtual Open Mic” was the event for which everybody was impatiently counting fingers for. The eventide of the 19th of December; where all the harmonious melodies were awaiting to soften the hearts of everyone with the feeling of Christmas. The event was commenced virtually with a video to welcome everyone on board to this spectacular event, and a warm welcome was given by a Rtr. Amasha Sirimanna; the President of the Rotaract Club of University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

The melodies of talented individuals filled the night with the joy of Christmas. Rtr. Harsha Dananjaya, Rtr. Sanara Gamage, Rtr. Nimanthi Narayana, Rtr. Chamathka Oshadi, Rtr. Hasini Amanda, Rtr. Nethmi Devage, Rtr. Oshadi Wijayanayake and Tharaka Siyambalapitiya along with Savini Meegama, joined the night by singing the joy of Christmas as live contestants.

More talented participants; Rtr. Niwarthana Fernando, Rtr. Kavindya Weligalla, Rtr. Devin Thenuka, Dakum Jayamanne, Sheron Rukshantha, Iridu Basnayake, Dulki Matheesha, and Shaveen Fernando and along with the group of three; Hirushka, Minusha, and Rumil joined us together to make this Christmas a memorable one.

The compeering of this musical night was done perfectly by Rtr. Naveeni Francis, Rtr. Michelle Silva and Rtr. Natasha Liyanarachchi, making the event more interesting. The tuneful music and the brilliant singers definitely did make this mellifluous night, an enduring one after all. Thus, we would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to these talented souls who joined us in order to make this event a success.

The third phase came out as an interesting and curious one. Historical but thought-provoking facts about Christmas were cited for five consecutive days until the 25th of December. These intriguing facts which evoked the spirit of Christmas marked their end with the warm Yuletide wish from the organizing committee of the project.

“A Memorable December 2020” came to an end along with the wondrous and the miraculous Christmas time, making everyone’s ‘December’, a ‘Memorable’ one indeed.

By Rtr. Gagani Manudula Gunasinghe