December 3, 2009: Our Town – Delaware

Pictured here are Brian Hesselbart on the right and Paul Burnside on the left at the piano, during an evening rehearsal for the Christmas CD concert at William Street United Methodist Church.

Photo courtesy of Doug Warnock

‘Winter at William Street’
Sharing holiday joy and human kindness

“Winter at William Street” is not just another Christmas CD.

It is a rare blend of beautiful vocals and piano arrangements performed by two Ohio Wesleyan graduates and supporting musicians, made even more special by the number of lives touched by this CD—within both the Delaware and Ohio Wesleyan communities.  And it all began just more than a decade ago, as a whim of Doug Warnock’s ’75, who heard the rich singing voice of Brian Hesselbart ’80 during a Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra (COSO) concert  on OWU’s campus.

“I suggested that Brian make a cassette tape of Christmas music, and we joked about it over the years,” says Warnock, principal attorney at Douglas W. Warnock Co. LPA in Delaware. When  Jaclyn Speece, the girlfriend of Warnock’s son Matt ’04,  recently  decided to create and sell a CD of her piano music, the elder Warnock was again reminded of his many conversations with Hesselbart.

“That [whim], combined with the fact that our pastor at William Street United Methodist Church, Julie Carmean, has long wanted to find ways to reconnect with Ohio Wesleyan and Delaware, made me really believe that we would be able to do this,” says Warnock. Putting words into action, Hesselbart picked the music for the future CD and enlisted the help of pianist/arranger  Paul Burnside ’85, along with several other musicians, and began rehearsing last summer, with the recording work taking place within Sanborn Hall’s Jemison Auditorium.

“There are different arrangements of some [more familiar] songs on the CD, and several that people won’t know,” says Warnock.  The fact that both Hesselbart and Burnside had worked together often in past years helped to shape the CD’s appeal.

“We have that musical give and take that is so rare to experience as musicians,” says Hesselbart. And it is that special care and commitment to the project—and to sharing the joyful music with others—that has added to the uniqueness of “Winter at William Street.”

“We saw this as a great opportunity to partner with Delaware’s Andrews House and the Common Ground Free Store on William Street to donate money raised by the sales of the CDs to our community members in need of food and clothing,” explains Warnock. “Raising awareness of people in need, the ministries of the church, and of the importance of partnering with other charities all were our goals as we created this CD.” He shares that of the 1,000 CDs that were ordered, 400 have been sold, at $12 per copy at venues such as Delaware’s Global Village and Beehive Books.

“Members of the OWU and Delaware communities will have an opportunity to hear music from “Winter at William Street” performed live at a free First Friday concert at 8 p.m. on Friday, at the William Street United Methodist Church,” says Warnock.

For more information, or to place a CD order, call 740-363-4741 or visit the Web site at www.williamstreetumc.org.

– Pam Besel