The Rosine Bluegrass Gospel Show Christmas Special was indeed a blessing. Saturday night, December 20, 2025, will always be a special memory for me.
It started like every Rosine Bluegrass Gospel Show before, with Rosine Lighthouse Community Church pastor Danny Veteto leading us in prayer (I forgot to take my hat off, please forgive me) before a band played for an hour, that band being us, The Caney Creek Gang.
(from L to R—Jackson Groves, Dylan Lunsford, me, Marty Hays, and Larry Hill)
Dylan Lunsford did a superb job filling in for Kenneth Newell as Kenneth and wife Angie were sick at home down in Westmoreland, Tennessee. Prayers to them!
The band had a ball singing for, and with, the audience. The Christmas season had everyone in a festive mood. I think my favorite song of the evening was when Marty’s wife Robin Hays sang “Record Book.”
After Christmas and Gospel songs for an hour, the “Special” really kicked in! Most of us went outside and loaded onto Glenn and Linda House’s lowboy trailer and farm truck.
Glenn and Linda had it all lighted up with Christmas lights, and they had hay bales for seats. Perfect for what?! A Christmas Caroling hayride!
Oh, what fun it is to ride…..and sing Christmas carols through Rosine! Here’s a little sample—
https://youtube.com/shorts/G5YL1l2DNew?si=ajvKhlArpg0Uaqth
We will have to work on the caroling for next year because we couldn’t get most folks to come outside and listen. Maybe we’ll use a sound system? A bullhorn? Or maybe just have the lead trucks lay on their horns to get Rosine’s attention. My father, Kenny Autry, drove ahead of Glenn and Linda with his hazard lights on.
I’ve had many folks comment about our caroling, saying we were preserving a tradition. It’s sad, but true, that many of our traditions are slowly falling away. And they’ll continue to do so unless we make a conscious, concerted effort to keep them going.
Technology has separated us. Yes, we can more readily communicate with tech—but not face-to-face, in-person, one-on-one. Human beings are gregarious by nature, and that nature is being denied. Who knows where it leads!
Sorry for diverging there for a minute.
We circled around Rosine caroling for about an hour. The weather was perfectly amazing.
We eventually went back to the church where the congregation had prepared hot drinks (cider, hot chocolate, and coffee)—and a big ol’ bunch of sweets!
A big shout out goes to Rosine Lighthouse Community Church for a cozy chance for fellowship.
Sadly, that marked the end of The 2025 Rosine Bluegrass Gospel Show Christmas Special. I’m already looking forward to next year and brainstorming ways to improve. I hope to see you there a year from now.
I pray you have a very Merry Christmas and, of course, a Happy New Year! May 2026 bring you joy in abundance.
