Alden-Conger elementary students are preparing a special holiday message this year.

The kindergarten through fifth-graders will present a holiday musical, &uot;This Old Gingerbread House,&uot; as part of the Christmas Joy Concert at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 10, in the school gymnasium in Alden. The concert is directed by Sharon Astrup-Scott and accompanied by Cheri Bruzelius.

Astrup-Scott said she decided to do a musical to add a different twist to the traditional holiday concert, since she’s been teaching with the district for six years. &uot;I wanted something fun for the holiday time,&uot; she said.

So even during the summer, she began thinking about adaptations to the musical. &uot;It’s very open to creativity, and I thought about what holiday songs we could use,&uot; Astrup-Scott said. &uot;We even sing ‘This Land Is Your Land,’ to make it patriotic and tie it all together.&uot;

&uot;This Old Gingerbread House&uot; was written by Teresa Jennings. Kiel Robinson plays Hansel and Allysa Bruzelius plays Gretel. The original Engelbert Humperdinck opera, &uot;Hansel and Gretel,&uot; contains a witch, the director said, but there is no witch in this musical. Instead, the story includes subjects of character, integrity, honesty, generosity, peace and joy.

Other characters are neighbors, narrators, a bear and a rabbit. There is a director, &uot;Bob and Gnorm&uot; from &uot;This Old Home Improvement,&uot; and even a television crew who is anxious not to miss all the excitement around &uot;This Old Gingerbread House.&uot;

&uot;The music is delightful and ‘yummy,’&uot; Astrup-Scott said. &uot;Many familiar holiday, Christmas and patriotic songs have been tastefully adapted into this musical.&uot;

The musical portion of the concert lasts about 45 minutes.

The concert actually opens with the A-C Children’s Choir made up of a select group of fourth- and fifth-grade students and the Middle/ Junior High Choir. A few selections from these choirs are: &uot;Oh, How Joyfully,&uot; a Sicilian folk melody; &uot;Sing for Joy&uot; by Handel; an arrangement of &uot;When Santa Claus Gets Your Letter;&uot; and &uot;Peace, Peace&uot; with Meghan Holtz as soloist.

Admission to the concert is free and the public is invited to attend.