The Voetberg Family Band will host their annual ‘A Voetberg Family Christmas’ at Centralia's Liberty Theater.
For the past six years, eight of the children in Lewis County’s Voetberg family have performed the ‘A Voetberg Family Christmas’ concert to benefit the Historic Fox Theatre. They expect this year to be their best performance yet.
“I would say as all of us have grown into our own personalities, and our own musicianship, that things have kind of changed a little bit,” Lilja Voetberg said. “Rudy was pretty little when we did our first one. So everybody kind of growing up, I feel like the quality — I would hope — gets better.”
The concert benefits Historic Fox Theatre Restorations — the nonprofit currently restoring the Historic Fox Theatre — and Health and Hope Medical Outreach, a free walk in clinic in Centralia.
“I think that growing up playing music, and playing at different performing arts centers, we have really benefited from the arts,” Lilja Voetberg said. “We feel like it’s really important for our community to have a good arts program, and a performing arts center, and places to bring bands in. It just kind of brings everybody together as a community, and so we thought it was important. We benefited from it, so we wanted to kind of get on board.”
For most of the show, eight of the Voetberg children will perform. Then there is one song where the entire family sings together — all 10 kids, spouses, the grandkids and their mom.
“Usually what happens is a few months before the Christmas concert, we will all kind of be listening to music,” Lilja Voetberg said. “We will get an idea and if there is a song you want to do, then that person is in charge of arranging it and telling everybody else what to do. I feel like we each have a song in the program that was the one we arranged, so it’s kind of fun. Between all of us, we have our favorite or the ones we arranged. Then the group one was a collaboration of all of us.”
Historic Fox Theatre Restorations president Scott White estimated that the family has already raised around $40,000 for his nonprofit from the Christmas concerts alone.
“You guys still have the record for turnout at the Fox Theatre,” White said.
The largest crown the Fox Theatre has seen, White said, was 600 people for a Voetberg concert. Previously, White planned to create a 1,000 seat theater but thinks it will be more like 700-800 instead. The Fox Theatre is still on track to open in September 2020.
“It’s cool to see all of the talk actually go to work,” Vance Voetberg said. “Scott has done such a great job of being motivated. It’s hard to keep that motivation going on for 11 years.”
Earlier this year, White was awarded a $1 million grant from the city of Centralia. Until the theater holds its grand opening in 2020, it will remain closed to finish the restoration.
“We’re looking at some pretty major changes to make it more user friendly,” White said. “... There’s just different ways that people use theaters now, so you have to have more concession space, you have to have great bathrooms. You have to have all these things like great heating and cooling, or people just won’t come.”
The Liberty Theater in downtown Centralia will host four shows with the Voetbergs, who are known throughout the region for their talent — 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 20 and Friday, Dec. 21; as well as 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 22.
Tickets are available at Fiddlers Coffee, Holley’s Place and www.brownpapertickets.com. Tickets cost $10, but lap sitters are free.
