GREENFIELD — The final ensemble piece at the Hancock County Children’s choir concert last Saturday was called “What Christmas Means to Me,” a song celebrating spending the holiday season at home with friends and family. And one singer in their choir was long overdue to spend quality time with a certain family member.
Before they bade goodnight for the evening, choir artistic director Gale Roschi turned to the crowd and addressed a 13-year-old girl, who somehow knew there was a surprise in store for her.
“Avarie Hinton, I believe you have a present under the tree,” Roschi told her.
Avarie’s hands covered her face as the tears started falling. The crowd at Mt. Vernon High School cheered as she rushed to hug her mother, who had appeared next to the Christmas tree onstage, dressed in her Navy combat uniform.
After spending 14 months deployed in Djibouti, Africa, with the Combined Joint Task Force working on counterterrorism missions, U.S. Navy Lt. Tawnee Hinton surprised her daughter with an emotional reunion at Avarie’s choir concert. It was a special moment to witness for everybody present that night, said Joanna Crump, HCCC director of finance.
Crump said choir officials originally got in touch with Tawnee Hinton and had a private reunion planned. But the group’s directors all agreed to make the special moment officially part of the program instead. Crump helped sneak Averie’s mom backstage to watch the first part of the show from behind the scenes. Then, just as the choir finished its final ensemble piece, the sailor slipped unseen into the crowd. Roschi addressed the audience, setting the stage for the mother and daughter’s first hug in more than a year.
“It was a very, very tender, heartwarming thing to witness,” Crump said.
Tawnee Hinton didn’t realize she would be home in time for the concert, which she had missed last year, she said. She managed to make it to the venue just in time; her bags were still in the car when she arrived.
When the family got home, they re-watched videos their friends had taken of the moment again and again, Hinton said. The family is from Indianapolis, but the children attend Montessori Science Academy in New Palestine.
“It was kind of surreal,” she said with a laugh. “Of course (Avarie) was a typical teenager. She was afraid her makeup was running, so she turned away from the audience. I couldn’t have been happier how it worked out. I didn’t even notice the audience was standing up, I was so zoned in on her.”
“We’re going to spend some time being a family now,” she added. “I’m so glad I won’t have to watch my kids open presents over Facetime this year.”
