Boys Ranch Christmas Choral Group Ends an ERA Nearly 200 current Morning Star Boys' Ranch residents, alumni, board members, staff and guests along with their families took part in a Christmas Carol sing-a-long on Dec. 11 that marked the end of a 40-year Ranch tradition. Held at the downtown Doubletree Hotel, the event served as the 40th and final gathering of the Morning Star Christmas Choral Group under the direction of Ron and Marsha Feller. The evening's choral ensemble featured Ranch residents and alumni from each of the past five decades, including boys-now-men from the original group. The Fellers, who have directed the outreach program since 1966, were paid special honor during the evening banquet gathering. Father Joe recalled how the pair were "recruited" to the Ranch by boys who were being taught by Ron. The Fellers have supported Ranch projects since that time. Over the years the choir has become a mainstay of the yule season for the Spokane area with the group visiting dozens of church groups, senior centers, civic gatherings as well as special venues. "When alumni come back and visit the Ranch, they invariably ask about Ron and Marsha," said Dan Kuhlmann, acting MSBR director. "The impact they have had on so many of our boys cannot be measured." While the Fellers call Spokane home and have invested 40 Christmas seasons working with the Morning Star choral troupe, much of the rest of their year is spent visiting schools, conferences and teacher organizations where they teach storytelling, mask making, story writing and song writing. Their popular workshops have kept them in demand throughout the United States doing school assemblies, family concerts, young writers' conferences, artists' residencies, educational seminars and college courses. They are the authors of two books: "Paper Masks and Puppets for Stories, Songs and Plays" and "Fanciful Faces & Handbound Books: Fairy Tales". (Note: More on the Fellers lives and work can seen on their web site: www.fellersartsfactory.com.)