People burst into song during the final day of Christmas shopping Monday at Mount Berry Square mall as part of a flash mob organized by the family of Max Tucker. (Jeremy Stewart / Rome News-Tribune)
About 5 p.m., Lindsey Shirey stood up in the middle of the food court and sang the beginning of “Joy to the World.”
Soon, she was joined in by the large group of people sitting around her and those who were passing by with shopping bags or getting a bite to eat were treated to a series of Christmas songs on the eve of the holiday.
A few others joined Shirey and her family as they gave the impromptu performance.
“We enjoy singing,” said Joy Shirey. “The whole family sings and have been singing since we were little and now we’re grown up and the kids are singing now.”
The Rev. Max Tucker, the pastor at Community Chapel Baptist Church on Black’s Bluff Road, said the idea came from some of his family seeing a clip of a group doing a similar thing at their church.
“We had planned to go caroling in the community but when they brought up the clip we thought that we could do that,” Tucker said.
After talking with the people at the mall the family got everything together in about a week and had family from Rome and Alabama come to the mall.
“It was kind of difficult to just start singing in front of everyone but once we did everything went well,” Tucker said. “We’ve sung before but not like this where you just casually start up.”
The group covered traditional songs like “Come All Ye Faithful” and “O Holy Night” and ended with “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
“The response was great,” Tucker said. “We had some of the merchants even singing on the side. We hope this won’t be the last time.”
Tucker, who will celebrate his 64th wedding anniversary with his wife, Gaynelle, today, said they sang just to witness for the Lord and share his birth with the public and people at the mall.
“It’s all about Christ,” he said.
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