A holiday ritual for L.A. and the Hahns

Hundreds of thousands of people have attended Los Angeles County’s free Holiday Celebration over the past 50 years. But for only a select few has it been a command performance.

Just ask Janice and James Hahn.

The children of the late, legendary Supervisor Kenneth Hahn—who created the celebration—always knew what they’d be doing when December 24 rolled around.

“We’d all go down to the Music Center,” says Janice, now 57 and a Los Angeles city councilwoman. “And—I confirmed this with my mother—I would get a new holiday dress every year for this occasion.”

Janice says her biggest memory was when her dad allowed her junior high glee club to perform one year. It was a tough gig to land. The 2nd District supervisor would turn impresario for those early concerts, acting as emcee, overseeing just about every aspect of the performances and serving as all-around gatekeeper. Hahn served as county supervisor from 1952 to 1992, and his musical micromanaging is now part of his considerable legend.

“My dad and his chief of staff were the talent scouts in those days,” Janice says. “They decided who sang and what they sang.”

Musical groups clamored to take the stage, especially when the program moved from the Sports Arena, where it began in 1959, to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in 1964. But in the early days, Supervisor Hahn needed to hustle to line up talent for what was then called “The Christmas Music Program.”

And he wasn’t above putting the squeeze on family.

“At first, they didn’t have enough participants so they brought in my uncle George, who was an organist. He loved playing the Sports Arena organ in the gaps” between acts, recalls James, who was 9 at the time of the first concert and went on to become mayor of Los Angeles from 2001-2005. “We actually needed him because otherwise we would have had dead air.”

These days, James, who was appointed to the bench last year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is hearing cases involving foster children at the Edmund D. Edelman Children’s Court in Monterey Park. He describes it as “a court unlike any other court” and says the holiday season adds a certain poignancy to what are already difficult times for the children who appear before him.

And when James reflects on the Holiday Celebration started by his dad, it’s his own family recollections that resonate most.

“The memorable times for us were more family moments: When I brought my children down there for the first time, when my sister brought her children for the first time, and then her grandchildren.”

Even now, it’s a hard habit to shake.

“My mother and I, wherever we may be, make a point of tuning in to it, either on radio or public TV,” Janice says.

She thinks the concert has changed for the better over time. “It’s really so much more diverse now, and more inclusive of so many more expressions of holiday times.”

As for all the Twittering, Facebooking and YouTubing that will accompany this year’s festivities, well, let’s just say her father, who died in 1997, preferred to do things old-school.

“I think he probably would have said word of mouth was what carried that program year after year after year.”

It’s been a while since the younger Hahns came out for the free show. “I haven’t been there in a few years,” James Hahn says, “but this might be a good year to go back.”

As for Janice Hahn, she’ll be spending the holidays in Colorado with her grandchildren and will have to miss the celebration. But she’s glad it’s there. As an elected official, she knows how hard it is to keep such programs afloat in challenging economic times. This year, the supervisors had to come up with an extra $100,000 to keep the program, which has a total budget of $900,000, going at its current 6-hour running time. She thanks them for doing so, and for honoring the original vision behind the extravaganza.

“It’s still today part of what he wanted. My father came from a very poor family. He lived in poverty most of his life before he became an elected official. I think that he always felt that this magnificent public building, no matter what your status was, should be free to the public one day a year…He really believed in that one day a year: making people feel like they were special, with no cares in the world, to act like the wealthy–free parking, big luxurious chairs…listening to a glee club perform Jingle Bells.”

“Particularly in times like these, people really appreciate this gift.”

Kenneth Hahn with his granddaughter Karina Natalie Hahn

One of the many choirs that has performed over the years at the county's Holiday Celebration

Supervisor Hahn, with one of many choirs, was legendary for micro-managing the selection of performers at the Holiday Celebration

Here’s an insider’s guide to making the most of Los Angeles’ ultimate choir-palooza in its golden anniversary year. (Did we mention that it was free?)