The Jingle Bells Telethon will be held on Friday, Dec. 12, from 9 p.m. until 2 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 13, live on KCCO Television (Channel 7 and 12), Alexandria.
For her audition, she played on her guitar, “Glory of Love” and “I Won’t Take Less” for the judges. Hannah said she will also perform those two numbers during the telethon. “There were a lot of acts auditioning,” she said. “I just had to take a number and wait for my turn. I didn’t know what to expect, but it was fun.”
On Nov. 20, she received a letter from the Alexandria Jaycees, sponsors of Jingle Bells ’97, congratulating her on being selected to perform. The field of contestants was narrowed down to 20 finalists. Each will have an opportunity to perform one to two acts throughout the evening.
The Jingle Bells Telethon began in 1948 on radio KXRA. Because of tremendous growth, the telethon was moved to television. This will be the 30th year on KCCO-TV, Alexandria.
Over $50,000 was raised in 1996 to purchase Christmas presents and food baskets for needy families in an 11-county area in Minnesota. About 600-plus baskets were delivered in 1996.
Hannah has been playing guitar for six years, taking lessons from Pat Kavanagh, Paynesville. Rich Philabaum, her dad, said Hannah started taking piano lessons, but that lasted only two weeks. She later decided upon guitar; it’s easier to carry around, he joked.
Hannah, the daughter of Rich and Marleen Philabaum, has played her guitar at school choir programs, church, weddings, and with the middle school pops choir.