Christmastime stirs 'Charlie Brown' memories for Sebastopol woman

The Christmas season officially arrives on Dec.11 for Dianne and Tom Garcia in their Mediterranean-style home in Sebastopol. And in the days marking the beginning of the holidays there is always a phone call (or text) from Dianne’s sister, Tracy, when she first hears the opening lyrics of “Christmas Time Is Here.”

The familiar refrain is not just a call to Christmas. It triggers personal memories for the girls, particularly for Dianne Garcia. She was one of 10 children selected by Fantasy Records in 1965 to provide background vocals for the soundtrack to “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” They were picked from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in San Rafael to serve as the angelic children’s choir, whose rendition of “Christmas Time is Here,” is now considered a Christmas classic, played over and over in stores and restaurants and on the radio during the month of December.

The song originally was going to be instrumental. It was decided to add lyrics only later, Garcia said. Vince Guaraldi, an American jazz musician, and Lee Mendelson, producer of the special, wrote the lyrics while the children watched. Then Dianne’s mother took the sheet of music to a nearby office to have it mimeographed.

The Garcias’ home is one of five featured on the sixth annual Sebastopol Holiday Home Tour today, a fundraising event for Pleasant Hill Christian School’s scholarship fund. Located at 1782 Pleasant Hill Road, it is a private school for children in preschool up to sixth grade. Chances are, visitors will hear the faint lyrics, “Snowflakes in the air, carols everywhere, olden times and ancient rhymes of love and dreams to share,” playing softly in the background.

Guaraldi was popular with the children. “He was this groovy musician, who sported a huge handlebar mustache. He would skateboard with us and then we’d practice. My father referred to him as a Bohemian, but we knew him as a beatnik,” Garcia recalled with a smile.

The recording sessions were conducted over two weeks in a facility that looked mostly like an unfinished warehouse to young Dianne. The sessions often ran late, resulting in angry parents. Garcia, however, said her mother wasn’t concerned, recognizing it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As for her experience? “When you’re 13 years old, going to a recording studio, it was exciting and fun,” she said. She and her family watched the TV special that December, never anticipating it would become iconic. “It wasn’t until several years later that we realized what a thrilling piece of work that it was,” she said.

The Garcias moved to Sebastopol from Carmel nearly 10 years ago. Today, the holidays are all about gathering with friends and family for Tom and Dianne. Nestled on 2½ acres, their home has an outside-inside feel, and offers sweeping views and a bucolic setting. The décor is an eclectic mix of Carmel-inspired historic California art and what the Garcias refer to as “family fusion.” But it’s mostly a sanctuary for the couple and their four dogs: Shelby, Newman, Quincy and Twist.

To the right of the front door is a hall, affectionately referred to as “the ancestral passage.” There are original documents signed by Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson and family photos from Dianne’s side of the family dating from the 1800s, including Irene Hoyt, a descendant of Ann Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII.

The guest room is decorated with fresh pine garland and wooden reindeer, but you’ll also find more family photos including those of Aunt Irene, along with her nursing caps, which are on display. There’s also a photo of four great uncles, known for their highly celebrated careers in mining engineering, wearing top hats, and who once disputed Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity in a paper of their own. In an office, more touches of Christmas, the word “Believe” in gold and the book, “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” is on display. “Christmas time is here, we’ll be drawing near.”

The Garcias will spend Christmas at home this year, along with their four shelties. As for Dianne’s brief moment of fame in 1965 as a singer, there is one line from “Christmas Time Is Here” that is her favorite, “Oh, that we could always see such spirit through the year.”

“The message has spanned the past 51 years so beautifully, and maybe this year more than ever,” Dianne Garcia said.