RALEIGH -- Of all the sad places to be on Christmas Day, prison is surely among the saddest.
Which is why a group of Triangle residents has faithfully shown up outside Central Prison on Christmas morning for the past 13 years, cheering the inmates, including those on death row.
The activists can't enter the maximum-security prison; no visits are allowed on Christmas Day when many of the guards are home with their families. But that doesn't deter them. And neither did Friday's gloomy gray skies or steady rain.
By 10 a.m. Friday, some 40 people of all ages assembled with raincoats and umbrellas and climbed up on the railroad trestle that runs behind the prison's mustard-colored walls.
They lined up five cardboard placards spelling out the words "Merry Christmas" in bright, fire-engine red.
"On the count of three, yell out 'Merry Christmas!'" bellowed Patrick O'Neill of Garner, the group's leader. "One, two, three!"
Their cries echoed across the valley and were likely heard by residents of the adjoining neighborhood of Boylan Heights, too.
"I saw somebody on the fourth floor!" cried 13-year-old Valerie Biesack of Fuquay-Varina.
But by the time the group made it to the other side of the prison, there was little doubt the inmates heard their greetings. Each time they shouted "Merry Christmas" or "Feliz Navidad," the prisoners responded by pounding the walls with what sounded like metal objects.
A guard named Riley appreciated it, too, and shouted out "thank you" from one of the towers.
"It's fun to come out here and sing at the top of your lungs," said Chris Simes of Raleigh.
But, of course, it's more than just fun.
"As Christians, we're supposed to minister to those in prison," said Duane Adkinson of Garner, referring to Jesus' admonition to visit prisoners.
And what better time to do it than on a day many spend reveling in material goods.
"I want my family to think of something other than presents and gifts on Christmas morning," said Jay Ferguson, a lawyer from Durham who represents death row inmates.
The group sang carols, too - "Deck the Halls," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."
One hour and 15 minutes later, they gathered back on Cabarrus Street in nearby Boylan Heights to sip hot chocolate and make plans for next year, showing, as Marianne Williams of Raleigh pointed out, "the real spirit of Christmas is to be there for others."
