Mattapoisett was abuzz with the sound of Christmas songs on Sunday night as neighbors gathered for their annual evening of caroling.

Each year friends and neighbors assemble at the Pearl Street home of Bob and Anne Marklin. Bundled up for the cold and armed with song sheets, the group walks to Village Court where the elderly residents have come to expect them.

Twenty-four years strong, some of the singers were kids when the caroling started and are now married and have children of their own.

“Faces come and go and people come back again,” said Jeanine McLaughlin.

No one remembers exactly how the group got started, but it can be as big as 40 people, from toddlers to adults.

“I grew up with caroling,” said Anne Marklin, whose daughter Lauren Czerkowicz now comes with her husband and two children. “Probably for two years we walked around the neighborhood. Then we did it a few more times, and it just became a tradition.”

The group used to walk around the neighborhood, but eventually decided to stick to Village Court, except for one brief stop to sing to an elderly neighbor.

For Debbie Suzan, the evening of caroling is something she looks forward to every year and is at the top of her Christmas wishlist.

“It’s the one thing she wants us to do for Christmas every year, so we all do it,” said Suzan’s daughter Carly DuBeau.

Suzan said the Village Court residents really enjoy the tradition.

“It’s a nice feel to it. It makes others happy,” she said. “It’s fun for the little ones to see it, too.”

Hear the carolers sing on the video below!