Christmas celebrations aplenty during the coming month
It’s December, so Christmas is in full swing with celebrations planned by a number of town organizations.
Charlotte Senior Center
This Friday, Dec. 2, the Charlotte Senior Center plans to start its Yule revelry by decorating its Christmas tree from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
The senior center’s volunteer cooking teams of cooks, bakers and dishwashers will have a holiday party at noon on Dec. 9.
The center will also repeat the sort of drop-in it sponsored on Thanksgiving, with the facility open on Christmas morning for people who are alone for the holiday invited to drop by for coffee, pie and conversation.
Volunteer Fire and Rescue
This Saturday, Dec. 3, Santa will visit the Charlotte Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service 1-3 p.m.
Dan Cole helps a younger Charlotte history fan get a drink at the Charlotte Historical Society’s Christmas party in 2019.
Charlotte Historical Society
The Charlotte Historical Society will celebrate with a Christmas Party at the Charlotte Museum on Church Hill Road 2-5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4.
Although the historical society tried to have a Christmas in July party, it didn’t work out, said president Dan Cole. This will be the organization’s first Christmas party with all the seasonal trappings since COVID hit.
The museum will be open with free admission, but there will also be a fire pit on the lawn. Light refreshments will be served, and books on local history will be available for sale.
The rain date is Dec. 11. For more information send an email.
Quinlan School
Sunday will also offer another option for a historical Christmas celebration with festivities planned at the Quinlan School 1-4 p.m. The former one-room schoolhouse is behind the Charlotte Library.
The wooden device under this Charlotte Historical Society Christmas tree is a jack jumper, basically a ski with a seat attached. This one is probably from the early 1900s or before. The sport was invented in New England in the late 1800s, and the world championships are held in Vermont every year.
Charlotte Congregational Church
As always, the Charlotte Congregational Church has a full calendar of Christmas observances.
This Sunday’s 10 a.m. worship service will have music from “Messiah” performed by professional musicians. There will be no holy communion, but the church will celebrate with the lighting of the Advent wreath candles of hope, peace, joy and love during the service, as it will at Sunday 10 a.m. services through Dec. 18.
Following the Sunday, Dec. 11, service there will be a blessing of the church’s new Peace Pole which will include a moment to observe the 10th anniversary of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The church’s annual Christmas Pageant will feature an imaginative enactment of the Christmas story at 10 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 18.
The sanctuary of the church will be open for prayer and meditation 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Mondays, Dec. 5, 12 and 19.
At 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve carols will be sung around the Charlotte Congregational Church’s Christmas tree. The 5 and 7 p.m. services will have lessons and carols and include readings, special music and a candlelight singing of “Silent Night.”
The church will have a shorter service at 10 a.m. on Christmas morning with carol singing, a short message and a few surprises.