Arts & Entertainment

The Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church choir will present its annual program of Lessons and Carols entitled “Good Tidings of Great Joy” this Sunday, Dec. 24, at 11 a.m.

Historic Lexington Foundation is featuring Rockbridge County’s churches and cemeteries in its 2024 desk calendar. The calendar offers 52 weeks of photographs of local churches. Calendars are available at Downtown Books and Victorian Parlor on Main Street in Lexington or at the HLF office at 15 S. Jefferson St., which is open most afternoons. For more information, send an email to [email protected].

Lexington Presbyterian Church will hold three worship services on Sunday, Dec. 24.

Lexington churches again opened their doors for the Holiday Church Open House last Friday. Those attending were able to visit the decorated churches and hear music at several of them, including (at right) Randolph Street United Methodist Church and (below left) Trinity United Methodist Church. Among the other participating churches were St. Patrick’s Catholic Church (top), Lexington Presbyterian Church (above) and Grace Episcopal Church (below right). Manly Memorial Baptist and First Baptist churches also joined in the event. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photos)

Columbia Gas won the judge’s choice award for its entry in the Buena Vista Christmas parade Dec. 7.

Karyn Gardner, (540) 228-2176, (540) 655-3646 [email protected]

First through fourth grade students at Central Elementary School participated in a two-day gingerbread house event last week, building their houses on Tuesday and decorating them on Wednesday. These scenes are from last Wednesday. (Anneliese Schneider photos)

Evelyn Ayres

Rockbridge

As we approach what ought to be a joyful holiday this week, we note that there are far too many among us who experience sadness at this time of year. Those who have recently lost loved ones or are in the grip of depression or are just plain stressed out may view the holidays as anything but a happy occasion.

Rainy weather drove the annual Rockbridge Symphony Brass & Friends Concert indoors to Lexington Presbyterian Church this past Sunday. Those who gathered were treated to a well-chosen selection of favorite holiday tunes played from the balcony of the church. (Joann Ware photos)

Charles Russell Smith Jr., 62, of Buena Vista, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023.

Welcome to our annual holiday children’s writings.

The Choir of Grace and Friends will present a service of Lessons and Carols for Advent on Sunday, Dec. 17, at 5 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church.

Crossing paths on Dec. 6, the feast day honoring Saint Nicholas, are Scott Belliveau, who annually portrays the fourth century Bishop of Myra, and Father Jay Biber, a former pastor at St. Patrick Catholic Church, now retired in Lexington. St. Nick, honored for his works of kindness and charity, can be spotted each year on his special day, waving as cars pass the church on Nelson Street and offering candy canes, prayer cards, and well wishes to all he meets.

Deborah Potter McCormick,

The pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade classes at Central Elementary School performed a sweet program to a full gymnasium last Thursday. The title of the program was “Christmas Cookies, the Musical” and it was about cookies that are going to a cookie exchange. Along the way, the cookies discover that it is OK to be with others who are not just like you. (Joann Ware photos)

Santa, along with a bunch of his friends, met with children at Kling Elementary School last Thursday during the annual Horses’ Christmas celebration. The 2023 edition of the event was presented by Half-Halt Inc. Equine Assisted Therapies and Programs in Buena Vista and sponsored by the Buena Vista Parks and Recreation Department. This year marked the return of the event after a hiatus of three years caused by the pandemic and weather. (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photos)

The public was invited to spend Christmas with the Jacksons last Tuesday, Dec. 5. TOP LEFT, Todd Taylor shows visitors how coffee was made in Jackson’s time. TOP RIGHT, Brian Duckworth enlists the aid of a visitor to churn butter in the Jackson House kitchen. BOTTOM LEFT, Debbie Levonick leads a group in singing “Silent Night” in the Jackson House parlor. AT IMMEDIATE LEFT, Tamara Teaff demonstrates how a knitted garter would have been used to hold up a lady’s stocking. (Joann Ware photos)

Residents gathered at Kendal on Dec. 5 for the annual Light Up A Life ceremony sponsored by ConnectionsPlus Healthcare + Hospice. Those attending were given a rose and an ornament in memory of a loved one, with the ornaments placed on a tree. Burr Datz (above), spiritual and patient care volunteer, read the names of those being remembered, and Tasha Walsh (below, right), executive director, welcomed those attending and read a poem. The Threshold Singers (right) sang “Walking Each Other Home.” (Stephanie Mikels Blevins photos)

Value of Hay Alternatives