Arts & Entertainment

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)

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)

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 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)

Deborah Potter McCormick,

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.

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.

A traditional service of the Lexington Presbyterian Church, the Christmas Festival of Lessons and Carols, will be held during the 11 a.m. worship service on Sunday, Dec. 17. This will be the church’s only worship service that day.

Hillel President Gabby Cogan (right) lights a Hanukkah menorah candle as Lily Bishop, religious life chair, looks on at the Hillel House at Washington and Lee University last Thursday evening on the first night of the seven-day Jewish holiday. (Claudia Schwab photo)

Esther Pennington, 291-2629

Evelyn Ayres

A Tale of Two Cities

The second weekend of December brought a second and final round of Christmas parades to the Rockbridge area, with parades in Buena Vista last Thursday night, Fairfield on Friday night and Goshen on Saturday afternoon. (photos by Stephanie Mikels Blevins, Mary Woodson and Darryl Woodson)

Boxerwood’s popular Gifts of Nature workshop was held this past Saturday at the nature center’s outdoor pavilion. Patrons were invited to make decorative seasonal items such as wreaths and ornaments with the greens and dried fruits provided. There were crafts for the birds too with tables set up for making peanut buttered pine cones and suet-filled citrus cups. (Joann Ware photos)

Exactly two weeks before Christmas morning, Rockbridge County residents who live in higher elevations awoke to a white Dec. 11 after the storm system that brought rain to the area on Sunday left snow in its wake as it left the area. This photo was taken on Sterrett Road in Fairfield, where about 2 inches of snow had fallen overnight. (Darryl Woodson photo)

Another Wins First In State GFWC Contest

Employees of Spencer’s Home Center are seen with bicycles and other toys that were loaded up in a truck last week to be delivered to 115 children in need throughout the Rockbridge area. The effort was part of the E&A toy drive undertaken by Erica Slagle and Amber Flint that is serving 214 children this year. Rockbridge Area Social Services provided the names of people in need. Tammy Reid of Spencer’s spearheaded several initiatives to help families in need this holiday season, including a coat drive and efforts to provide other necessities to those who need them. “I don’t think people realize how much need we have in the Rockbridge area,” said Reid. “People here want to give. It’s been a privilege to be part of this.” Employees of Spencer’s also helped the Rockbridge Christmas Basket program make deliveries in the Mountain View, Fairfield and south Lexington areas. (Ed Smith photo)

Thursday, Dec. 14

The Buena Vista Baptist Church will once again present a concert of gospel and contemporary Christmas music this Sunday, Dec. 17, at 4 p.m.

Life Chapel will host an Ugly Christmas Sweater Dinner Party during its weekly New Life Supper on Monday, Dec. 18, at 6 p.m.

The Music at Noon concert series at Lexington Presbyterian Church continues today, Wednesday, Dec. 13, with an organ recital by William McCorkle at noon in the Lexington Presbyterian sanctuary.