Music and lights abound, and Acton residents and businesses are out there performing the usual holiday rituals. Artists are selling their work at fairs, galleries, and open houses, such as Emerson Umbrella, Church of the Good Shepherd, 6 Bridges Gallery in Maynard, and Sudbury Art Association’s Holiday Market, open through Dec.23.
At the Acton Exchange editors’ request, some people sent in photographs of holiday events. High School students were out in force, with the annual Winter Concert and the Madrigal choir caroling at the libraries. Choral Director Jen Moss introduced the singers on Thursday at the Sargent Memorial Library in Boxborough and invited the audience to attend two concerts in the spring, a May 13 Spring Concert at Groton Hill Music Center, and the May 28 and 29 Madrigal Dinners, at the Chelmsford Center for the Arts. She will keep the public up to date on concerts at her website.
Commonwealth Ballet, partner of Acton School of Ballet, is presenting its annual “Nutcracker” at Regis College in Weston. An unrelated company, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, informed the Acton Exchange that Acton resident and ABRHS graduate Stephen Caliskan, is in the cast of “A Christmas Carol” at the Emerson Majestic Theatre in Boston, running until December 23. Caliskan plays Peter Cratchit and several ensemble roles.
Another ABRHS graduate, Sylvia Schwartz, took a winding route from her childhood home on Autumn Lane in Acton, to concert halls in St. Petersburg, Russia, Southern California, Boston, and Maine, to the Portland Maine Conservatory of Music, earning a BS in Engineering from Olin College of Engineering and a Masters in Violin from Longy School of Music along the way. In December, Sylvia and her chamber music group, Guts Baroque, offers a month of micro concerts as a musical advent calendar.
The West Acton Holiday Stroll on Dec. 6 included special opportunities in local shops and a Christmas Tree lighting.
On Dec 16, a Hanukkah menorah lighting in front of the Red House next to Town Hall drew at least 60 people. Fire Chief Anita Arnum showered the kids with gift bags from the roof of the Red House.
Rabbi Yosef Polter (from Chabad) spoke about the meaning of Hanukkah at the lighting, especially the fact that Jews around the world are both mourning (the horror of the Australian Bondi Beach massacre) and celebrating (the miracle of Hanukkah) . Other speakers included Rabbi Braham David of Congregation Beth Elohim; our state legislators, Senator Jamie Eldridge and Representatives Simon Cataldo and Danillo Sena; and Select Board Member Fran Arsenault.
After the menorah was lit, music was played and young children gathered in the center of the lawn. To everyone’s surprise, gift bags came down from on high.
This author received an email from an enthusiastic neighbor last Saturday: “A few minutes ago, Santa drove past, on Central St! Thanks, Acton Fire Department!”
Please keep those photos coming, with seasonal scenes and even some anecdotes. Info@actonexchange.org. And please play safely over the holidays.
