The Glen Rock Carolers continued a Christmas Day tradition that began in 1848, when mill owners began singing Christmas carols to the town. Sunday morning, the singers sang to a bigger crowd, but they still wore top hats, capes and carried canes, reflecting some of the town's Yorkshire, England, history.
The group opens at 11 p.m. Christmas Eve with an inside concert, but at midnight-- not five or 10 minutes past midnight, but AT midnight-- they adjourn to the town square, where hundreds of fans join them. Some of the crowds sings, some hum, some just tag along and listen to the music, some younger folks just tag along and do what younger folks have always done-- be loud and hang out with their friends.
Some of the carolers have been singing for 70 years, and while that's a feat in itself, wandering up and down the town's hills -- there's a reason it's called GLEN Rock-- would easily sap the wind from a teenager's lungs. But the carolers, about 50 of them, walk, sing, make jokes, eat, laugh and generally have a good time until the sun is starting to come up over the eastern hills.
The crowd is huge and elbow-to-elbow at midnight but thins out after the first two hours to almost nothing, and it's sometimes just the carolers singing to empty streets-- and some adoring neighbors who actually set their alarm and get out of bed to have these gentlemen (no ladies) serenade them with old English Christmas carols. Then, at about 5 a.m., after most of the hills have been walked, a smaller crowd forms to meet the carolers at the bottom of the hill and stays with them until the doxology at the community Christmas tree.
Staying with the carolers the entire night isn't something you might intend to do when the night begins. But these gentleman laugh and joke with the fans, and it's easy becoming part of the fun.
Longwood Gardens keeps its Christmas display open until January 8, so find your tickets online and make the 75 minute trip from York to see some exquisite displays. Inside, there is 4.5 acres of displays and plants in the conservatory. Outside, there is fountain displays and music and thousands of lights.
Visited Rocky Ridge County Park's Christmas Magic recently, trying to find something different to photograph at a place that's been photographed for 28 years. Colorful and different, but remembering that different isn't necessarily good, I'm not sure I'm satisfied with either. Nope, neither one.
But that's just the picture, Christmas Magic is a lot of fun. It's open until December 31, closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. See it if you can.
Heard a knock on the door Monday night, and it was about 50 Smith Middle School students singing Christmas carols. It made me smile, seeing them smile and doing a terrific job on "Deck the Halls". Thanks!
Despite a thin covering of snow this morning, barely covering these holly berries, there still hasn't been enough cold weather to make much snow for Pennsylvania ski areas. Roundtop and Liberty are both expecting to make big snow tonight, but neither have announced openings yet. In Pennsylvania, according to Ski The East, only Camelback is open-- with 98 percent of its trails challenging skiers.
Further north, nearly everything is open, and Killington in Vermont has been raving about its snow for a month. In New York, skiers at Whiteface will face temperatures of about eight degrees. And in Canada, well, it's Canada. It's cold, snowy and beautiful. At Mont Sainte Anne near Quebec City, at right, skiers won't see 32F the entire week as they glide over a nearly four foot base.
A yellow bellied sapsucker isn't particularly uncommon in York County, but less common than the usual downy woodpeckers. It probably shows a lack of excitement in my life, but I was thrilled to see a lot of red on this woodpecker out of the corner of my eye while photographing other birds at Pinchot State Park. In this season of gray, this little guy stood out like a neon sign.
Chuck and Sharon McFadden of Loganville spent a month putting together a Christmas display, just as they have for the last 30 years.
The home's outside is impressive, with 16 balloons, figures, buildings. And enough lights to make the electric meter spin like a tire on a race car. Most of the lights are in the backyard, since the display can be seen by drivers along Interstate 83.
Sharon admits the backyard is 'gaudy', but the front yard is beautiful, tasteful. It's about the only house in the upscale, new-home neighborhood with any lights at all. Thousands of drivers see the backyard, only a handful see the front.
Their grandchildren are soaking up the holiday spirit, Sharon baking and cooking, Chuck already planning for more railroad displays.
It was satisfying to see the McFaddens smiling as I walked through their door. They seem to thrive on the holidays. Good for them.
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My house in York has almost no decorations on it because I remember that eons ago, when I was a kid, decorating for Christmas holidays wasn't a particularly happy time. Mom and Dad, who loved each other deeply all other times of the year-- almost to the point of embarrassment-- seemed to bait each other during the season. The wrong color lights, too many lights, not enough lights. Inside, it was much the same. Decorating the inside tree was just one, long argument. The wrong tinsel, small bulbs, big bulbs...
The pressure never ended-- the holiday gifts, decorations, church obligations and those dreadful, constant Christmas carols... Having four rowdy kids under foot during the vacation probably didn't help. Of course, Christmas Day was exciting for us kids because the entire living room seemed to be stacked with presents, gloriously wrapped in beautiful colored paper and ribbons. Nellie, our dachshund, was already nosing through the gifts, looking for her gifts as we bounced down the steps.
Dad's home movie of Christmas morning in 1957 shows the piles of gifts and wrapping, and it reminds us how much our Mom and Dad wanted us to be happy. We didn't understand the serious financial worry it certainly must have put on Dad, who was already working two jobs.
Still today, I can't fathom how they raised four kids with the little money they had.
Bah, humbug? No, but I prefer enjoy our friends and family. Let's refuse to jump into a pressure cooker of our own making.
"Santacon is a non-denominational, non-commercial, non-political and non-sensical Santa Claus convention that occurs once a year for absolutely no reason." From the website, which is NOT suitable for young children. It was Saturday in New York City that thousands of Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus and all their imitators, elves, gingerbread men and women, helpers, reindeers and others in somewhat confusing holiday costumes wandered through town, joining the elbow-to-elbow crowd. The Santa and Company crowd with their smiles, ho-ho-ho, and singing made the crowded city even more interesting than the usual exciting NYC Christmas trip. Most were young adults, whose enthusiasm made even the most Grinch-like smile. It was a big pre-Christmas party, and one Santa admitted that his group was going bar hopping-- not shopping.
The website includes new verses for traditional Christmas songs, jokes and photos, some of which is NSFW or young children. It's irreverent, racy, and the video is about six steps beyond what Santa would consider 'naughty'. Still, all the Santas provided some fun entertainment.
Fifty volunteers descended on Salvation Army of York Wednesday to fill 2,000 boxes to be sure York's most needy families have a Christmas dinner. Among the volunteers was Ruth Schrom, a vibrant 94-year old woman with more energy than people half her age. Ruth was one of a group of AARP volunteers and retired teachers who will be at it again Thursday to finish the job. Students from the Christian School of York joined the fun, and their job was to break down the truck load of cardboard boxes. The food that fills these boxes is not donated, but purchased with the loose change you drop into the Salvation Army kettles. The number families asking for the boxes is up, so officials are hoping for more donations this year.
If you're a bird lover, or a photographer with a big lens, now is the time to head to Conowingo Dam in Maryland to photograph the 100 or so bald eagles there. Weather forecast for this weekend is for sunny skies and high temperatures in the 40s.
Was there over the weekend and the viewing platforms looked like a used camera shop. There must have been 40 big lenses, that is, from 300 to 800 mm lenses. Apparently, Conowingo is becoming the place to be to photograph the eagles on this side of the Mississippi River. Even if you don't have the big lenses, there are enough of the birds around that even a 200mm lens can capture an image worth saving, like the mug shot of the pair of eagles sitting in the tree below. The eagles are huge and relatively slow moving, so don't be intimidated. They are easy to photograph-- getting close enough is the key.
Also, there is almost always someone there displaying scrapbooks or photographs who can answer your questions about shooting or equipment.
My 20x spotting scope caught eight eagles in one stationary single view Sunday. Sweeping the east side of the river, I counted 47 eagles at one time. Aside from eagles, there are as many great blue herons and hundreds of vultures (mostly black, not turkey).
To find the largest concentration of eagles in the world, take a trip to Haines, Alaska, where 3-4,000 of the birds congregate in early winter before the rivers freeze over and close off the food supply.
Some fabulous photographers make a chunk of money there, and some teach the rest of us how to become better photographers during the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival, which will be held November 14-18. While seeing 100 eagles at Conowingo is certainly impressive, imagine the masses in Haines. I counted 20 eagles in one tree when I was there a few years ago. There are so many birds that, after a while, one must be careful not to be desensitized to the scene.
To reach the dam (about an hour's drive from downtown York) and the viewing platforms from which to photograph the birds, drive south on state route 74 into Maryland, left on state route 136, and left again to U.S. route 1. Just before reaching the dam, turn right on Shuresville Road, and then left on Shuresville Landing Road, a narrow, winding road that takes visitors down to the river. Once at river level, take another left and drive to the dam.
For information concerning water release, which normally attracts more birds, call this automated number-- 1.888.457.4076
The Visitor Center, located just south of the Dam on Route 1 at 4948 conwingo Road, is open year-round on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., on weekends from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas and New Year's Day. To learn more about Conowingo, please visit www.exeloncorp.com/conowingo.
Friday's downtown York tree lighting went well, with a large crowd hiking to the square to listen to a chorus, the William Penn High Pep Band, watching a dance troupe, but most importantly, to see Santa.
The tree was actually lit earlier than the 6:30 p.m. scheduled time. It was only about 7-10 minutes early, but many Yorkers who have rarely seen anything government-related start on time-- much less early-- missed the lighting. But the most important appointment of the evening was two blocks down the street at Martin Memorial Library, where Santa took a seat and welcomed hundreds of eager kids-- and some very patient parents.
Randy Phillips and his co-workers at York Wallcovering were expecting Thursday to be told that their health insurance was going to be cut. Instead of that depressing news, all the workers were awarded a $200 shopping spree at Macy's in the West Manchester Mall. Things are going well at York Wallcovering.
One of the rules concerning the shopping spree was that all gifts had to be purchased by the employe and for the employe. It was interesting seeing Grandmas and Grandpas buying stuffed toys (helps them sleep at night?) and the men buying perfume.
The topper was all the men in the housewares department who were getting tutorials from the sales staff about what all that kitchen stuff does.
Workers were bussed in, and the store added a party atmosphere with balloons, and a welcome committee.
The workers came straight from their work stations, so if they get dirty at work, those were the clothes in which they rushed the Macy's doors. Phillips works in the surfacing department, and his outfit might be setting a new trend in casual clothes. It's not often you see Phillips' attire in a classy store like Macy's.
The group opens at 11 p.m. Christmas Eve with an inside concert, but at midnight-- not five or 10 minutes past midnight, but AT midnight-- they adjourn to the town square, where hundreds of fans join them. Some of the crowds sings, some hum, some just tag along and listen to the music, some younger folks just tag along and do what younger folks have always done-- be loud and hang out with their friends.
