Merry Christmas to All . . .
December 24th, 2006 | by Craig |. . . and to some a Happy Holiday
. . . and to some a Happy Chanukah
. . . and to some a Fine Winter Solstice Festival
I hope that you all find yourselves surrounded by loved ones and find the peace and joy of the season.
7 Responses to “Merry Christmas to All . . .”
By Walter Greenspan on Dec 24, 2006 | Reply
For those whose ancestors were in New York City and environs in 1822, especially for those in the Chelsea area, there is a special connection between that place and the celebration of Christmas, as currently practiced:
“A Visit From St. Nicholas” was written in 1822 by Clement Clarke Moore, a scholar in Hebrew and the son of an Episcopal bishop. Moore’s family had come to America in 1750 from Chelsea, England, and established a farm named Chelsea in the area of Manhattan still known by that name. (Chelsea is on the westside of Manhattan, to the immediate south of Hell’s Kitchen and to the immediate north of the West Village. See: Manhattan Neighborhood Map )
There is annual event at the Chapel of the Intercession in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan each year on the Sunday before Christmas. There is a reading of “The Night Before Christmas” in the Church, and all the children are invited to come and sit in front. Often there are famous guest readers, and it is a wonderful event for small children, especially. The service is followed by a lantern-light procession down the hill and into the cemetery where Moore’s grave is blessed, and there is a tent set up with hot chocolate and cookies for all. Father Christmas (not Santa) always makes an appearance.
The Chapel of the Intercession is part of Trinity Parish, and is located at Broadway and West 155th Street.
In Clark Clement Moore Park on the corners of 10th Avenue and 22nd Street, a block or so from the actual place the poem was written, there is annual reading of the poem every Christmas.
For more about Clement Clarke Moore and “A Visit From St. Nicholas”, please see: here and here.
By the way, Benjamin Moore is the g-grandson of Clement Clark Moore. I wonder if this means that if you read “A Visit From St. Nicholas” you should be doing this in a room that was painted with Benjamin Moore paint?
By rita on Dec 25, 2006 | Reply
Merry Christmas!
By Shane C Mason on Dec 25, 2006 | Reply
Happy and peaceful holidays to the all of you. Craig and family, Walter, Rita all others who happen by,I hope that this day was full of all the magic you could ever want for all of you.
By Mike on Dec 26, 2006 | Reply
Indeed a heartfelt wish for my Christian friends for a Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year…yadda yadda. NOW it’s on to the festivities surrounding Boxing Day–which is actually celebrated in my home. The wife is off to Regina to shop and I’m stuck home to continue tractor repairs…sounds like an even division of labor until you realize I’ll be scrubbing the grease out from under my fingernails for days whilst my better half just gets to scream “charge it!” to any clerk in her vicinity. The things we do for love…
By Ogre on Dec 26, 2006 | Reply
And a Merry Christmas to you as well.
By moos on Dec 26, 2006 | Reply
Happy Boxing Day, sorry I’m late for Christmas!
By Kirk Dooley on Dec 29, 2006 | Reply
Foe folks who are celebrating the invention of creating buildings will corrugated culvert pipe: Happy Quonset.
And for folks who are having Eggs Benedict for their Xmas breakfast: Happy Hollandaise!!!
(”Make the bad man STOP!!!”)