History for the holidays

SPRINGFIELD - Traditional holiday celebrations from the 1700s through the 20^th century may be enjoyed this year at Illinois' state-operated historic sites and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

 

"Holiday events are the ideal family activity, as they encourage parents and children to enjoy their heritage together," said Robert Coomer, director of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, which administers the state's historic sites and the Presidential Library and Museum.

 

For more information, visit www.Illinois-History.gov.

 

 

            The Illinois Gallery at the Presidential Museum will showcase rare artifacts, insightful stories and holiday trees in this exclusive look into Christmas and New Year's Days past at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  The regular museum admission of $7.50 for adults, $3.50 for children and $5.50 for senior citizens will apply.    

 

 

            The Old Market House at 123 Commerce Street in downtown Galena will be the site of Santa's House.  The annual parade will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, November 24, and Santa's House will open after Santa arrives at the Old Market House.  Santa will give gift bags to children until 7 p.m.  Santa will also greet children from 1 to 3 p.m. November 25 and 26 and December 2, 9 and 16.  The event is free and open to the public. 

 

 

            Lamplight tours of the Ulysses S. Grant Home at 500 Bouthillier Street will be offered from 2 to 4 p.m. November 24, 25 and 26 and December 2, 3, 9 and 10.  The home's oil lamps will be lit and 1870s Victorian Christmas decorations will grace the home of the President and Civil War General.  The tours are free and open to the public.

 

 

 The holiday season will be opened the traditional Swedish way during Julmarknad, or Christmas Market, to be held November 24, 25 and 26 and December 2 and 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Bishop Hill.  The entire village will be adorned with traditional Swedish holiday decorations.  Stores will have traditional decorations, pottery, baskets, brooms, toys, food, and other items for sale.  Swedish folk characters will wander the village, and there will be a Cookie Walk, Chocolate Walk, musical performances, artisan demonstrations, baking, horse-drawn rides, and workshops for children.  The events are free and open to the public.

 

 

            An authentic, Victorian holiday celebration will be featured during "Christmas at Clover Lawn" scheduled for November 24 through December 31 at the David Davis Mansion.  The 36-room Mansion will be decorated with evergreen boughs, glittering ornaments, antique toys, and Christmas trees in almost every room.  Visitors may tour the mansion Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.  On Saturday, December 2, there will be special holiday workshops for children from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. where children may make their own copy of one of the authentic nineteenth-century ornaments  they will see on the mansion tour.  The Clover Lawn Museum Shop, operated by the David Davis Mansion Foundation, will have many of the mansion's unique Christmas ornaments for sale during the holiday season.  The events are free and open to the public.

 

 

  The Fourth Annual Indian Market Days will be held Friday through Sunday, November 24 - 26 in the Cahokia Mounds Interpretive Center.  Vendors and Indian artists will display and sell artwork, jewelry, sculpture, herbals, weaving, clothing, ceramics, and other Indian-made items.  This is the ideal opportunity to locate a unique holiday gift.  The show will be conducted on Friday from noon to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The Market Days are free and open to the public.

 

 

The Cahokia Courthouse "Cider Sippin' Sale" on Saturday, November 25 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. is a perfect opportunity to find that special stocking stuffer, and to enjoy holiday shopping in a historic setting and relaxed atmosphere.  While browsing through the selection of unique gifts, visitors can enjoy a cup of hot cider, talk to interpreters in period clothing, and enjoy the warmth of a roaring fire.  Books, postcards, coffee mugs and t-shirts will be among the items for sale.  Decorative fleur-de-lis and pineapple suncatchers and commemorative coins would make perfect ornaments for any tree.  The event is free and open to the public.

 

 

            The Dana-Thomas House State Historic Site in Springfield will be fully decorated for the holiday season in lavish turn-of-the-20^th-century style beginning Wednesday, November 29 through Sunday, December 31.  Free public tours are available Wednesday through Sunday.  Special dates include Family Night, December 15; Luminaria Evening, December 17; and Children's Story Hour, December 28.  The Sumac Shop in the Dana-Thomas House Visitors Center is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and until 8 p.m. on December 15, 16 and 17, the same days the site will have extended hours.  The Sumac Shop has gained a national reputation for the quality and uniqueness of its products, which include books and monographs, cards and postcards, Wright reproduction and adaptation items, jewelry, period decorative arts, and related gift items.

 

 

            The Metamora Woman's Club 16^th Annual "Christmas in the Courthouse" opens Friday, December 1 in the historic 1845 courthouse on the Metamora town square.  Ten trees will be decorated with historic, community or patriotic themes along with wreaths, garlands and burgundy velvet bows inside and outside the courthouse.  An open house and concert from 6 to 8:30 p.m. December 1 will feature live Christmas and traditional music in the courtroom with greeters in Civil War costumes.  A choir and carolers will lead visitors in a community sing-along.  Hot cider and cookies will be served.  A second open house and an opportunity to talk with Santa Claus in the courtroom will be offered Saturday, December 2 from 1 to 4 p.m.  The events are free and open to the public.  The decorations may be viewed through January 3, 2007.

 

 

            The tradition of St. Nicholas, the fourth-century gift-giver who is the inspiration for Santa Claus, will be explored during a special event on Saturday, December 2 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Martin-Boismenue House.  St. Nicholas will stop by the candle-lit historic home to greet families and share holiday treats with children.  The house will be decorated for the season in traditional frontier fashion with St. Nicholas seated in front of a crackling fire.  Parents are encouraged to bring cameras to capture their children's delight at seeing St. Nicholas.  The event is free and open to the public.

 

 

            Children's holiday crafts will be offered free of charge Saturday, December 2 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Presidential Library.  The Catholic Charities/Holy Family Food Pantry Canned Food Drive takes place December 2 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., also in the Library.  Live musical entertainment will be provided Saturday and Sunday, December 2 and 3 in the Museum - the standard Museum admission of $7.50 for adults, $3.50 for children and $5.50 for senior citizens will apply. 

 

 

                Step back to Lincoln's time and enjoy period holiday decorations, music and sweets during the Christmas Open House Saturday, December 2 from noon to 4 p.m. at Postville Courthouse.  The event is free and open to the public.  The courthouse will be decorated in the style of the mid 1800s, and its Christmas tree will feature prairie dolls, wooden decorations and grape vines.  Guides will explain the ornaments on the tree and how they were crafted in the 1840s.  China painting will be demonstrated and period music will fill the historic building.  A display of 1840s photography will be in the courtroom, and a Lincoln impersonator will greet visitors.  Refreshments will be served. 

 

 

            The candle-lit Chapel will be the setting for the annual non-denominational Christmas Program on Sunday and Monday, December 3 and 4 at Jubilee College.  The public program will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, December 3.  The senior citizen program will be held at 5 p.m. Monday, December 4.  Each will include performances on the 1848 Henry Erben Organ, and the Flanagan High School Madrigal Ensemble will sing Medieval and traditional songs.  Candlelight tours of the 1840s college will be given, and refreshments will be served.  The event is free and open to the public.

 

 

            A Christmas holiday tradition that looks like it came from a greeting card can be experienced during the Christmas Candlelight Tours on for Friday and Saturday, December 8 and 9 from 5 to 8 p.m. at Lincoln Log Cabin.  The event is free and open to the public.  Visitors are welcome to tour the Lincoln and Sargent Farms by candle lit paths to see how Christmas may have been observed by 19^th century Americans.  At the Lincoln Cabin, the family will gather around the hearth and share the evening socializing with neighbors, as was common with many farm families after the busy harvest season, all while spinning wool, knitting, and performing other small tasks.  Meanwhile, at the Sargent Farm, members of the family will celebrate the holiday with good food, simple decorations and Bible readings.  Period music will also be performed.

 

 

                A Swedish holiday tradition will be re-created during the annual Lucia Nights on Friday and Saturday, December 8 and 9 at Bishop Hill.  In a continuation of Swedish tradition, all Bishop Hill businesses, museums and bed and breakfasts will be open until 9 p.m. and will feature a Lucia girl wearing a white robe, crimson sash, and a candle crown.  She will serve hot beverages and sweets to visitors.  The celebration will begin at 6 p.m. Friday, December 8 as the community Christmas tree is lit at the southeast corner of the Village Park.  Seasonal music will be provided both evenings.  This Swedish tradition is based Saint Lucia, Queen of Light.  Legend has it that during a famine in Sweden, on the longest and darkest day of the year, Saint Lucia appeared wearing a white robe and a crown of candles on a ship loaded with food.  Swedish girls still awaken their families on December 13 dressed in white robes and wearing crowns of candles.

 

            A perennial favorite musical revue, Gordon Productions' "The Christmas Songbook," returns to Lincoln's New Salem Visitor Center Auditorium.  Show times are 7:30 p.m. on Friday, December 8 and Saturday, December 9; and 3 p.m. Sunday, December 10.  Tickets are $12 for adults and $11 for senior citizens and children under 12, and may be reserved by calling (217) 632-4000.  The show is being presented as a fundraiser for the New Salem Lincoln League.  The Christmas Songbook features holiday favorites that were made famous by such entertainers as Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Karen Carpenter, Andy Williams, Elvis, Rosemary Clooney and others.  White Christmas, I'll be Home for Christmas, Winter Wonderland, and more than 30 other holiday pop songs will be presented.

 

 

            A grand Christmas dinner featuring six courses of Victorian culinary delights, Gilded Age decorations and holiday activities is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, December 8 and 9, from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at the David Davis Mansion.  The event is a fundraiser for the David Davis Mansion Foundation, and to reserve tickets for this limited seating engagement at $150 per person call (309) 828-1084.    Guests will dine in the Mansion's formal dining room, where the table will be set with heirloom china, sparkling crystal and antique silver.  Service will begin with wassail, followed by six lavish courses.  At the end of the evening, guests will withdraw to the formal parlor to enjoy traditional Christmas music and games, and open gifts that were fashionable during the Gilded Age.  Stories about the "ghosts of Christmases past," including tales about Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, will add to the atmosphere.  

 

 

            A Christmas celebration featuring poetry readings, storytelling and seasonal decorations will be held Saturday, December 9 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Vachel Lindsay Home at 603 S. Fifth Street in Springfield.  The event is free and open to the public.  Several selections of Lindsay poetry with a Christmas/New Year's theme will be read by high school students.  Storyteller Roberta Codemo will spin tales of Christmases Past for children at all ages at 2 p.m.  Piano music will fill the house throughout the afternoon.  Staff and volunteers in each room will interpret the history of the house.  The Lindsay Home will be decorated for the holidays, and visitors will receive candy canes and souvenir copies of Lindsay's Christmas poetry.  Spiced tea and cookies will be served.

 

 

            1830s rooms illuminated by candle light will highlight the annual Christmas Open House scheduled for Saturday, December 9 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Vandalia Statehouse, the oldest remaining Capitol building in Illinois.  The Statehouse where Abraham Lincoln served as a State Representative from 1836 to 1839 will be trimmed with 1800s decorations including fresh greenery, fruits and nuts.  Staff and volunteers in period clothing will greet visitors.  Period music will be provided, and the first 100 families will receive a free handmade Christmas ornament.  Cookies and cider will be served.  The event is free and open to the public.  

 

 

            The 74 soldiers still listed as prisoners of war or missing in action in Southeast Asia will be remembered at a special ceremony Saturday, December 9 at 1 p.m. at the Illinois Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Springfield's Oak Ridge Cemetery.  During the 19^th Annual Christmas Remembrance, handmade red and white heart-shaped ornaments will be hung by family and friends on the tree planted near the Memorial for this purpose.  Each ornament bears the name of one of the 74 Illinois POWs or MIAs.  Members of the general public may also bring a weatherproof ornament to hang on the tree.  A brief program will feature Christmas music.  The event is free and open to the public.

 

 

                The holidays as observed at a Black Hawk War era fort will be re-enacted during Christmas at Apple River Fort to be held Saturday and Sunday, December 9 and 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Costumed interpreters will demonstrate winter activities such as wooden toy carving, firewood splitting, candle dipping, and sausage making, and will present the sometimes controversial ideas from the 1830s about celebrating Christmas as a holiday.  Visitors should be prepared to help the settlers with winter chores such as firewood splitting and sausage making, or join the militia officers and their wives as they prepare for a Christmas Ball.  Hot cider will be served, and visitors can make 19^th century Christmas ornaments in the Interpretive Center.  The event is free and open to the public.

 

 

            Period holiday decorations and music will highlight a Holiday Open House and 150^th Anniversary Celebration to be held Sunday, December 10 at Bryant Cottage, which was built in 1856 for early Bement businessman and political leader Francis Bryant, a close friend of Stephen A. Douglas.  The cottage will be decorated by the artistic team of Petals & Porch Posts from Bement in honor of its 150^th anniversary, and guests may view the cottage by candle and lamplight from 5 to 7 p.m.  Mrs. Sarah Bryant, portrayed by Peggy Wells, and the Bryants' daughter Mary Eliza will greet visitors that evening.  Handmade Christmas ornaments will be given to the first 50 families to visit during the Open House (one per family).  Period holiday music will be provided.  Visitors are encouraged to view a Christmas tree decorated with ornaments made by local first graders.  The Holiday Open House is free and open to the public.

 

 

            Friday, December 15 from 4 to 8 p.m. is Family Night at the Frank Lloyd-Wright designed Dana-Thomas House.  The site hours on Saturday, December 16 and Sunday, December 17 will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., with live music filling the house during the afternoon and evening.  Evening tours allow the public to see this pristine example of Wright's American architecture with its one-hundred-year-old 1904 era light levels and to enjoy the many illuminated holiday trees and decorations.  The season's most popular event at the Dana-Thomas House, Luminaria Evening, will be held Sunday, December 17 from 4 to 8 p.m.  One thousand candles in paper sacks will line the sidewalks and horizontal ledges of the sprawling, 12,600-square-foot Prairie style structure. 

 

 

            Three of Bloomington-Normal's most significant, historic mansions will feature evening holiday tours and shuttle transportation for one low price December 16.  Tickets for the tours are $8 per person and may be purchased at Casey's, The Garlic Press, Schnucks Supermarket, Engraving Express, and the David Davis Mansion.  The David Davis Mansion State Historic Site at 1000 E. Monroe, Bloomington; Broadview Mansion at 1301 S. Fell Avenue, Normal; and the Vrooman Mansion at 701 E. Taylor, Bloomington, will be festooned with vintage Christmas decorations and open for special Christmas evening tours from 4 to 9 p.m. Gourmet holiday foods will be served at the Vrooman and Davis Mansions.  The Davis Mansion tour will also feature seasonal music and costumed guides, who will show visitors what a Victorian Christmas celebration was like when the Davis family lived there.  Christmas at the Mansions is a fundraising event benefiting Immanuel Bible Foundation, the David Davis Mansion, and Faith in Action.

 

 

            Visitors are invited to ring in Christmas Day the traditional Swedish way at the Julotta non-denominational service beginning at 6 a.m. Monday, December 25 at Bishop Hill.  The service will be held at the restored 1848 Colony Church.  Christmas morning in Sweden begins with the Julotta service, and since 1970 the Julotta held at the Colony Church has reaffirmed the Swedish heritage of this historic community.  The service will be conducted in both Swedish and English.  Since the Colony Church is not heated, those planning to attend should dress warmly.  Coffee and rusks will be served following the service.  The event is free and open to the public.

 

 

            A popular and traditional holiday activity returns to the Dana-Thomas House during Children's Story Hour to be held Thursday, December 28.  The event is reminiscent of the times one hundred years ago when Susan Lawrence Dana would invite children into her home for reading and fun, will feature sessions at 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.  This year's storyteller will be Dan Keding of Urbana, Illinois.  Each child will receive a treat at the end of the session.  The event is free but space is limited, so reservations are required.  Each session lasts about 45 minutes.

 

 

            The New Year's celebration started in 1722 by some of the state's earliest settlers will be held Sunday, December 31 at Fort de Chartres.  La Guiannee, the traditional French New Year's celebration, runs from 7 to 10 p.m. at the fort.  Traditional French holiday carols will be sung and refreshments served.  In a tradition dating back to the early 1700s, the La Guiannee singers will then visit houses in the early French town of Prairie du Rocher and sing for the residents.  As part of the tradition, the residents provide refreshments for the singers.  The event is free and open to the public.

 

 

            The glamour of women twirling in hoop skirts on the arms of dashing gentlemen will be re-created during the First Night Period Ball scheduled for New Year's Eve at the Old State Capitol in downtown Springfield.  The dancing will be in full swing from 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday, December 31 in the Old State Capitol's Hall of Representatives.  The Period Ball is free and open to the public, and is part of the First Night Springfield celebration.  Other events in downtown Springfield that evening require First Night admission; for more information on the First Night schedule and admission prices, visit www.springfieldartsco.org.  Visitors are invited to tour the candle-lit building that evening and enjoy the historic holiday atmosphere.