Woodstock During Wassail: Like A Currier And Ives Print

By Virginia Dean, Standard Correspondent

It may have become an extinct 19th century tradition to English villagers who used to celebrate the dawning of Christmas by splashing trees with cider while firing guns or beating pots and pans, but wassailing is alive and well in this tiny 21st-century New England town in which the impending festive season takes on an air of pageantry and tradition.

Ready for the Yule tide, Woodstockers are gearing up for the costumes and carolers, horses and riders, sleighs and wagons that come with the 32nd annual Woodstock Wassail Weekend celebration that takes place this year from Dec. 11-13.

“I really love Wassail,” said Beth Finlayson, director of the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce. “Everyone is happy and the town looks beautiful and is bustling!”

With streets decorated with white lights and Currier and Ives costumes and 19th century Victorian seasonal attire, spectators this year can relish in wagon and sleigh rides around Billings Farm and Museum, a Wassail parade, a meet-and-greet with Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus at the Red Wagon Toy Store, the reading of “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” at the Norman Williams Public Library, holiday music through Pentangle Council on the Arts, a theatrical performance of “Woven” put on by the Woodstock Union High School Yoh Theater, the performance of Boston’s premier male a capella group Sly Voxes from Boston Latin at NWPL, and the lighting of the traditional Yule Log, Memory Tree and carol sing on the town’s Green immediately following the horse parade that starts at 2 pm. on Saturday at the Maxham Meadow Road.

The highlight of the weekend is the annual equestrian parade that is coordinated by the Green Mountain Horse Association, High Horses Therapeutic Riding Program and the Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce.

In charge of the parade is High Horses that will have between 20-30 volunteers, some of whom will be walking with the nearly thirty parade participants to keep the event running smoothly and onlookers and partakers safe. The Program will also have a booth on the Green featuring information about the therapeutic organization. According to Office Manager Amber Braun, GMHA will be donating tables and walkie talkies for the weekend event.

The parade will be followed by the lighting of the Yule Log, Memory Tree, and carol sing on the Green sponsored by the Woodstock Rotary. The Ten, an a cappella singing group from New York City, will perform seasonal songs at the Congregational Church at 3 p.m. And, for the second year, Sly Voxes, an a cappella group from Massachusetts, will sing songs of the season at 3 p.m. at the NWPL.

The lighting of the luminaries on the Green, sponsored by the Woodstock Rotary Club, will be held at 4 p.m.

Also on Saturday, Pentangle will feature a Holiday House Tour of six historical homes in Woodstock from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 pm. The Rainbow Play Nursery School will be serving Breakfast with Santa at the Little Theatre Building from 7:30 to 11 a.m. Holiday shopping will be available at the Woodstock Wassail Holiday Craft Fair at the Masonic Hall from 10 a.m. to 4p.m. The Billings Farm and Museum will continue its Christmas at the Farm from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will feature historic ornament making and traditional music. At noon, and again at 1 p.m., at the NWPL, actor and local resident Hamilton Gillett will read the holiday classic, “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.”

For lunch, visitors can enjoy hot drinks and food at the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce Wassail Café tent. The Chamber, in conjunction with Woodstock Area Food Shelves, will have a table on the Green, staffed by Food Shelf volunteers collecting donations that can be in the form of non-perishable items or cash/ check donations to help purchase food items.

A Wassail Feast is available at the Woodstock Inn and Resort on Saturday evening preceded by the show “Woven” presented by the WUHS Yoh Theatre players at 7:30 p.m. ‘“Woven’ is a convergence of patterns about connections,” said Yoh Executive Director Marcia Bender. “It’s a show in which the audience will experience a wave of music, words and movement that converge into one cohesive impression of the way patterns weave into our daily lives.” Repeat performances are held on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

On Friday, Wassail attendants can experience the traditions of a 19th-century Woodstock Christmas at the Billings Farm and Museum. The Farm is open Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. after which the Woodstock Elementary School’s chorus will perform on the NWPL steps. A stroll to the Woodstock History Center on Elm Street for its Open House will yield hot cider, seasonal treats, special floral arrangements made by local designers, a silent auction featuring gift items, a special holiday display of vintage and folk-style ornaments, winter sports equipment and ephemera, historic winter photos of Woodstock, and a holiday history. Light refreshments will be served from 5 to 7 p.m. Later Friday night, at 7:30 p.m., Pentangle will present the shows La Voz De Tres at the Town Hall Theater and “Woven” at the same time at the WUHS Yoh Theater.

On Sunday, Billings Farm and Museum will continue to be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will feature horse-drawn sleigh or wagon rides. The Woodstock Holiday Craft Fair will also resume from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be a free screening of “Downton Abbey” at the Town Hall Theatre at 1:30 p.m.

The annual messiah sing at Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church will end the festive weekend. The Yoh Theater players will put on “Woven” at 5:30 p.m.

For more information, call the Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce at 457-3555 or visit its website at woodstockvt.com for a detailed Wassail Weekend calendar. Holiday House tickets are available through Pentangle at 457-3981. The Woodstock Inn and Resort takes reservations for the Wassail Feast at 457-1100.