Sunday, December 4, 2011

Christmas by the Sea

And this dispatch, to be filed in the small-town feel-good stuff category:  Every year Camden kicks off the holiday season with a Friday-night street party.

Santa arrives at the town dock by boat.

Main Street lights up and stores stay open late.

Marauding bands of high schoolers sing Christmas carols in four-part harmony.

The Baptists put together not just a living Nativity but a recreation of the whole little town of Bethlehem in the church basement.

There's even a parade (perhaps a dozen emergency vehicles and a handful of floats bearing Cub Scouts and the swim team and the like), followed by a tree-lighting and fireworks over the harbor.

The sidewalks and village greens are mobbed, everyone knows everyone else, and even the atheists are in a good mood.

Does this all sound too Norman Rockwell?  I suppose it is, but once a year it's a worthy exercise to put aside one's cynicism and enjoy the spirit of the season.

Happy holidays, everyone.










No comments:

Post a Comment