Near or far, the holidays bring us together
Holidays in the Midcoast, like everywhere, are a time for getting together with family, rekindling old friendships, sharing memories and traditions, and for being thankful and generous. Technology continues to make connections quicker and easier, but it’s also these times when we enjoy walking down village streets, shopping in our downtowns and meeting up with old friends at favorite neighborhood social spots.
Maine is a great place to live, but it’s also a great place to find unique gifts and traditional New England holiday decorations for indoors and outside. Click here for a list of Midcoast businesses and organizations offering a wide and varied selection of gifts for all the upcoming holidays, as well as decorations to light up the senses.
The holidays are for entertaining, whether you’re the one doing the inviting or the one making the reservation. Click here for a list of restaurants, food and wine purveyors and venues offering special menus, unique catering options and the perfect spot for your holiday gatherings.
If you are considering a gift this season to ease sore muscles or rejuvenate tired feet, this is the place to look. And if it’s a festive party outfit or special look you seek, click here for a bevy of local health, style and beauty services and shops.
Holiday events around the Midcoast
The holidays are just around the corner, and there’s plenty of music, stage performances, church and garden club fairs and long-standing community events — like Festival of Lights and Christmas by the Sea — to get us all in the spirit that ushers in the season. The list below is what’s been posted online so far, and the list will continue to be updated as new holiday events are announced. Check back often, and visit our calendar for more details about events listed below.
Monday, Dec. 16
CHRHS Empty Bowl Supper and Chorale Concert - Rockport
5 to 9 p.m. - Enjoy a simple but gourmet meal of soup and bread in the Camden Hills Regional High School Wave Cafe from 5 to 7 p.m. In exchange for a donation, keep the student-made pottery bowl. After the supper, walk down the hall to Strom Auditorium for the free winter chorale concert, from 7 to 9 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 17
Community Messiah Sing - Thomaston
7:30 p.m. - A community performance of the Christmas section and the Hallelujah Chorus of G.F. Handel’s 1741 Messiah at Episcopal Church of St. John Baptist, 200 Main St., coordinated by Down East Singers. A rehearsal will be held Dec. 16, from 7 to 9:15 p.m., and attendance is encouraged but not mandatory. Non-singers welcome to listen, no admission but donations appreciated. FMI: 832-1775.
Friday, Dec. 20
Friday Night Film series: It’s a Wonderful Life, (1946, 132 minutes) - Thomaston
6:30 p.m. - Friends of Thomaston Public Library presents Frank Capra's adaptation of the short story — The Greatest Gift, starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, a good man who's spent a lifetime giving up on his dreams in order to keep life in his small town humming. When a guardian angel named Clarence finds a despondent George poised to jump off a bridge, he shows George what life would've been like had he never been born. Donna Reed co-stars as his wife. The film was nominated for five Oscars.
Saturday, Dec. 21
Orange and clove pomander ornaments with the Good Tern Co-Op - Rockland
11 a.m. to noon - Coastal Children’s Museum, 75 Mechanic St. Make festive pomander balls of orange and cloves with volunteers from the Good Tern Natural Foods Co-Op. Once it dries, it can last for years, making it a great gift. Hang these decorations on a Christmas tree, in closets or anywhere that needs a little lift. The workshop is included in the museum admission price; free for members. FMI: 596-0300.
Holiday Pops Concert - Rockport
4 p.m. – Fifth annual, with Maine Pro Musica and guests at Strom Auditorium, Camden Hills Regional High School, Rockport. A benefit for United Mid-Coast Charities, FMI: 236-2299.
Winter Solstice Celebration - Northport
4 p.m. - The annual Winter Solstice Celebration, presented by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Belfast, will take place at the Blue Goose Center on Route 1 in Northport. It will feature music, dance, storytelling, poetry and other seasonal entertainment for all ages. Tickets, available at the door, are $10 adults, $5 children and youth ages 6 to 18 and $25 per family; children under 6 are free. Proceeds from the event will support the Interfaith Fuel Fund. FMI: Liz Fitzsimmons, 338-4245.
Sunday, Dec. 22
Christmas play ’Little One’ - Union
10:30 a.m. - The Church School of People's United Methodist Church, 21 Depot St., will present this costumed Christmas play during the worship service on Sunday. The drama, telling the story of the birth of Christ, is adapted from the children's book, Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell. All are welcome to attend the event. There will be light refreshments following the service.
Winter Solstice Drumming - Washington
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Gibbs Library, 40 Old Union Road. Join the Great ThunderChicken Drum in gathering to honor the Winter Solstice and drum for peace and healing. Bring songs, poetry, drums and rattles and join in. Come a few minutes to visit with fellow drummers. A cleansing smudge is offered as well. All traditions are honored. They will be drumming with the great gathering in Temoaya, Mexico, and around the world. FMI and directions: call Connie at 993-2294.
Celebrate the Holidays in Hope - Hope (Rescheduled from Dec. 15)
Noon to 5 p.m. - The community is invited to visit a variety of Hope organizations to celebrate the season, participating in crafts and gift-making, a sing-along and music making, ornament glazing and tree decorating for Rosie and Opal. Sweet Tree Arts welcomes families to create their own wrapping paper and cards and participate in the Elf Shelf; at 3 p.m. Jess Day and BJ Kopishke lead singing with warm cider; Winterwork at Hope Spinnery will be open for shopping handcrafted goods; Hope Clay will host ornament glazing, a student clay exhibition and studio member mug sale; and from 4 to 5 p.m. Hope Elephants will open to decorate the Christmas tree for the elephants with tractor rides from Sweet Tree Arts to the barn and caroling with Rosie and Opal. Murals created by local schoolchildren will also be unveiled as they are displayed inside the barn.
Lessons and Carols - Rockland
2 p.m. - St Peter's Episcopal Church on White Street. The program includes scriptural lessons, with anthems and hymns sung by the choir and congregation, with cookies and hot cocoa to immediately follow. Donations benefit the St. Peter’s Choir Fund. FMI: 594-8191.
Down East Singers ‘Black Nativity-In Concert: A Gospel Celebration’ - Camden
2 p.m. - At Camden Opera House, during which the opera house’s newly-restored 1927 Steinway grand piano will be unveiled, six soloists will star with a choir singing “off book, no black folders in sight, with lots of clapping, snapping and stomping.” Audience participation is invited, especially at the concluding song, Go Tell It On The Mountain. Narrator Dean Jorgenson will tie the musical numbers together with recitation of scripture and Langston Hughes’ poetry. Tickets are $20, free to students 18 and under. (All tickets sold for the Dec. 15 concert will be honored.) Tickets and FMI: downeastsingers.org and 619-0413.
Cookies and Caroling Event - Appleton
2 to 4 p.m. - 3rd annual event at Appleton Libarary, 2916 Sennebec Road. Drop by to enjoy some cookies and cocoa, and visit and sing with your neighbors. All ages are welcome. FMI: 785-5656 or appletonlibraryme.org.
Monday, Dec. 23
Christmas Bake Sale - Waldoboro
Noon to 7 p.m. - Waldoboro Public Library, 958 Main St. Gingerbread houses will be among the variety of goodies available in this Christmas bake sale. FMI: 832-4484 or waldoborolibrary.org.
Free holiday film: Elf - Rockland
1 p.m. - Strand Theatre, 345 Main St. Will Ferrell stars as Buddy, a regular-sized man who was raised as an elf by Santa Claus (Edward Asner). When the news is finally broken to Buddy that he's not a real elf, he decides to head back to his place of birth, New York City, in search of his biological family. Directed by Jon Favreau, and starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Zooey Deschanel, and Ed Asner. PG (USA/2003). FMI: 594-0070 and rocklandstrand.com.
Tuesday, Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve)
4 p.m. - Candlelight service at People’s United Methodist Church, 21 Depot Road in Union.
7 p.m. - Candlelight service at Church of the Nazarene, 85 Town House Road in Union.
6 p.m. - Family service with the annual Children’s Christmas Pageant at the First Congregational Church of Camden.
10 p.m. - Candlelight service at the First Congregational Church of Camden.
Wednesday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day)
Christmas Community Dinner - Rockland
Noon - St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 11 White St., (off Limerock Street and behind the Rec Center and playground). All are welcome, free to the public. Appetizers at noon, dinner at 1 p.m. Turkey with all the fixings, music and carols, appetizers and desserts. Sponsored by Adas Yoshuron Synagogue. FMI: 594-4523
Friday, Dec. 27
Friday Night Film series: Holiday, (1938, 93 minutes) - Thomaston
6:30 p.m. - Friends of Thomaston Public Library presents Holiday. Engaged to wealthy Julia Seton (Doris Nolan), freethinker Johnny Case (Cary Grant) discovers that her family wants to remake him into their idea of the perfect son-in-law — and he's beginning to consider compromising his values. But as he gets to know Julia's headstrong sister (Katharine Hepburn), he realizes he has more in common with her. Directed by George Cukor, this witty romantic comedy earned an Oscar nomination for Best Art Direction.
Tuesday, Dec. 31
New Year's By the Bay in Belfast - Belfast
3 p.m. to 1 a.m. – Belfast Curling Club open house, horse and wagon ride, music and dancing at numerous venues, poetry slam, Drum & Rabble Corps procession to the bonfire at 11:45 p.m.
Ring in the New Year at the Mid Coast Arts Center - Rockland
8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. - 24 Lincoln St., the old Rockland High School. Loring Proctor and Instigator will be playing 1950s and 60s rock and roll and country favorites In the gym. $20 per person. Hors d' oeuvres, champagne toast and cash bar. For reservations, call Abraham at 712-1314 or email blackhat057@gmail.com.
Tuesday, Jan. 7
Free Odeon Ensembles Concert - Rockport
6:30 p.m. - Rockport Opera House. The Odeon Allegro, Symphony and Adult orchestras present a performance of popular works, together with works for chamber ensembles, in their annual winter concert. FMI: baychamberconcerts.org.