Christmases past revived
Chestnuts were roasting and warm apple cider was brewing at the 41st annual Grand Old Christmas Festival at Port Colborne Historical and Marine Museum Sunday.
The museum and Arabella’s Tea Room pudding and sauce were a big hit with eventgoers — as usual. By 1 p. m. volunteers had sold about 300 takeout puddings and about 150 single servings in the tea room. Assistant museum curator Michelle Mason said the pudding is always popular during the Christmas festival. Visitors can enjoy pudding and sauce at Arabella’s until next Saturday, 2 p. m. to 4 p. m. each day.
Eventgoers also enjoyed Christmas music, including carols sung by McKay’s public school choir. There were also fun activities for the whole family, including candle dipping and wreath building.
First- time volunteer Melanie Stansfield said she was thoroughly enjoying the event. She chose to help at the wreath- making table and said by about 2 p. m. more than 100 wreaths had been made. People could choose their wreath size and what they wanted to decorate it with — options included spruce, pine cones and flowers.
“I love making the wreaths and will volunteer again next year. It’s a nice family event and I’m amazed, it’s just awesome,” Stansfield said.
She was one of a group of Stans fields volunteering at the festival. Her two daughters and grandchild also volunteered. Stansfield said it felt good having three generations participating in a meaningful community event.
Granddaughter Chloe Stansfield has volunteered for the past two years, she also works at the museum during the summer. What Chloe enjoys most about the Grand Old Christmas is how it brings families and the community together. She said the festival is also a great way to get people into the Christmas spirit.
But the icing on the cake was missing.
“It snows later and later each year — it’s hard to get into the Christmas spirit when it’s green outside,” she said with a laugh.