The Garden Club of the Back Bay

The town of Stockbridge, made famous by Norman Rockwell’s painting of the village during the holidays, becomes a magical New England setting decorated with holiday wreaths and festive lights, as the town celebrates the 20th annual Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas, December 5th and 6th.

Sponsored by the Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce, the holiday celebration offers a full range of activities, with highlights including a holiday house tours, caroling, and a holiday concert.

Capping off the weekend is a recreation on Sunday of the scene depicted in Main Street at Christmas, complete with vintage automobiles parked in the spots occupied in the painting. The day’s activities include horse drawn rides, a visit from Santa, Roger the Jester, lunch at the Christmas Food Booth and much more.

The festivities celebrate Rockwell’s popular depiction of what for many is the quintessential small New England Town, with all the longing for a simpler time that it represents. Rockwell began painting the popular image in 1956, but did not complete it until December 1967.

The image and character of Stockbridge has changed little over the years, thanks to the great care and affection of its residents, and it is that special ambience which draws so many.

The Holiday House Tour takes place on Saturday from 11:00 am – 4:00 pm.  Visit some of the area’s Historic Properties, B&B’s, and Inns. This self-guided tour is one of our most popular events. The years tour features The Former Rockwell House, The Campbell House, National Shrine of the Divine Mercy Residence, Orleton Farm Carriage House & Stables, Linwood House, the Stockbridge Country Inn and Merwin House.  Tickets are $15.00 per person.

Children’s Holiday Story Time, from 11 – 11:30 am at the Stockbridge Library, is free, as is the Caroling Luminaria Walk from 6 – 7 pm. Meet in front of The Red Lion Inn, Main Street with your candle or flashlight and join the festive caroling followed by a Luminaria walk to the First Congregational Church.

The Holiday Concert begins at 7:30.

Celebrate the magic of the season with a joyful holiday musical program held at the First Congregational Church. Featuring the Berkshire Lyric Chorus, the Blafield Children’s Chorus; Gisella Montanez, Special Guest Soloist; Jack Brown, Artistic Director and Joseph Rose, Accompanist.  Tickets are $20.00 in advance and $25.00 at the door.

Sunday’s big event runs from 12 noon to 2:00 pm.

See Main Street as Norman Rockwell did when he painted the famous Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas. Main Street becomes a magical New England village with over 50 antique cars parked along the street (weather permitting) and a full range of festive activities to delight the child in everyone. Enjoy Holiday Music, The Londontown Carolers, Roger the Jester and lunch at the Christmas Food Booth. Children may create holiday fun at Santa’s workshop sponsored by the Norman Rockwell Museum. Complete the day with a visit from Santa.  Commemorative Buttons offering admittance to Sunday’s Main St. activities are $5.00 per person. Children under 12 free.

Horse drawn rides will also be available for an additional nominal fee.  To purchase tickets in advance to any or all of these events, log on to www.stockbridgechamber.org and print the order form and mail it in to The Stockbridge Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 224, Stockbridge, MA 01262, or, on the week of the event, tickets may be purchased at The Red Lion Inn, 30 Main Street, Stockbridge.

There is still time to order a magnificent holiday wreath from The Garden Club of the Back Bay – you may print an order form and mail it in with your check, or you may order online and pay through PayPal.  All the information and directions are available by clicking here.  Why should you buy from us?  Yes, we know you could order from local florists (at a significantly higher price, we might point out), or from the nurseries or groceries stores (at perhaps a slightly lower cost).  Purchasing our wreaths comes with the satisfaction of knowing you are supporting many wonderful local organizations, in addition to our own.  Each year we make grants to not for profit groups which are making a difference in our lives.  Besides the Friends of the Public Garden and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall Committee, we donate to the Emerald Necklace Conservancy, the Charles River Clean Up Boat, the Boston Nature Center of the Massachusetts Audubon Society, the Esplanade Association, and to City Roots/The Urban Ecology Institute.   This is by no means the complete list of beneficiaries (click on to our Projects page on the menu above for details) but we give between $15,000 and $18,000 annually to area groups accomplishing great works which we do not have the expertise or manpower to do ourselves.  The dollar amount of these grants is dependent upon our earnings, so we urge you to be generous and allow us the opportunity to enhance your holiday environment with our fresh balsam wreaths. Thank You!

Catholic Charities Laboure Center will hold a South Boston Christmas House Tour of five homes decorated for the holidays beginning Saturday, December 5, from 4 – 6 pm, and continuing Sunday, December 6, from noon – 4 pm.  The Saturday Twilight Tour will conclude with a reception immediately after at The Terrace Room of UMASS Boston Campus Center.  The cost for this benefit evening is $75.  The Daytime Tour on Sunday will be self guided, or you may take an available trolley, and will cost $25 per ticket if purchased in advance, or $30 for a ticket purchased on the day of the tour.  Parking is available at Castle Island, and you may start the tour at Castle Island or at the Laboure Center, 275 West Broadway.  You may also visit The Shoppe at Laboure for a bit of Christmas shopping.  For more information, contact Judy Swanson at jswanson@ccab.org, or by telephone at 617-464-8503.  Tickets may be ordered on line at www.ccab.org.

Nantucket is particularly enchanting during the holiday season, when New England’s finest traditions come alive for the Annual Christmas Stroll Weekend, (December 4 – 6) part of Nantucket Noel (Nov. 27 – Dec. 31) a month-long celebration organized by the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce.  For a complete listing of events, log on to www.nantucketchamber.org.

Don’t miss the opportunity to purchase unique tabletop decorations, wreaths and greens from the Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum Holiday Greens Market in the Coachman’s House, at the Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Custom orders may be placed in advance.  The sale will take place Saturday, December 5, from 9:00 am – 11:30 am.  For directions and more information, log on to www.rjdmuseum.org.

Come to the opening of the Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum Holiday Exhibit and Wreath Silent Auction on Friday, December 4, from 6 – 8 pm. Enjoy fabulous hors d’oeuvre and yuletide spirits in the festively decorated rooms of the Museum. Take home a beautiful wreath, custom designed by volunteers. $40 members, $45 non-members.  For tickets, directions and more information, log on to www.rjdmuseum.org.

Learn how to design extraordinary decorative wreaths and holiday accents, and at the same time, support the Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum’s holiday fund raising efforts, by crafting items for its Wreath Auction and Greens Market. Workshops will be held in the Coachman’s House. All materials supplied. No fee. Come either Tuesday, December 1 beginning at 9 am, or Wednesday, December 2 at 9 am, or both days if you are willing!

Located in historic New Bedford, Massachusetts on a full city block of gardens, this national landmark was built for whaling merchant William Rotch, Jr. in 1834. Designed by Richard Upjohn, the House is one of the finest surviving examples of residential Greek Revival architecture.

The Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum is so named for the three prominent families who resided at 396 County Street. The house and gardens chronicle 150 years (1834-1981) of economic and social life in the city, as reflected in the lives and stories of those who lived and worked at the property.

Furnished period rooms display the decorative arts, furniture and belongings of the families and time frame. The Museum offers permanent and changing exhibits, lecture series, community and educational programs.

A partner in the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park, the Museum joins the city’s cultural and educational institutions in embracing, celebrating and learning from the rich legacy of this maritime community.

Founded in 1971, Christmas in Newport began as a two-week festival that celebrated the noncommercial traditions of the holiday season. Now in its 39th year, the annual program boasts multiple activities for nearly each day of the December calendar.

In a community collaboration among residents, businesses and the city, only clear bulbs illuminate the scenic harbor and wharves, the restored colonials of the Point and Historic Hill sections, and the Victorian splendor of Bellevue Avenue.The lights are meant to simulate candlelight, and are the brainchild of Christmas in Newport founder Ruth Myers, who wished to recapture the candlelit holidays of bygone days. With a volunteer base numbering 1500, the non-profit organization, Christmas in Newport, raises thousands of dollars for charity each year. In keeping with the true spirit of the season, any event listed in the annual program must be free of charge or must benefit a non-profit institution or charity.

For more information about Christmas in Newport, call our hot line at  (401) 849-6454, or visit the web site at http://www.christmasinnewport.org/ (courtesy of Pirata Media)  A 30-minute video highlighting many of our December activities is available for a fee from Video Image Productions at (401) 847-3229. For a listing of accommodations in the Newport area, please write the Gateway Information Center at 23 America’s Cup Avenue or call (800) 326-6030.

Join a self-proclaimed lover of trees (and forester) on a guided tour of the grounds at the Doyle Estate and Pierce Park on Saturday, November 28, from 10:00 am – 12 noon.  You will be introduced to the over fifty species of trees which call the estate home.  This is a free event, sponsored by The Trustees of Reservations, and you may sign up by calling 978-840-4446, x 1900, or emailing central@ttor.org.  Driving directions to Leominster are available at www.thetrustees.org.

At the turn of the 20th century, Harry W. Pierce assembled a grand estate featuring a 29-room stucco mansion, stable, horse paddocks, a pond, and an extensive system of bridle paths. Today, this estate is the Doyle Reservation, with Pierce Park and the Doyle Conservation Center at its heart.

Pierce Park is made up of 10 of the original landscaped grounds from the estate (most of the trees and shrubs are from the estate’s original design and plantings). Doyle Conservation Center, a LEED Gold-Certified “green” building, serves as one of The Trustees of Reservations’ regional offices.  Pierce Park is a link in the Monoosnoc Trail. More trails are planned.

The Mayor will be busy indeed as he dashes around town spreading holiday cheer beginning Monday, November 23 at Christopher Columbus Park in the North End.  At 5:30 pm, he will flick the switch on 50,000 bulbs in a unique, blue and white design, which have been strung along 260 feet of trellis in the heart of the park.  The free celebration will include entertainment from the North End Music and Performing Arts Center and the Ray Cavicchio Band, as well as food from Mike’s Pastry, Starbucks, the Marriott Long Wharf Hotel, and Legal Sea Foods.  The entire evening is sponsored by the Friends of Christopher Columbus Park and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department.

On Wednesday, December 2, you may spot the Mayor closer to home when he joins the Friends of Copley Square, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, the Salvation Army Brass Band, and the Trinity Church Children’s Choir at the official Copley Square Tree Lighting, beginning at 5:00 pm.  You’ll find Santa Claus and, once again, Legal Sea Foods.  The forty foot blue spruce has been sponsored by Normandy Real Estate Partners.

The next night, Thursday, December 3, from 6 – 8 pm, the City of Boston’s 68th Annual Tree Lighting takes place on the Boston Common.  Sponsors WCVB-TV Channel 5 and Magic 106.7 will provide live coverage of, you guessed it, Mayor Menino, and refreshments will be provided by H.P. Hood LLC, Cabot Creamery, Nantucket Nectars and Snapple, Dunkin’ Donuts, Jazzy Apples, and New York Life (they cook?).  Entertainment will include R&B singer Brian McKnight, “American Idol” Season 6 third place finalist Melinda Doolittle, the Boston Arts Academy Dance Troupe, the Masquerade cabaret troupe, and Magic 106.7′s Nancy Quill and Mike Addams.  Nova Scotia again provides the tree. (Thank you to www.boston.com for the image below)

Once the Mayor has lit the Common, he’ll proceed to Arlington Street and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall to illuminate the two hundred trees along the Mall with little white lights, all paid for through community support and private donations raised by the Committee to Light Commonwealth Avenue Mall.  The Taj Boston will provide refreshments.

Call the Boston Parks and Recreation Department at 617-635-4505 if you need more information.

World Toilet Day is a global day of action to increase awareness for toilet users’ rights and to advocate a better toilet environment. This day is marked by individuals, toilet associations, and other advocacy groups across the world to bring attention to a cause that truly affects every everyone on earth.  The World Toilet Organization is a not for profit group dedicated to improving toilets and sanitation globally.

The task is huge, 2.5 billion/40% of the world’s population is without access to sanitation.  The WTO alone can’t fight this situation but if you join them in this movement, its possible. At WTO they have a belief that “Change is possible. Because I’ll make it possible.”

Each of you can be a change agent by contributing your time, talent, skills and commitment to make it happen.  The WTO needs everyone and anyone ,whether a student, housewife, executive, artist, schools, universities, corporations, institutions originating from any part of the world, of various language, religion, ethnicity and ideological persuasion, to come together and join the movement towards delivering toilets to 2.5 billion toilet-less.

More information may be found at www.worldtoilet.org.

Get ready for the Garden Club of the Back Bay’s annual wreath making week by trekking out to the Berkshire Botanical Garden in West Stockbridge for this hands on workshop on Wednesday, December 2, from 1 – 3 pm.

Create a beautiful evergreen wreath for the holidays, using the bounty of the fields and forests of the Berkshires. Learn about the natural history of common and not-so-common plants that can be used to create interesting holiday decorations. Consider a wide selection of plant material including: evergreen boughs, berries, seedpods, fern fronds and moss. Construct and take home a simple evergreen wreath. Take it home and the knowledge to create wreaths for holidays to come. Elisabeth Cary is the Director of Education at the Berkshire Botanical Garden and has been collecting plant materials from the wild and creating wreaths for over fifteen years. The cost of this workshop is $40 for BBG members, $45 for non members, and the materials are included in the cost of the class.  Bring pruners and gloves.  To register, or for more information, log on to www.berkshirebotanical.org.

One mission of The Garden Club of the Back Bay is to beautify the neighborhood, and one historic aspect of the neighborhood is its majestic elms.  As we know, the elm tree population has been decimated by Dutch elm disease, a fungal disease spread by the elm bark beetle.  For many years, the Garden Club has helped fund the inoculation of elm trees, through grants to The Friends of the Public Garden.  This is not inexpensive.  A single application cost between $200 – $300 in the 1980′s.  Thirty years of inflation, naturally, has taken the price, depending on the size of the tree, to the $1,000 range.  In 2009, we gave $4,000 to inoculate trees between Massachusetts Avenue and Charlesgate East.

Without our fund raising efforts, including the Holiday Wreath project, this financial assistance would not be available.  Please remember the elms as you decide to purchase one of our exquisite wreaths or our full, extra large poinsettia plants.  To order, click here.

The Berkshire Botanical Garden will host a Holiday Marketplace Preview Cocktail Party on Friday, December 4, from 5:00 – 7:30 pm.  This is your chance to do some early buying of handcrafted wreaths, holiday decorations, seasonal blooms and greens, herb products, crafts and gift items.  The Holiday Marketplace itself begins Saturday, December 5 and runs through Sunday, December 6, from 10:00 am – 5 pm.  This event is part of Stockbridge Main Street at Christmas celebration.  Admission on Saturday and Sunday is free, but there will be a charge for the Cocktail Party.  Call 413-298-3926 for details and reservations.

Holidays at Heritage will be a multi-day community celebration for the holidays during Heritage Museum’s 40th anniversary.  The Heritage Museum and Gardens is located at 67 Grove Street, Sandwich, Massachusetts.

Visitors are invited to stroll the lighted paths, explore the Hart Family Maze and several lighting vignettes created by the area’s premiere landscape companies. A grove of Christmas Trees decorated by community organizations will adorn the Parade Field. The J. K. Lilly III Automobile Museum and the Art Museum will be decorated with elegant indoor holiday displays. Once again Santa will visit from the North Pole for photo opportunities with him in the Model T.The antique carousel will be adorned for the season and offer a ride into holidays past.

The museum store will be open with special gifts for everyone on your list. Additional activities such as “drop-in” crafts and community musical performances make this a holiday celebration not to be missed!

Admission is $6 for all adults, $5 for adult members of Heritage Museums & Gardens, $2 for children ages 4-12 and children 3 and under free. A $1 discount off above admissions will be offered to groups of 20 or more.

A portion of the proceeds from this event will provide an opportunity for less fortunate members of the community to attend this festive event as our guests. Bring a canned or dry good item for a neighbor in need. All food contributions will be donated to the Sandwich Food Pantry. Join us for this community-wide holiday celebration!

To sign up, and for directions and more information, log on to www.heritagemuseumsandgardens.org.

Frankly, we’re reporting on this event because the alliteration is magnificent.  Wassail Weekend is Woodstock’s gift to Vermont and to you, if you’ll join for the weekend. Voted one of Vermont’s Top Ten Winter events, the term has its roots in medieval England referring to the Norse, “ves heill” meaning “to drink to the health”. Ale brewed with spiced apples and sugar was the warm drink given to the singers who went door to door during the Solstice. Christmas became interwoven with celebrations during the darkest time of the year. For the past twenty-four years, Wassail Weekend in Woodstock has welcomed people from near and far to celebrate in unique ways. Journalists have highlighted this special event finding it a unique way to enjoy Vermont during a special time of year. See Country Living Article. Throughout the Christmas Season, Billings Farm & Museum is decorated and offers the perfect opportunity to see what the holidays were like in Vermont in the 19th Century complete with wagon or sleigh rides around the farm.  The highlight of the weekend is a unique Wassail Parade through the center of Woodstock with over fifty horses and riders dressed in holiday costumes and period dress from the early 19th Century. The Green Mountain Horse Association welcomes riders from all over with wagons, surreys and sometimes sleighs, if weather permits. Mr. Claus himself usually puts in an appearance and then heads on to our Little Theater where he greets the children at the magical “Christmas Visions”. Troupes of singers parade the streets, and our arts council, The YOH Players offer entertainment at the Wassail Feast on Friday night hosted by the Woodstock Inn & Resort. Pentangle offers a historic house tour of 5 or so of Woodstock’s notable historic homes. In the evenings, talented professionals guide local actors in a Christmas musical at the Town Hall.

There is usually a reading of “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” at noon at the Norman Williams Library. An open house at the Woodstock Historical Society on Friday night offers historic music through the beautifully decorated Dana House.

Shops are often open late, the streets are decorated with white lights and usually Mother Nature provides a dusting of snow (or possibly a few feet).  Rarely can you experience the holidays in such a picture-perfect place. Click here to see Vermont Life Video’s two minute film of the joy of Wassail! Make your reservations ahead of time to be sure to enjoy all the weekend has to offer. 2009 schedule of events.

Have a Holly Folly Weekend – it’s the best time in P’town.  The festivities begin on Friday, December 4 at 5 pm at the Land’s End Holiday Gala at the Land’s End Inn, 22 Commercial Street.  Free admission.  This decade-old tradition marks the opening to the Annual Holly Folly Festival in Provincetown. Come enjoy complimentary hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, homemade cookies and great company at this annual holiday celebration open to the public and free of charge at this historic seaside inn in Provincetown’s West End. It’s a great time to visit Provincetown and start the holiday season with local events, performances and great shopping deals in town.For more details visit www.landsendinn.com.

Also on Friday night, from 6 – 8, attend the free Opening Reception for Small Works at PAAM, 460 Commercial Street, where a vibrant exhibition of artworks are offered for sale, just in time for holiday giving, in the Hoffman Gallery.

Saturday, from 11 – 4, enjoy the Holly Folly Farmer’s Market in the Ryder Street Parking Lot, where you will  find wreaths, woodland greens, holly, pine roping, winter vegetables, jams, and other seasonal products.  The Holly Folly Sing-A-Long with Casey & Denise, from 5:30 – 8:30 pm, is also free at the Porchside Bar at the Gifford House Inn, 9 Carver Street.  Concerts and performances continue in the evening.  A Sunday cookie party concludes the festivities.

For complete information log on to www.ptown.org.

Celebrate Roots and Shoots, the Jane Goodall Institute’s international environmental and humanitarian program for youth of all ages. Come in to Barefoot Books at 1771 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, MA for an afternoon of Roots and Shoots activities, art projects, and snacks, on Saturday, November 21, from 1 – 4 pm.

Learn about Roots and Shoots and how they are empowering youth to make positive changes happen for communities, for animals, and for the environment.

PLUS 25% of all in-store sales will go directly to Roots and Shoots New England’s Sprouts of Hope Fund.  For more information, log on to www.rootsandshoots.org.

Science for the Public presents Dr. Jonathan P. Wilson, California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, at the Boston Public Library on Boylston Street in a free lecture on Tuesday, November 17 beginning at 6:30 pm.

A nature walk in New England 300 million years ago would have looked quite different from one near Boston today. Instead of forests composed of oaks, maples, and pines, the area would have been dominated by unusual extinct forms: mostly climbing ferns and seed plants under a canopy of trees that more closely resemble telephone poles than anything in a modern garden. How did these plants work?
In this talk, he will explore how recent advances in plant physiology allow paleontologists to understand, in a quantitative fashion, how extinct plants functioned. Are there fundamental physiological differences between extinct plants and living ones? What can we learn about ancient environments and ecosystems from looking at fossil plants? For more information, log on to www.cityofboston.gov.

Enjoy the East Boston Greenway lit up with festive luminarias and a holiday sing along with local performers and carolers.  Hot chocolate and cookies will keep you warm.  Meet at the blue caboose near South Bremen and Marginal Streets.  Snow date Sunday, December 6.

The Friends of East Boston Greenway and Boston Natural Areas Network are sponsoring this event, and they need help from community groups, businesses and individuals.  Here is how you can help:  Make batches of 50 luminarias (materials will be provided and delivered to your worksite or other location – bags, sand and candles). Or, if you’d rather, volunteers from your group can attend a group lunimaria making session, date and time to be announced.  Your sponsorship will be recognized by a sign on the Greenway.  You can volunteer to be a monitor the night of the event, watching over a section and lighting any candles that go out.  You can donate food or refreshments, or hang event flyers or posters.  With the support of volunteers, the Friends hope to make at least 350 – 400 luminarias.  If you can help, call Candice Cook at 617-542-7696, or email candice@bostonnatural.org.