Started in the early 1890s by Rockport grocer Tim Sheehan, the 111-year-old tradition of holiday remembrance endures today, thanks to the Rockport Christmas Tree Committee.
Members of the Rockport community 80 years of age and older, shut-ins, residents with illnesses or family deaths are remembered on Christmas Day with the delivery of a fruit basket and cookies. Residents of area housing, nursing homes and local hospitals receive a visit in the days before Christmas.
Santa Claus himself visits residents of Den-Mar Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and presents each with a small basket of fruit and other goodies.
On Christmas morning at 10:30, Santa arrives in Dock Square by horse- drawn carriage and gives all Rockport children a bag of candy, fruit and goodies in the same tradition of the 1890s.
"Santa's helpers" will be meeting at Spiran Hall on Broadway at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 22, to pack the bags and baskets.
On Christmas morning, volunteers are welcome to meet at Spiran Hall at 8:30 a.m. — note the new time — to deliver the baskets.
All you need to help is willingness and a smile, says organizer Faye Anderson.
The committee needs the community's help to ensure the success of this Rockport Christmas tradition this year as it relies solely on volunteers and donations.
Donations may be mailed to the Rockport Christmas Tree Committee, c/o Doreen Carter, 2 Mary Helen Way, Rockport, or dropped off at any Rockport National Bank location or Smith Ace Hardware.
Online donations through PayPal can be made at www.rockportchristmastree.org. Donations are tax deductible.
If you have a neighbor or friend that you would like to receive a basket, just let any committee member know.
Committee members are Jay Smith, Bud Woods, Kirstie Ludwig, Gary and Faye Anderson, Nikole Gale, Lisa Littlefield, Doreen Carter, Judy Harris, Mary Helen MacLeod, Linda Johnson, Janice Ramsden, April Beaton, Sally Frithsen, Ruth George, Andrea Ritchie, Wanda Visnick, Lary Salo and John Thompson or leave a note with name and address at the lumber desk at Smith Ace Hardware.
Student musicians set to play holiday favorites
The Rockport Middle School Orchestra and Chamber Music students will be performing in concert on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m., at the Rockport Baptist Church.
This concert will include small ensemble performances, the sixth-grade orchestra, and the seven- and eighth-grade orchestra. A highlight of the concert is a combined sixth-, seventh, and eighth-grade performance of the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" from Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker."
"A mix of holiday and classical favorites not to be missed," said Orchestra and Chamber Music Director Katie Benson.
On Monday, Dec. 21, at 7 p.m., the fourth- and fifth-grade band, choir and orchestra students will sing and play holiday music in concert at the Rockport High School auditorium.
Quick hits
Rockport Fire Department's Ladder 1, a regular participant in the annual Beverly holiday parade, returned to town from this year's parade with two awards.
The still-in-service 1954 American LaFrance aerial ladder truck edged out a long-retired 1958 Mack pumper to capture the award for being the oldest piece of fire apparatus in the parade. A second award was received for having travelled the longest distance to be in the parade.
The truck's crew, Capt. Kevin Beaulieu and Firefighters Eric Beaulieu and Larry Libert, was presented with a plaque for each category, now proudly on display in the department's trophy case at Central Station.
Rockport Music's Educational Outreach Program continued its exploration of music of other cultures with an interactive presentation of native American music on Nov. 30 at Rockport Elementary School. Joe Brennion, a resident of Berlin, Mass., and owner of The Silver Buffalo Gallery, also in Berlin, performed on a number of instruments including flutes, drums and other percussion. Rockport Music has planned additional presentations for this school year, including a Scottish bagpiper, tabla and sitar from northern India, and a Celtic fiddler and dancer.
Ten Rockport youth are members of the Chorus North Shore Honors Youth Choir and will be singing with Chorus North Shore when they present Handel's "Messiah" tonight at 8 at Our Lady of Hope Church in Ipswich and tomorrow at 2 p.m. at St. Richard's Church in Danvers.
Rockport members include Katharine Boucher, Emma Brousseau, Anna Catena, Emily Dailey, Rachel Haselgard, Katherine Maddox, Daniella Maloney, Nadia Robertson, Kiva Trumbour and Katrina Tuck.
The Youth Choir will sing three of the arias usually performed by an adult contralto.
People in the news
Rockport schools music teacher and violinist Nathan Cohen performed in Manhattan with the Columbia University Orchestra on Monday and Tuesday. The two evening concerts included works by Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Igor Stravinsky.
On sabbatical from his teaching duties until the 2010-2011 school year, Cohen is pursuing a master's degree in music education at Columbia, reports proud father Dave Cohen.
Rockport Ramblings is compiled each week by reporter Jonathan L'Ecuyer. If you have an item for Ramblings, call L'Ecuyer at 978-283-7000, ext. 3451, or e-mail jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.
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