Lee Senior Center of the Holiday Season with Go Coping with Hearing Loss Caroling Day on December 20

December 2018 DECEMBER 2018 Go A-Wassailing Mark Your Calendars Whether you have a good singing voice or not, get into the swing Thurs., Dec. 6 Lee Senior Center of the holiday season with Go Coping with Hearing Loss Caroling Day on December 20. 11:15am-12:15pm 5722 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22207 * 703-228-0555 * Mon.-Fri., 10am-3pm You may be surprised to hear that carols did not originate as holiday songs at all. Carols were Fri., Dec. 7 Waiting for the Sun folk dances, and carol meant Making of the Greens In the northern hemisphere, the winter solstice, on “to dance in a ring.” Most often 10am-1pm December 21, brings the longest night of the year. Due these dances and their accompanying songs were sung in the pubs (along with the presumptive to the tilt of Earth on its axis, the north pole faces away Tues., Dec. 11 from the sun. While the interminable darkness stretches overindulgence of ale). So when did carols make Assisted Living Contracts the jump from the alehouse to the church house? on, in many cultures this is a time to celebrate the light, The answer might lie in Victorian England. 1-2pm Center Staff and has been for centuries. In fact, the celebration of Adriana Carr winter solstice predates the Christmas holiday. Wassailing, or the act of wishing good fortune Fri., Dec. 14 Sheila Budoff Perhaps the most famous destination for viewing on your neighbors, was a fairly common practice Songs and Sweets of the HolidayS the sun during the winter solstice is at Stonehenge in during the medieval era. It was believed that if 1-3pm Front Desk Volunteers Roberta Thibodaux England. This famous arrangement of massive stones you passed well wishes to your neighbors, they Susie Bachtel was erected in prehistoric times and is perfectly aligned would reward you in turn. Caroling, or performing Tues., Dec. 18 folk songs of well-wishes to neighbors, became Judy Engebritson with sunset on the winter solstice. Scientists have traditional during local festivals and on holidays Nordic Impressions concluded that this was a site of ancient ritual. Less like May Day. But it was during the Victorian 1:30-3pm Lee/Madison Advisory famous is the massive burial mound and passageway Era that caroling became forever merged Committee at Newgrange in Ireland, dated to be older than the with Christmastime. Legend has it that the Christmas Crossing Pyramids. At sunrise on the winter solstice, the sun first Christmas carol service was held in Truro, It was nearly midnight on Christmas of 1776 Tom Sipusic shines perfectly down the passageway to illuminate England, in 1880, when Edward White Benson when Revolutionary War Chair the innermost chamber. This is yet another instance attempted to lure carolers out of the pub on General George Washington where prehistoric peoples heralded the return of the Christmas Eve by publicizing a carol service daringly crossed the freezing Tom Curtis light after the longest period of darkness. at church. Benson would go on to become Delaware River to turn the tide Vice-Chair the Archbishop of Canterbury. in favor Halfway across the world in Iran, Persians also Eileen Bogdanoff of the colonists. Washington celebrate the return of the light. On Shab-e Yalda, Treasurer people gather to light fires to protect each other from It was also during Victorian England that had suffered numerous Christmas became more popular and defeats, resulting in the loss of Penny Curtis the evil of the night. They feast and read poetry as they commercialized. Publishers began compiling many strategic locations, Secretary await the sunrise. The return of the sun is equated with and printing vast anthologies of carols. Some including New York City in the north. the banishment of evil, the arrival of goodness, and the went so far as to take ancient songs and rewrite Washington’s plan included three crossings At-large triumph of Mithra, the Sun God, over dark forces. them as hymns to the birth of Christ. Many of of the Delaware. He led a division of 2,400 men Caral Bennett the most famous Christmas carols date from this to surprise a group of German Hessian soldiers Ira Birnbaum Japan, too, celebrates the return of the sun. Toji-sai period, including “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” gathered at Trenton. When Washington’s force Inge Ercolano marks the start of a new year, and it is when farmers Fran Field “The First Noel,” “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing!,” descended the next morning, the Hessians were traditionally welcome the sun as the source of their caught unawares after a night of Christmas Jean Jackson bountiful crops. As in Iran, bonfires are lit during the and “Joy to the World.” Nowadays, Christmas Eileen Kenna revels and were easily overwhelmed. When night to encourage the sun’s return. It is then common caroling is almost uniquely found during church Roberta Thibodaux services. Rarely do carolers venture door-to-door Washington’s other two divisions of 3,000 Mary Wingo to take baths scented with the yuzu citrus fruit, which men failed to make the rendezvous, he was is believed to foster good health and fortune. On the a-wassailing as they once did in olden times. But forced to withdraw. While the victory was not solstice, don’t despair during the long night; instead, on December 20, Go Caroling Day, the practice may be revived. So don’t be surprised if you particularly strategic, Washington’s renown think of all those around the world who, perhaps like hear a knock on your door and a choir of voices. and the morale of the Continental Army grew. you, await the return of the sun. December 2018 Home for the Holidays A Grimm Tale Turned White First in Flight Westover Library Corner The sweet and spicy smell of gingerbread is The history of Disney’s success with feature- On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur a clear indicator that the holiday season is in length animated films began on December 21, Wright made history on the sand dunes of Kill full swing. By the time Gingerbread House Day 1937, when it released Snow White and the Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, when Reel Page Turners Movie Book Club arrives on December 12, you may have already Seven Dwarfs. Many versions of this Grimm they achieved flight in a self-propelled, heavier- indulged in eating this seasonal treat. brother’s fairy tale existed before Walt Disney than-air aircraft. put his hand to it. The first film version of Snow Gingerbread, made with White hit theaters in 1902, but it was the Disney Orville and Wilbur Wright ginger root, is believed to film that was considered groundbreaking. did not attend college like have originated in East Asia, Indeed, the film won a specially designed their older brothers, but they where ginger was originally Academy Award: one regular-sized Oscar displayed both an aptitude cultivated. It is believed that statue with seven miniature Oscar statuettes. and passion for mechanical design. They became No less impactful was Disney’s transformation ginger and gingerbread were builders of printing presses and opened a bicycle of the story from a wicked tale of murder into a introduced to Europe after the Crusades of the repair shop. But after learning of the manned magical cartoon. The original unknown dwarfs 11th century. Gingerbread was adopted most were given funny personalities (not including the glider experiments by German engineer Otto heartily in Germany, where monks perfected rejected names of Blabby, Jaunty, and Hoppy- Lilienthal in the 1890s, they turned their full their heart-shaped lebkuchen cookies. These Jumpy). Also forgotten was the evil Queen’s fate focus to aviation. Join your fellow book and movie lovers! Lee cookies were first made as unleavened honey of dancing to death in hot iron shoes. But this Senior Center and Westover Library have cakes, made in the same fashion as communion has always been the magic of Disney, providing The Wright brothers were not alone in their efforts partnered to bring a new movie-themed book wafers. With the introduction of ginger, German the most exceptional and enduring family to develop an airplane. Astronomer Samuel club to our community. Reel Page Turners bakers transformed lebkuchen into their beloved entertainment. Snow White and the Seven Langley had developed an increasing curiosity in meets monthly. gingerbread. In 1487, Emperor Friedrich III Dwarfs has not lost any of its original luster. aerodynamics. In 1887, he became secretary of presented the 4,000 children of the city of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., Our next book and movie will be The Glass Nuremberg with gingerbread cookies shaped where he continued his research and won the Castle, by Jeanette Walls. The book to his likeness. attention of President McKinley. McKinley’s War discussion will take place on December 5 at Joan Trumpauer Department granted him $50,000 to develop 1:30pm at Lee Senior Center and the film The shape of gingerbread was not limited to Mulholland: A Real- an engine powerful enough to achieve flight. screening will take place on December 12 at hearts, faces, and people; miniature houses Life Hero In December of 1903, just a few days before 1pm at Westover Library in the Longfellow made of the cookie were also common. This is why the Wright brothers’ successful flight, Langley Room. a gingerbread house figured so prominently in the .Meet Joan Trumpauer mounted a flight attempt that crashed in a river. tale Hansel and Gretel, first published by German Mulholland, a civil rights icon Take a look at our upcoming schedule.

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