Community Notebook: CW Hosts Naturalization Ceremony; Adopt a Family for Christmas

By Amber Lester Kennedy Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Colonial Williamsburg will host a Naturalization Ceremony on Monday for 24 citizen candidates who will be sworn in as Americans. If you’ve never been, it’s touching. This Friday, William and Mary will host another touching event – the Festival of Lessons and Carols. Find more information about holiday events and charitable opportunities below.

CW Hosts Naturalization Ceremony

Twenty-four citizen candidates will become U.S. citizens during a Naturalization Ceremony at 2 p.m. Monday at the Hall of the House of Burgesses in the Capitol Building at Colonial Williamsburg.

Retired journalist Frank Shatz will speak about his own experience of becoming a citizen at the ceremony. Born in Czechoslovakia, Shatz was forced into a Nazi slave labor camp during World War II. He escaped and joined the anti-Nazi underground in Hungary. After the war, he became a foreign correspondent based in Prague, and eventually fled with his wife, Jaroslava, to the U.S. He worked as a news editor in Cleveland, then established a retail business in Lake Placid, N.Y. In retirement, he became a columnist on international affairs for The Virginia Gazette.

He has received numerous awards, including the Americanism Medal, the highest award given by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution to a naturalized citizen. He divides his time between Williamsburg and Lake Placid.

U.S. District Judge Robert Doumar will preside over the ceremony, after which kindergarten students from Williamsburg Christian Academy will present plants to the new citizens.

Campus Ministers Host Festival of Lessons and Carols

The College of William and Mary’s Christian campus ministers will host the 21st Annual Festival of Lessons and Carols at 7:30 p.m. at Williamsburg United Methodist Church. The college community and public are invited.

Special performances will be provided by William and Mary’s Brass Quintet and Women’s Chorus, and two hand bell choirs, the Westminster Ringers of Williamsburg Presbyterian Church and the Williamsburg Ringers of Williamsburg United Methodist Church.

Students, faculty and staff will join campus ministers in reading biblical passages appropriate to the season with carols and hymns sung by the congregation between the readings. The service will conclude with the singing of “Silent Night” by candlelight.

The Festival of Lessons and Carols dates back to the late nineteenth century. For more information, call 229-6832.

Avalon Invites Citizens to Adopt Families for Christmas

Avalon: A Center for Women and Children is seeking participants for its “Adopt-a-Family Program.”

The program matches participants with a family or individual currently utilizing Avalon’s services.

Avalon’s clients have prepared “wish lists” for each member of their family. Once volunteers are matched with clients, they will receive the wish lists and be able to purchase items. Gift cards are also welcome, because they allow mothers to purchase gifts for their children.

Unwrapped gifts must be received by Avalon by Dec. 16. Additional supplies needed include tape, gift bags, gift tags and ribbon. A maximum dollar amount of $50 per item and $100 per family is suggested.

Interested donors should contact Avalon at (757) 258-5022 or email Catherine@avaloncenter.org.

Get Prepared for Winter Weather

December has been mild so far, but it’s a good time to prepare for more severe winter weather. Here are some tips for winter preparedness, from the city of Williamsburg:

• Make a plan. Decide on a meeting place outside of your neighborhood if your family is separated and can’t return home because of closed roads.

• Create a winter emergency kit for home, with three days’ food, three days’ water, a battery-powered and/or hand-crank radio with extra batteries and your family emergency plan.

• Create a kit for your car with bottles of water and food bars, a bag of sand or kitty litter to provide traction under tires, hats, gloves and blankets and a cell phone charger.

Colonial Williamsburg Holiday Events

Colonial Williamsburg kicked off the holiday season with the Grand Illumination on Dec. 4 and the festivities continue throughout the month. Here’s a sampling of holiday events included with Historic Area admission passes:

• “A Christmas Tale”: Music, theater and dance from generations past. 10:30 and 11:15 a.m. Dec. 8, 13, 15 and 10:30 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and noon Dec. 20, 22, 27 and 29 at the Raleigh Tavern Apollo Room.

• “Kate’s Christmas Box” explores Christmas through the eyes of African Americans during the Colonial era. Guests are encouraged to join in the traditional circle dance. 2 p.m. Mondays and Fridays through Dec. 30 at Great Hopes Plantation.

• “Christmastide At Home” explores CW’s traditions and customs. 7 p.m., with new tours beginning every 15 minutes up until 9 p.m. on Dec. 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22-23, 26-27, 29-31 and Jan 1, 2012 at the Lumber House Ticket Office. Tickets are $15 for adults and $7.50 for children under six.

• “A Grand Medley of Entertainments” features an 18th-century traveling show. Tickets are $15 for adults, $7.50 for children under six. 7:30 p.m. Dec. 4, 12, 20, 23 and 25 at the Kimball Theatre.

• “Washington’s Ladies Await the Hero’s Return” shows the hopes and fears of Martha Washington, mother Mary Ball Washington and sister Betty Lewis as they wait for George Washington to return. 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 8, 13, 15 and 19 at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum. A $3 ticket is required.

• “The Night the Animals Spoke” gives guests at Great Hopes Plantation two versions of the same Christmas story from different perspectives – a plantation mistress and a member of the enslaved community. 10 a.m. on Dec. 10, 17 and 31. Entry is included in all Historic Area admission passes.

• “Musical Diversions at the Courthouse” presents lively music for the holiday season at the Courthouse. 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Dec. 22, 23, 25, 29 and Dec. 31. Tickets are $15 for adults and $7.50 for children under six.

• “Lanthorn Tour” features a walking tour of shops from Williamsburg’s most accomplished tradespeople, beginning at the Greenhow Lumber House. 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Dec. 24. Tickets are $15 for adults and $7.50 for children under six. Weather permitting.

• “A Sermon for the Season” presents an 18th-century sermon appropriate to the season. No admission ticket required for the 30-minute event. 11 a.m. Mondays through Dec. 26 at the Wren Chapel.

Local Business Donates Batting Cage to Hornsby Middle

WEG donated this batting cage to Hornsby Middle School.

Williamsburg Environmental Group, Inc. (WEG), a local environmental consulting and engineering firm, donated a batting cage to the Hornsby Middle School baseball team.

President Ron Boyd coordinated the funding and three employees donated their time, equipment and expertise to dig and install the cage on one of the school’s baseball diamonds.

In keeping with the concepts of reuse and recycle, the dirt that was excavated for the installation of the cages was used to create a practice pitching mound as an added bonus to the baseball team.