Celebrate the Holiday Season in America’s National Parks


OVERVIEW \| HOLIDAY EVENTS
	Holiday Celebrations and Programs in the National Park Service - 2009 ARIZONA Pipe Spring National Monument Add some Victorian charm to your holiday season with a starlight visit to Winsor Castle, the historic fort at Pipe Spring National Monument, on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, from 5 to 8 p.m. Winsor Castle by Night provides a once-a-year opportunity for the public to visit the historic fort at night, decorated for the holidays and lighted with oil lanterns. On December 1, 2009, the monument will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. Every 15 minutes, volunteers will provide a short orientation at the visitor center and then lead visitors to the fort. You will be able to visit several open rooms at your leisure, chat with the costumed rangers and volunteers about holidays past, and sing a carol or two. Then stop at the chuckwagon for a cup of hot cider and warm up by the fire. You may also browse the visitor center and museum, as well as the Pipe Spring–Zion Natural History Association Bookstore, during your visit. Dress warmly! The regular entrance fee ($5 per person 16 and older) will apply. For more information, please contact Andrea Bornemeier at 928/643-7105 or visit www.nps.gov/pisp. COLORADO Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site Holiday Celebration: December 4 to 5, 2009. Witness for yourself the joys, pleasures, and pastimes of the 1840s at an isolated trading post. The spirit of the season comes alive with wagon rides, games, toy making, and other holiday festivities. The event begins Friday evening, December 4 with candlelight tours of the fort and continues all through Saturday, December 5, culminating with another evening of candlelight tours. For reservations for the evening tours, please call 719/383-5026. Mesa Verde National Park 2009 Luminaria Holiday Open House: Celebrate the holidays in Mesa Verde National Park on December 10, 2009, with special tours, luminarias, musical entertainment, and refreshments. For more information, please contact the park at 970/529-4465. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA President’s Park National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and Holiday Displays: The National Park Service and the National Park Foundation have announced that the annual National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will be held on Thursday, December 3, 2009, at 5 p.m. on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. The National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony marks the opening of the four-week event sponsored by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, the official charitable partner of America’s national parks. The tree-lighting ceremony begins each year’s National Christmas Tree Program. Nationally known entertainers and a military band add to the celebratory evening in which the president brings a message of peace to the nation and the world. The evening culminates in the illumination of the National Christmas Tree. Seasonal displays include a Yule log and a large-scale model train. For the 15th consecutive year, the National Christmas Tree Railroad will provide model trains that surround the base of the National Christmas Tree. The trains will run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily through January 1. For the second time this year, the seasonal displays will include a Santa’s Workshop sponsored by Underwriters Laboratories. The workshop will be open at select times for children to visit with Santa. In what becomes the “Christmas Pathway of Peace,” the National Christmas Tree and 56 smaller trees—one for each state, one for each of five territories, and one for the District of Columbia—serve as the focal point of the event. All 57 trees will be lit each evening at dusk until 11 p.m. and will be lit each night through January 1. Sponsoring organizations in each state provide the tree decorations, which are encased in protective plastic globes to shield them from the weather. National Christmas Tree Nightly Performances:Musical entertainment, featuring performances by volunteer choirs, bands, and dancers, will be held nightly on the Ellipse stage during the month of December. Weeknight performances will take place between 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Weekend performances will take place between 4 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. It’s free; no tickets required! FLORIDA De Soto National Memorial Winter Luminary Walk: December 19, 2009, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Come join us at De Soto National Memorial to celebrate the holiday season. For a special night, De Soto`s trails will be lit with holiday luminaries. Experience a peaceful quarter-mile walk through the mangroves. Step back in time as you encounter park rangers dressed in period clothing. Discuss how the Native Americans and the Spanish explorers celebrated the holiday season. For more information, please contact the park at 941/792-0458. GEORGIA Fort Pulaski National Monument 2009 Candlelantern Tours of Fort Pulaski: December 11 and 12, 2009, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. On the evenings of Friday, December 11 and Saturday, December 12, Fort Pulaski staff and volunteers will conduct the annual Candlelantern tours, which re-create the Confederate Nog party of 1861. Come relive what has been a Savannah tradition for over a decade. Join in the celebration and share in the Christmas season with cookies and hot cider, music, and merrymaking. Park rangers and volunteers will be dressed in period clothing, and visitors will be treated to a tour of the fort and special programs. Advance reservations are required for attending all programs, and there are a limited number of spaces for each program. Individual programs will begin at 6, 6:20, 7, 7:20, 8, and 8:20 p.m. both nights. Each program runs about 45 minutes. Anyone interested in attending should call the visitor center at 912/786-5787 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, beginning November 1 and ending Friday, December 8. Reservations cannot be accepted at any time before or after those dates and times. For more information, please contact Mike Weinstein at 912/786-5787. Jimmy Carter National Historic Site Christmas in Archery: November 28, 2009, from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. inPlains, Georgia. Come visit the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm on Saturday, November 28, 2009, from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. President Carter’s boyhood home will be decorated for the holidays, and hot apple cider will be available while supplies last. Visitors to the farm may experience a bit of nostalgia and learn how Christmas was celebrated in the 1930s. For more information, please call Ranger Steve Theus at 229/824-4104. IOWA Herbert Hoover National Historic Site A Christmas Past: Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, and West Branch, Iowa, the birthplace of Herbert Hoover, will host A Christmas Past from December 4 until December 6, 2009. Activities include horse-drawn wagon rides, holiday performances, a Christmas tree exhibit, and a craft fair. For more information, please contact the park at 319/643-2541. KANSAS Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve Holiday Event: November 28, 2009, from noon to 4 p.m. The historic ranch house and headquarters area will be decorated with natural objects and greenery representing an 1880s holiday setting from November 28 to December 31, 2009. The staff of the preserve encourages you to come out and see the decorations beginning on November 28, when there will be an old-fashioned holiday party from noon to 4 p.m. Visitors will see people dressed in historic costumes and enjoying the day as they decorate the tree and read Twas the Night Before Christmas. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, please contact Heather Brown at 620/273-8494. Holiday Decorations at the Preserve: Everyday from December 1 to December 31, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the ranch headquarters. The historic ranch house and headquarters area are decorated with natural objects and greenery representing an 1880s holiday setting. Special open house event on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. Refreshments served on Saturday. For more information, please contact Heather Brown at 620/273-8494. Fort Scott National Historic Site Fort Scott Candlelight Tour: December 4, 2009, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Witness the magic as 19th-century Fort Scott comes to life by the glow of hundreds of candles. $7 per ticket; please contact Kelley Collins at 620/223-0310. MARYLAND Antietam National Battlefield Annual Memorial Illumination: On Saturday, December 5, 2009, volunteers will place over 23,000 candles on the battlefield, each representing a casualty from the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. Driving tour begins at 6 p.m. on Route 34, east of Sharpsburg. In the event of high winds or heavy rain, this event will be rescheduled for December 12. Please note: the visitor center will be open from 8:30 a.m. through 3 p.m. Several of the park roads will not be available to tour after 3 p.m. All information is subject to change. Please call the park at 301/432-5124 or check our webpage, http://www.nps.gov/anti, before attending any special event. Antietam National Battlefield Illumination, Pry House Field Hospital Museum, Keedysville, Maryland: Saturday, December 5, 2009. Living history, barn, and house exhibits conducted before the illumination. Opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. For more information, please call 301/416-2395 or visit www.civilwarmed.org. All information is subject to change. Please call the park at 301/432-5124 or check our webpage, http://www.nps.gov/anti, before attending any special event. Clara Barton National Historic Site Victorian Greeting Card Workshops: November 28, November 29, December 5, and December 6, 2009, at 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., and 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The public is cordially invited to sign up for free workshops on making Victorian-era holiday greeting cards. Participants will be photographed in costumes of the period and then use their photographs to make a holiday card in the style Miss Barton sent to her friends, with whom she exchanged cards, photographs, and gifts during the holidays. The workshops are open to all ages and to children’s groups, but adult supervision is required. Participants may keep their cards. This is a cut-and-paste activity geared towards families and children. Reservations are required. For more information, please contact 301/320-1410. MASSACHUSETTS Springfield Armory National Historic Site Springfield’s First Christmas Observance: December 19, 2009, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in theSpringfield Armory Museum. Many of the churches now in Springfield first found a home at Springfield Armory in the early 19th century. Otherwise excluded from active worship by the Congregational church established in the town, the Armory created places of worship for its workers in the Hill Shops. Thus it was that about 1818, Christmas was formally observed here—an observance which was prohibited in Springfield by the Puritan traditions beyond the Armory’s boundaries. For more information, please contact Joanne Gangi-Wellman, Chief of Visitor Services, at 413/734-8551 ext. 236. MISSISSIPPI Natchez National Historical Park Christmas Open House at the William Johnson House: December 4, 2009. In coordination with the First Friday events of December, Natchez National Historical Park will conduct a Christmas open house and special programming at the William Johnson House on Friday, December 4 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The William Johnson House is located on 210 State Street, a short walk from the lighting of the Christmas tree in downtown Natchez. Stroll over to the site to enjoy 1840s dance music, refreshments, games, and people in period dress. For more information, please call 601/446-5790. Christmas Open House at Melrose: December 12 and 13, 2009. As a Christmas present to Natchez residents and out-of-town guests, the park will host an open house at Melrose on Saturday and Sunday, December 12 and 13. Melrose house tours will be FREE on these two days, and there will be special programming throughout the day. Tours will be offered at the top of every hour beginning at 10 a.m. Last tour leaves at 4 p.m. Opportunities to dress in period clothing and to participate in Christmas crafts will also be available. For more information, please call 601/446-5790. MISSOURI Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Memorial Illumination: December 12, 2009, from 5:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sixth annual Memorial Luminary Driving Tour at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield presents the sixth Annual Memorial Illumination Ceremony, featuring over 2,539 luminaries (paper bags, each filled with sand and a lighted candle) representing those killed, wounded, or missing at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861. Admission is free! Schedule of Events: 4:30 p.m. Opening ceremony at the visitor center 5 p.m. Volunteer procession through Illumination 5:15 p.m. Memorial Illumination Tour opens to public Over 2,000 people are expected to tour the Illumination from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Event Details: Over 100 volunteers, including Boy Scouts, ROTC Students, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Foundation members, Ozark Civil War Roundtable members, and members of other community organizations, will participate in this event, assembling the luminaries and distributing them along the five-mile tour road through the park. Living history volunteers, carolers, and period decorations at the Ray House will bring the past to life. Visitors will step back in time as they enjoy a warm fire and refreshments served by the Wilson’s Creek Battlefield Foundation. Visitors are encouraged to tour the house and learn about the wartime hardships faced by local families during a typical Christmas of 1861. Music, refreshments, and information will be provided at the visitor center. Vehicles will use parking lights only for the five-mile driving tour through the national battlefield, with stops at the visitor center and the Ray House. There are no restrooms along the tour route. The battlefield will close at noon on December 12 to complete preparations. For more information, please contact Ted Hillmer at 417/732-2662 ext. 224. George Washington Carver National Monument Holiday Open House: December 12, 2009, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the park visitor center. The park staff and volunteers invite the public to a holiday celebration of seasonal music, interpretive programs, and refreshments. For more information, please contact the park at 417/325-4151. MONTANA Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site Victorian Holiday Open House: December 6, 2009, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The elegant Kohrs family ranch house will be decorated to reflect a Victorian Christmas. A pianist will play holiday music on the Kohrs’s piano, and artifacts previously unseen by the public will be displayed. Activities will include house tours, wagon rides, blacksmithing, and children’s crafts, and assorted refreshments will be offered. For more information, please contact Julie Croglio at 406/846-2070. NEBRASKA Homestead National Monument of America Winter Festival of Prairie Cultures Special Programs: November 29, December 6, and December 13, 2009, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Education Center. The Winter Festival of Prairie Cultures has exhibits of many different cultures and their celebrations of the winter season. Exhibits begin on November 27 and last through December 31. Special Sunday programs take place at the Education Center at 1 and 3 as follows: November 29—Die singenden Wanderer (men’s choir) from the German-American Society in Omaha, Nebraska. December 6—Richard Kimbrough will do a program called “Holidays Here and There,” which will emphasize the role of music in celebrating holidays and their history. He will have musicians with him. December 13—Holiday crafts from different countries. Volunteers will lead people in making crafts from several countries. All events will take place at Homestead National Monument of America, just outside Beatrice, Nebraska. All events are free of charge. For more information, please call 402/223-3514 or visit www.nps.gov/home. NEW JERSEY Thomas Edison National Historical Park Holidays at Glenmont: Every Sunday, weekly; every Friday, weekly; and every Saturday, weekly, from November 27, 2009, to January 3, 2010, from noon to 5 p.m. The sights and sounds of the season will greet visitors when they come to Thomas Edison’s home in Llewellyn Park during “Holidays at Glenmont.” Glenmont will be decorated much as it was while the Edison family lived there. Favorite musical pieces will be playing, and greenery and red poinsettias will deck the mantles above the fireplaces. Staircases will be ringed with boughs, and red-ribbon bows and wreaths will hang in every window. In the den, the majestic 10-foot tree will be lit, and the presents underneath will be waiting as if the Edison children—Madeleine, Theodore, and Charles—will soon come running down the stairs from their rooms—after they’ve checked their stockings in the upstairs living room! Family china will be displayed on the dining room table, and the scene will be completed with holiday cards received by the Edisons. The Holidays at Glenmont tours will be offered on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from noon until 4 p.m. November 27, 2009, through January 3, 2010. Additional holiday tours will be offered on Wednesday and Thursday, December 30 and 31. Car passes and tour tickets must be purchased at the Laboratory Complex Visitor Center at 211 Main Street. Admission is $7, and includes the Glenmont Estate and the Laboratory Complex. Children under age 16 are free. SOUTH CAROLINA Cowpens National Battlefield Backcountry Holiday:Visit the Scruggs House from 1 to 4 p.m. on November 22, 2009, and learn how winter holidays were celebrated during colonial times. For more information, please contact the park at 864/461-2828. Ninety Six National Historic Site A Backcountry Holiday:November 28, 2009, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Start a new holiday tradition with your family by stepping back into history. The past will come to life as you walk into the late-18th-century Black Swan Tavern, where costumed interpreters will be demonstrating backcountry life in the 1700s during the holidays. For more information, please contact Melinda M. Zupon at 864/543-4068. TEXAS Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park Christmas at the LBJ Boyhood Home: In conjunction with the Johnson City Community’s celebration of “Lights Spectacular,” the LBJ Boyhood Home in Johnson City will be open for lamplight tours each Saturday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on November 28, December 5, December 12, and December 19. National Park Service rangers will provide tours of this historic house and explain life in Johnson City before rural electrification. The LBJ Boyhood Home is located on Elm Street, one block south of Highway 290 (“Main Street” in Johnson City). This park event is complemented by the stunning lighting display at the Pedernales Electric Cooperative across the street from the Boyhood Home, with majestic live oaks resplendent in hundreds of thousands of tiny white lights. In addition, the Blanco County Courthouse, just two blocks north of the Boyhood Home on Avenue G, is the centerpiece of the town’s seasonal celebration, “Lights Spectacular,” and is not to be missed. For more information, please contact Liz Lindig at 830/868-7128 ext. 231. A Timeless Christmas in Johnson City: November 28, 2009, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. In addition to the events included in “Christmas at the LBJ Boyhood Home,” on November 28, visitors can make their way to the Johnson Settlement, where they will be guided by lantern light to a late-1860s Christmas in frontier Texas. The first stop is the chuck wagon camp, where the cook is up late and happy to share tales of the trail drives by firelight. Further up the path is the original Sam Ealy Johnson cabin, where Lyndon Johnson’s grandparents first homesteaded in 1869. The Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park Visitor Center, located one block south of the Boyhood Home, will also be open to the public on November 28. Visitors may wish to view the exhibits, watch the movies on President and Mrs. Johnson, or do some holiday shopping in the park’s bookstore. For more information, please contact Sherry Justus at 830/868-7128 ext. 245. WEST VIRGINIA Harpers Ferry National Historical Park Prospects of Peace: A Soldier’s Prayer: December 5 and 6, 2009, in the Lower Town District. Visitors are invited to join this special program, which focuses on Yuletide 1864, when soldiers at Harpers Ferry attempted to create their own version of Christmas at the front while recalling happier ones at home. With Abraham Lincoln re-elected, the nation looked toward a new year, the conclusion of war, prospects of peace, and freedom for four million enslaved African Americans. Programs and activities feature local citizens and soldiers preparing for the Yuletide, a Civil-War-style Santa Claus dispersing presents to the soldiers, a Victorian Cotillion, Yuletide confections, and special guided walking tours. Activities on Saturday noon to 9 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. $6 per vehicle for three days or $4 per person on foot, bicycle, or motorcycle. For more information, please contact the information center at 304/535-6029.
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Holiday Celebrations and Programs
in the National Park Service - 2009

ARIZONA
Pipe Spring National Monument
Add some Victorian charm to your holiday season with a starlight visit to Winsor Castle, the historic fort at Pipe Spring National Monument, on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, from 5 to 8 p.m. Winsor Castle by Night provides a once-a-year opportunity for the public to visit the historic fort at night, decorated for the holidays and lighted with oil lanterns. On December 1, 2009, the monument will be open from 5 to 8 p.m. Every 15 minutes, volunteers will provide a short orientation at the visitor center and then lead visitors to the fort. You will be able to visit several open rooms at your leisure, chat with the costumed rangers and volunteers about holidays past, and sing a carol or two. Then stop at the chuckwagon for a cup of hot cider and warm up by the fire. You may also browse the visitor center and museum, as well as the Pipe Spring–Zion Natural History Association Bookstore, during your visit. Dress warmly! The regular entrance fee ($5 per person 16 and older) will apply. For more information, please contact Andrea Bornemeier at 928/643-7105 or visit www.nps.gov/pisp.

COLORADO

Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site
Holiday Celebration: December 4 to 5, 2009. Witness for yourself the joys, pleasures, and pastimes of the 1840s at an isolated trading post. The spirit of the season comes alive with wagon rides, games, toy making, and other holiday festivities. The event begins Friday evening, December 4 with candlelight tours of the fort and continues all through Saturday, December 5, culminating with another evening of candlelight tours. For reservations for the evening tours, please call 719/383-5026.

Mesa Verde National Park
2009 Luminaria Holiday Open House: Celebrate the holidays in Mesa Verde National Park on December 10, 2009, with special tours, luminarias, musical entertainment, and refreshments. For more information, please contact the park at 970/529-4465.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
President’s Park
National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and Holiday Displays: The National Park Service and the National Park Foundation have announced that the annual National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will be held on Thursday, December 3, 2009, at 5 p.m. on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. The National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony marks the opening of the four-week event sponsored by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, the official charitable partner of America’s national parks. The tree-lighting ceremony begins each year’s National Christmas Tree Program. Nationally known entertainers and a military band add to the celebratory evening in which the president brings a message of peace to the nation and the world. The evening culminates in the illumination of the National Christmas Tree.

Seasonal displays include a Yule log and a large-scale model train. For the 15th consecutive year, the National Christmas Tree Railroad will provide model trains that surround the base of the National Christmas Tree. The trains will run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily through January 1.

For the second time this year, the seasonal displays will include a Santa’s Workshop sponsored by Underwriters Laboratories. The workshop will be open at select times for children to visit with Santa.

In what becomes the “Christmas Pathway of Peace,” the National Christmas Tree and 56 smaller trees—one for each state, one for each of five territories, and one for the District of Columbia—serve as the focal point of the event. All 57 trees will be lit each evening at dusk until 11 p.m. and will be lit each night through January 1. Sponsoring organizations in each state provide the tree decorations, which are encased in protective plastic globes to shield them from the weather.

National Christmas Tree Nightly Performances:Musical entertainment, featuring performances by volunteer choirs, bands, and dancers, will be held nightly on the Ellipse stage during the month of December. Weeknight performances will take place between 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Weekend performances will take place between 4 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. It’s free; no tickets required!

FLORIDA
De Soto National Memorial
Winter Luminary Walk: December 19, 2009, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Come join us at De Soto National Memorial to celebrate the holiday season. For a special night, De Soto`s trails will be lit with holiday luminaries. Experience a peaceful quarter-mile walk through the mangroves. Step back in time as you encounter park rangers dressed in period clothing. Discuss how the Native Americans and the Spanish explorers celebrated the holiday season. For more information, please contact the park at 941/792-0458.

GEORGIA
Fort Pulaski National Monument
2009 Candlelantern Tours of Fort Pulaski: December 11 and 12, 2009, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. On the evenings of Friday, December 11 and Saturday, December 12, Fort Pulaski staff and volunteers will conduct the annual Candlelantern tours, which re-create the Confederate Nog party of 1861. Come relive what has been a Savannah tradition for over a decade. Join in the celebration and share in the Christmas season with cookies and hot cider, music, and merrymaking. Park rangers and volunteers will be dressed in period clothing, and visitors will be treated to a tour of the fort and special programs.

Advance reservations are required for attending all programs, and there are a limited number of spaces for each program. Individual programs will begin at 6, 6:20, 7, 7:20, 8, and 8:20 p.m. both nights. Each program runs about 45 minutes. Anyone interested in attending should call the visitor center at 912/786-5787 between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, beginning November 1 and ending Friday, December 8. Reservations cannot be accepted at any time before or after those dates and times. For more information, please contact Mike Weinstein at 912/786-5787.

Jimmy Carter National Historic Site
Christmas in Archery: November 28, 2009, from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. inPlains, Georgia. Come visit the Jimmy Carter Boyhood Farm on Saturday, November 28, 2009, from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. President Carter’s boyhood home will be decorated for the holidays, and hot apple cider will be available while supplies last. Visitors to the farm may experience a bit of nostalgia and learn how Christmas was celebrated in the 1930s. For more information, please call Ranger Steve Theus at 229/824-4104.

IOWA
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
A Christmas Past: Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, and West Branch, Iowa, the birthplace of Herbert Hoover, will host A Christmas Past from December 4 until December 6, 2009. Activities include horse-drawn wagon rides, holiday performances, a Christmas tree exhibit, and a craft fair. For more information, please contact the park at 319/643-2541.

KANSAS
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
Holiday Event: November 28, 2009, from noon to 4 p.m. The historic ranch house and headquarters area will be decorated with natural objects and greenery representing an 1880s holiday setting from November 28 to December 31, 2009. The staff of the preserve encourages you to come out and see the decorations beginning on November 28, when there will be an old-fashioned holiday party from noon to 4 p.m. Visitors will see people dressed in historic costumes and enjoying the day as they decorate the tree and read Twas the Night Before Christmas. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, please contact Heather Brown at 620/273-8494.

Holiday Decorations at the Preserve: Everyday from December 1 to December 31, 2009, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the ranch headquarters. The historic ranch house and headquarters area are decorated with natural objects and greenery representing an 1880s holiday setting. Special open house event on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. Refreshments served on Saturday. For more information, please contact Heather Brown at 620/273-8494.

Fort Scott National Historic Site
Fort Scott Candlelight Tour: December 4, 2009, from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Witness the magic as 19th-century Fort Scott comes to life by the glow of hundreds of candles. $7 per ticket; please contact Kelley Collins at 620/223-0310.

MARYLAND
Antietam National Battlefield
Annual Memorial Illumination: On Saturday, December 5, 2009, volunteers will place over 23,000 candles on the battlefield, each representing a casualty from the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. Driving tour begins at 6 p.m. on Route 34, east of Sharpsburg. In the event of high winds or heavy rain, this event will be rescheduled for December 12.

Please note: the visitor center will be open from 8:30 a.m. through 3 p.m. Several of the park roads will not be available to tour after 3 p.m.

All information is subject to change. Please call the park at 301/432-5124 or check our webpage, http://www.nps.gov/anti, before attending any special event.

Antietam National Battlefield Illumination, Pry House Field Hospital Museum, Keedysville, Maryland: Saturday, December 5, 2009. Living history, barn, and house exhibits conducted before the illumination. Opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. For more information, please call 301/416-2395 or visit www.civilwarmed.org.

All information is subject to change. Please call the park at 301/432-5124 or check our webpage, http://www.nps.gov/anti, before attending any special event.

Clara Barton National Historic Site
Victorian Greeting Card Workshops: November 28, November 29, December 5, and December 6, 2009, at 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m., and 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The public is cordially invited to sign up for free workshops on making Victorian-era holiday greeting cards. Participants will be photographed in costumes of the period and then use their photographs to make a holiday card in the style Miss Barton sent to her friends, with whom she exchanged cards, photographs, and gifts during the holidays. The workshops are open to all ages and to children’s groups, but adult supervision is required. Participants may keep their cards. This is a cut-and-paste activity geared towards families and children. Reservations are required. For more information, please contact 301/320-1410.

MASSACHUSETTS
Springfield Armory National Historic Site
Springfield’s First Christmas Observance: December 19, 2009, from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in theSpringfield Armory Museum. Many of the churches now in Springfield first found a home at Springfield Armory in the early 19th century. Otherwise excluded from active worship by the Congregational church established in the town, the Armory created places of worship for its workers in the Hill Shops. Thus it was that about 1818, Christmas was formally observed here—an observance which was prohibited in Springfield by the Puritan traditions beyond the Armory’s boundaries. For more information, please contact Joanne Gangi-Wellman, Chief of Visitor Services, at 413/734-8551 ext. 236.

MISSISSIPPI
Natchez National Historical Park
Christmas Open House at the William Johnson House: December 4, 2009. In coordination with the First Friday events of December, Natchez National Historical Park will conduct a Christmas open house and special programming at the William Johnson House on Friday, December 4 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The William Johnson House is located on 210 State Street, a short walk from the lighting of the Christmas tree in downtown Natchez. Stroll over to the site to enjoy 1840s dance music, refreshments, games, and people in period dress. For more information, please call 601/446-5790.

Christmas Open House at Melrose: December 12 and 13, 2009. As a Christmas present to Natchez residents and out-of-town guests, the park will host an open house at Melrose on Saturday and Sunday, December 12 and 13. Melrose house tours will be FREE on these two days, and there will be special programming throughout the day. Tours will be offered at the top of every hour beginning at 10 a.m. Last tour leaves at 4 p.m. Opportunities to dress in period clothing and to participate in Christmas crafts will also be available. For more information, please call 601/446-5790.

MISSOURI
Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield
Memorial Illumination: December 12, 2009, from 5:15 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sixth annual Memorial Luminary Driving Tour at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield. Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield presents the sixth Annual Memorial Illumination Ceremony, featuring over 2,539 luminaries (paper bags, each filled with sand and a lighted candle) representing those killed, wounded, or missing at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek on August 10, 1861. Admission is free!

Schedule of Events:
4:30 p.m. Opening ceremony at the visitor center
5 p.m. Volunteer procession through Illumination
5:15 p.m. Memorial Illumination Tour opens to public

Over 2,000 people are expected to tour the Illumination from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Event Details: Over 100 volunteers, including Boy Scouts, ROTC Students, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield Foundation members, Ozark Civil War Roundtable members, and members of other community organizations, will participate in this event, assembling the luminaries and distributing them along the five-mile tour road through the park.

Living history volunteers, carolers, and period decorations at the Ray House will bring the past to life. Visitors will step back in time as they enjoy a warm fire and refreshments served by the Wilson’s Creek Battlefield Foundation. Visitors are encouraged to tour the house and learn about the wartime hardships faced by local families during a typical Christmas of 1861. Music, refreshments, and information will be provided at the visitor center.

Vehicles will use parking lights only for the five-mile driving tour through the national battlefield, with stops at the visitor center and the Ray House. There are no restrooms along the tour route.

The battlefield will close at noon on December 12 to complete preparations. For more information, please contact Ted Hillmer at 417/732-2662 ext. 224.

George Washington Carver National Monument
Holiday Open House: December 12, 2009, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the park visitor center. The park staff and volunteers invite the public to a holiday celebration of seasonal music, interpretive programs, and refreshments. For more information, please contact the park at 417/325-4151.

MONTANA
Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site
Victorian Holiday Open House: December 6, 2009, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The elegant Kohrs family ranch house will be decorated to reflect a Victorian Christmas. A pianist will play holiday music on the Kohrs’s piano, and artifacts previously unseen by the public will be displayed. Activities will include house tours, wagon rides, blacksmithing, and children’s crafts, and assorted refreshments will be offered. For more information, please contact Julie Croglio at 406/846-2070.

NEBRASKA
Homestead National Monument of America
Winter Festival of Prairie Cultures Special Programs: November 29, December 6, and December 13, 2009, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Education Center. The Winter Festival of Prairie Cultures has exhibits of many different cultures and their celebrations of the winter season. Exhibits begin on November 27 and last through December 31. Special Sunday programs take place at the Education Center at 1 and 3 as follows:

November 29—Die singenden Wanderer (men’s choir) from the German-American Society in Omaha, Nebraska.

December 6—Richard Kimbrough will do a program called “Holidays Here and There,” which will emphasize the role of music in celebrating holidays and their history. He will have musicians with him.

December 13—Holiday crafts from different countries. Volunteers will lead people in making crafts from several countries.

All events will take place at Homestead National Monument of America, just outside Beatrice, Nebraska. All events are free of charge. For more information, please call 402/223-3514 or visit www.nps.gov/home.

NEW JERSEY
Thomas Edison National Historical Park
Holidays at Glenmont: Every Sunday, weekly; every Friday, weekly; and every Saturday, weekly, from November 27, 2009, to January 3, 2010, from noon to 5 p.m.

The sights and sounds of the season will greet visitors when they come to Thomas Edison’s home in Llewellyn Park during “Holidays at Glenmont.” Glenmont will be decorated much as it was while the Edison family lived there. Favorite musical pieces will be playing, and greenery and red poinsettias will deck the mantles above the fireplaces. Staircases will be ringed with boughs, and red-ribbon bows and wreaths will hang in every window. In the den, the majestic 10-foot tree will be lit, and the presents underneath will be waiting as if the Edison children—Madeleine, Theodore, and Charles—will soon come running down the stairs from their rooms—after they’ve checked their stockings in the upstairs living room! Family china will be displayed on the dining room table, and the scene will be completed with holiday cards received by the Edisons.

The Holidays at Glenmont tours will be offered on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from noon until 4 p.m. November 27, 2009, through January 3, 2010. Additional holiday tours will be offered on Wednesday and Thursday, December 30 and 31.

Car passes and tour tickets must be purchased at the Laboratory Complex Visitor Center at 211 Main Street. Admission is $7, and includes the Glenmont Estate and the Laboratory Complex. Children under age 16 are free.

SOUTH CAROLINA
Cowpens National Battlefield
Backcountry Holiday:Visit the Scruggs House from 1 to 4 p.m. on November 22, 2009, and learn how winter holidays were celebrated during colonial times. For more information, please contact the park at 864/461-2828.

Ninety Six National Historic Site
A Backcountry Holiday:November 28, 2009, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Start a new holiday tradition with your family by stepping back into history. The past will come to life as you walk into the late-18th-century Black Swan Tavern, where costumed interpreters will be demonstrating backcountry life in the 1700s during the holidays. For more information, please contact Melinda M. Zupon at 864/543-4068.

TEXAS
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park
Christmas at the LBJ Boyhood Home: In conjunction with the Johnson City Community’s celebration of “Lights Spectacular,” the LBJ Boyhood Home in Johnson City will be open for lamplight tours each Saturday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on November 28, December 5, December 12, and December 19. National Park Service rangers will provide tours of this historic house and explain life in Johnson City before rural electrification. The LBJ Boyhood Home is located on Elm Street, one block south of Highway 290 (“Main Street” in Johnson City).

This park event is complemented by the stunning lighting display at the Pedernales Electric Cooperative across the street from the Boyhood Home, with majestic live oaks resplendent in hundreds of thousands of tiny white lights. In addition, the Blanco County Courthouse, just two blocks north of the Boyhood Home on Avenue G, is the centerpiece of the town’s seasonal celebration, “Lights Spectacular,” and is not to be missed. For more information, please contact Liz Lindig at 830/868-7128 ext. 231.

A Timeless Christmas in Johnson City: November 28, 2009, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. In addition to the events included in “Christmas at the LBJ Boyhood Home,” on November 28, visitors can make their way to the Johnson Settlement, where they will be guided by lantern light to a late-1860s Christmas in frontier Texas. The first stop is the chuck wagon camp, where the cook is up late and happy to share tales of the trail drives by firelight. Further up the path is the original Sam Ealy Johnson cabin, where Lyndon Johnson’s grandparents first homesteaded in 1869.

The Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park Visitor Center, located one block south of the Boyhood Home, will also be open to the public on November 28. Visitors may wish to view the exhibits, watch the movies on President and Mrs. Johnson, or do some holiday shopping in the park’s bookstore.

For more information, please contact Sherry Justus at 830/868-7128 ext. 245.

WEST VIRGINIA
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
Prospects of Peace: A Soldier’s Prayer: December 5 and 6, 2009, in the Lower Town District. Visitors are invited to join this special program, which focuses on Yuletide 1864, when soldiers at Harpers Ferry attempted to create their own version of Christmas at the front while recalling happier ones at home. With Abraham Lincoln re-elected, the nation looked toward a new year, the conclusion of war, prospects of peace, and freedom for four million enslaved African Americans. Programs and activities feature local citizens and soldiers preparing for the Yuletide, a Civil-War-style Santa Claus dispersing presents to the soldiers, a Victorian Cotillion, Yuletide confections, and special guided walking tours. Activities on Saturday noon to 9 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. $6 per vehicle for three days or $4 per person on foot, bicycle, or motorcycle. For more information, please contact the information center at 304/535-6029.

National Park Service - Office Public Affairs

Last Update: November 20, 2009