Christmas

What the Dickens are the Batavia Players up to now?

According to Patrick Burk, the popular local theater group's president, they "wanted to do a wonderful Christmas gift to the community for the support of our new Harvester 56 Theater" this holiday season.

So they're putting on their own rendition of Charles Dickens' classic, "A Christmas Carol," the story of Ebenezer Scrooge -- a greedy, bitter, lonely old miser whose whole way of looking at the world gets turned upside down by a series of ghostly visitations on Christmas Eve.

Burk described the show as "bright and colorful as well as technically magical."

"It has a classic storyline and has always been one of my favorites," he said. "I could never find where an original version had been done (in Batavia, at least). A couple of contemporary versions with modern day spins were done in the '70s and early '80s."

The Players, on the other hand, will be giving folks pure Dickens, without any modern spin. All costumes and sets are going to be traditional. The music will be "contemporary for the time (the early 1840s, to be precise)," but with a few newer carols, according to Burk.

Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, in addition to a matinée performance at 2 o'clock on Sunday. All performances will be at the Harvester 56 Theatre, at 56 Harvester Ave. in Batavia.

Sunday's performance will be held for the benefit of the Michael Napoleone Memorial Foundation.

"Many of (the foundation's) members have been very supportive of us," Burk said, "I am so happy to be able to do this for them."

For those who are not familiar with Dickens' story, one of its most well-known and endearing characters is a sick child named Tiny Tim. Burk felt the Napoleone Foundation would be a "good fit" for this story.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for children and seniors. They can be purchased through www.showtix4u.com.

Sunday at Molasses Hill Bulk Foods, more than 20 neighborhood kids decorated their own gingerbread houses.

This is a tradition that Shannon Harder's mother used to do every Christmas with the kids in her neighborhood, and Shannon wanted to continue it at her new location.

Molasses Hill Bulk Foods is located at 466 Ellicott St. in Batavia.

It's tinsel and baubles time at the Holland Land Office Museum.

Dozens of sponsors -- more than ever before -- are in the process of setting up their Christmas trees for the museum's popular, annual Wonderland of Trees.

It's the 10th year for the event, which is a major fundraiser for HLOM.

The opening gala is 7 to 10:30 p.m., Nov. 18. It will include entertainment, hors d'ouevres and a raffle. Cost is $5 per person.

The children's gala is from noon to 4 p.m., Dec. 17. Cost is $5 per family.

The trees will be on public display from Nov. 18 through Jan. 3, with admission prices of $3 for adults, $1 for children, and free for children 5 and under.

Two years ago onstage at the annual Batavia Players holiday show, Malloryann Burk accepted the marriage proposal of her now-husband, Peter Flanagan. In this year's show, titled "A Traditional Christmas," Peter is still a central theme in her performance.

The first show is tonight at 7:30 at St. James Episcopal Church, 405 E. Main St., Batavia. Tickets are $10 and will be sold at the door. The other show is the same time Saturday.

But in the new production, Malloryann's focus will be on her husband's  absence rather than his presence.

She will be singing "Sending you a Little Christmas" to Peter, who has been in Afghanistan since September and will most likely be there until May. The song is one of four that are dedicated to Flanagan, a Marine corporal and the father of their 5-month-old son, Gabriel.

"When we were planning the show, we knew we wanted to do something for the troops overseas, and that we wanted to send that message of love and support for them," director Pat Burk, father of Malloryann, explains.  "So much of our family is in the show, and once we started rehearsing it hit us that we're sort the poster family for the cause."

There are a total of 21 songs in the show, most of which are traditional Christmas tunes.  The selections were made by Burk and Mary Brenner in an effort to create a mix of "traditional carols, religious, and well-known songs."

"When we sat down to decide on the songs, there were some that we knew right away had to be in it," says Burk. "Then there were some others, newer songs that aren't as well known but fit well in the expressed area of tradition."

Scattered between some of the songs is Yuletide-themed narration written by Mary Brenner, which discusses everything from the original Christmas story to modern-day Santa Claus. 

In addition to directing, Burk will also lend his voice to the show, performing such songs as a duet of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." He sings the Bing Crosby part of "Peace on Earth/The Little Drummer Boy" -- along with Paul Spiotta's David Bowie. The musical director and piano accompianist is Kathy White.

Half of this year's show's profit will go toward the St. James Restoration Fund.  

"They've been very good to us in the past, allowing us to perform here, and this is such a beautiful church," Burk explains. "It fits a more traditional type of show."

Just as he's been doing annually for the past several years, Santa (and Mrs. Claus) made a pre-Christmas stop at Jim DiSalvo's home on Fargo Road, Stafford.

More and more of Genesee County's kids are finding out, the place with all the lights is a good spot to find Santa about this time of year.

As usual, numerous Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts made the trip to Fargo Road, but DiSalvo's home on the night of Santa's visit is open to all the children who stop by.

Above, posing with Santa and Mrs. Claus are Grace Kibler, 10, Reagan Bifarella, 8, Jacquie Kibler, 8, and Libby Kibler, 5.

More pictures after the jump:

Jim DiSalvo and Annabella.

As many as 250 people will receive a free Christmas dinner today at T.F. Brown's, courtesy of the Mancuso family, Joe Teresi and the Lions Club. The tables for the noon meal were already near full just before 12. There were plenty of children there, too, all eager, surely, for Santa's visit.

Pictured is Pat Mancuso, son of Rick Mancuso. Pat is a sophomore at Medaille College and home on break.

Bing Crosby, White Christmas

Bing and David Bowie, Little Drummer Boy

John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Happy Christmas (War is Over)

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, many happy days for one and all.

(Thanks for a reader tip on pointing this out -- a Christmas polka video for our Polish friends).

Yesterday I stopped in Tenney Cleaners and spotted a print out of our story about T.F. Brown's annual community Christmas dinner on the bulletin board -- what a great way to help get the word out about this great event.

The whole community is invited, and Rick Mancuso wants to make sure that everybody knows, especially those members of the community who might otherwise spend Christmas alone or can't afford a full Christmas meal with all the trimmings.

Meal times are Noon and 1 p.m. and reservations are recommended. To make reservations call 343-2091 (ask for Joanne) by 11 a.m. on Dec. 24.

Parents and grand parents bringing children should make a special point to make a reservation. Children 16 and under will receive a Christmas present.

Everything is free and all are welcome.

Tonight for pictures of Christmas Light houses, I thought I'd drive through the North Avenue/Narramore neighborhood.   I wound up with really only one photo worth posting.