Explore the origins of one of the most cherished symbols of the season at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, when local historian Jon Anderson presents 17th Century New World Mission Christmas Traditions at Liverpool Public Library.
Anderson, the former volunteer operations committee chairman at Sainte Marie Among the Iroquois, provides a glimpse into French traditions including the Réveillon, the Tree of Peace and the Christmas Tree.
In 1656, the French-Jesuit Missionaries ventured into the New World as ambassadors, promoting the peace and trade interests of France while advancing the ideals of the Christian faith, and established Sainte Marie among the Iroquois, a mission along the shores of Onondaga Lake.
Anderson, who often portrays a French missionary and sometimes Father Christmas himself, is the former president of Friends of Historic Onondaga Lake and was site manager at Ste. Marie in 1985.
The Dec. 8 program is free and open to the public. Liverpool Public Library is located at 310 Tulip St, Liverpool; 457-0310; lpl.org.
Singing to feed all
The Syracuse men’s a cappella barbershop singers, the Harmony Katz, will host a benefit concert for Food Bank of Central New York at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, at the West Genesee High School Auditorium, in Camillus. The show is titled “We Sing to Feed Them All.”
Tickets cost $10 per person for adults and $5 for children. An afterglow cast party in the school’s cafeteria follows the concert. Admission for the cast party costs $8 and includes pizza, wings, ziti, antipasto and beverages.
The 42-member Harmony Katz raised hunger awareness during last year’s show and entertained a full auditorium with 12 songs while raising $4,000 for the Food Bank.
Food Bank of Central New York serves as the primary supplier for 273 emergency food programs in 11 counties of New York state, distributing 11,550,177 pounds of food last year; foodbankcny.org.
A Cruizin’ Christmas
One of Syracuse’s top R&B revues, The Coachmen featuring Elizabeth Fern, will perform three dozen holiday tunes as part of “A Cruizin’ Christmas,” at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 4, at Pensabene’s Casa Grande, 135 State Fair Blvd., on the city’s West End.
Tickets cost $30 or $15 for kids age 11 and younger for both buffet and show; show-only tickets cost $15 at the door. For reservations, call 466-0312.
Not only will the band play standards like “Jingle Bell Rock” and “Blue Christmas,” they’ll also revive lesser-known tunes like Bing Crosby’s “Mele Kaliki Makka” and Louis Armstrong’s “Cool Yule.”
The Coachmen have also unearthed a couple doo wop obscurities, “Christmas in Jail” by The Youngsters and The Drifters’ 1954 version of “White Christmas.”
The sextet features vocalist Elizabeth Fern, trumpeter-singer-arranger John Saltamach, lead guitarist Dickie Cappotto, bassist Carl Putzer, saxophonist Mark Wildrick, Hammond B-3 organist Michael Davis and drummer Bob Papaleone.
‘Jingle Bell Rock’
They’ll be rocking around the Christmas tree from 8 to 11:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, when the Mickey Vendetti Band hosts a holiday dance party at the Goodtime Banquet Hall, 526 Teall Ave., in Syracuse.
The audience will hear everything from “Blue Christmas” to “White Christmas” as the Vendetti boys make merry with traditional holiday songs, some country Christmas classics and even a few holiday soul tunes.
The Dec. 2 Christmas party at the Goodtime Banquet Hall is open to the public. Admission costs $10 in advance or $13 at the door, and that price includes a buffet and coffee. Legal beverages will be available for sale at the Goodtime Banquet Hall bar, located on the top floor of Klub Polski, the Polish-American Citizens Club; 345-1002; mickeyvendetti.com.
Baby Boomers’ benefit
The Baby Boomers Band led by guitarist Art Bronstein will entertain at a benefit for the CNY Food Bank and the Temple Concord Food Pantry from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, at Temple Concord, 910 Madison St., near Syracuse University.
There is free on-site parking and admission costs $10 per person, plus a non-perishable food item to be donated to the pantry.
Snacks, desserts, coffee and tea will be provided gratis, and there will be a cash bar serving beer and wine, while participants dance to the music of the 1960s and ’70s; 445-1865.
‘Nuncrackers’ at Glen Loch
The nuns of Mount Saint Helen’s Convent are planning their annual Christmas program – live, as Encore Presentations presents Dan Goggin’s “Nuncrackers: The Nunsense Christmas Musical.”
Directed by Heather Jensen, the show will be staged at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 2 and 3, at the Glen Loch Restaurant in Jamesville, and continues Dec. 9-10 and 16-17. Tickets cost $20 for the show only, or $37.25 for dinner and show. Dinner patrons should arrive at 6:30 p.m.; 469-6969.
“Nuncrackers: The Nunsense Christmas Musical” focuses on a cable access TV special taped by the sisters in their convent basement studio. Songs include “12 Days Prior to Christmas,” “Santa Ain’t Comin’ to Our House” and an uproarious parody of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet
The cast includes Rita Warlock, Kathy Egloff, Ellen Kotzin, Kasey McHale, M. Marie Beebe, Tyler Spicer, and David Kempf, Marlina Beebe, Emilie Hoy and David Hoy as the Mount St. Helen students.
