This time of year, it’s a tradition in our house to play Christmas tunes on my great grandfather’s music box. We shared this video of the music box with Chronicle readers during our publication’s first holiday season four years ago, and wanted to revive that tradition this year. Whatever you celebrate – Christmas, Hanukkah, solstice or the coming of a new year – we hope your holidays bring you memories worth chronicling. [Full Story]
The author's well-worn, 1965 edition of "The Happy Prince" by Oscar Wilde.
Christmas is over. Was everyone properly grateful?
You know who we’re talking about here, even though there are certainly none of them in your family. We’re talking about that little sugar plum who works up a sweat ripping open loot and caps the frenzy with, “Is this all?” Or the tot, her golden curls still sleep-tousled, who tears enough paper off each present to see if it’s worthy of further attention and, if it disappoints, chucks it aside for the next one.
A woman I know recalls the Christmas her brother visited with his family; the little darlings plowed through the booty in the twinkling of an eye, allowed themselves a few minutes to fight with each other and then demanded to go back to the hotel pool because they were bored. Visions of stuffing them in a coal sack and dumping them into the deep end danced in Auntie’s head.
This time of year always gets me thinking about Oscar Wilde’s “The Happy Prince,” a fairy tale guaranteed to bludgeon a sense of empathy into the most irredeemable of brats. [Full Story]
Dear Ann Arbor Chronicle Readers,
We’re sleeping in this morning. But we’ve programmed two replacement staff to fill in for a few hours while we enjoy some holiday nog. After the jump you can verify that The Chronicle is still in capable hands.
Thanks,
Mary and Dave [Full Story]
Santa reads "Twas The Night Before Christmas" to a slightly restless audience.
“Who wants to see Santa?” Lucy Ann Lance called out to the kids who packed the sanctuary at Bethlehem United Church of Christ on Saturday.
“Me!” came the shouts, as tiny hands waved in the air. “I do! I do!”
A few minutes later they got their wish, as the crowd sang “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” – and in walked the merry old man himself.
This was the 14th year that the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra has held a holiday sing-along, but perhaps the first time for some of the tots in the audience who were not yet walking. For those a bit older, the appearance of Santa – who looked a little like Charley Sullivan, the A2SO’s former education coordinator – was definitely the highlight. [Full Story]
