The magical days of December

by Elizabeth Morse Read

There’s a lot more to December than just the holidays! Let your children (and the young-at-heart) experience the stories and songs and snowy adventures that only December brings. Celebrate the festive lights that dispel the long dark nights, and the cheery warmth of friends and family sharing time together on a cold winter’s day!

A breath of fresh air

You’re never too old to build a snowman or have a snowball fight! Get out the sleds and toboggans and put on those boots and mittens. It’s time to lace up your ice skates (or rent them) at indoor skating rinks in Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton, or Plymouth (fmcicesports.com/ rinks). Or enjoy ice skating (and bumper cars!) at The Providence Rink at the BankNewport City Center – twice the size of the Rockefeller Center rink in New York City (theprovidencerink.com). And for outdoor skating with a great view, try Gurney’s Ice Skating Rink in Newport (gurneysresorts.com). Bundle up and get outdoors! “Discover Buzzards Bay” offers an online portal with information about more than 100 public places to walk, bird-watch, kayak/ canoe, fish, snowshoe or cross-country ski (savebuzzardsbay.org/discover). You can find other outdoor recreation spots along the South Coast at thetrustees.org and massaudubon.org, asri.org, riparks. com, or stateparks.com/rhode_island.

Find out what’s happening at the Lloyd Center for the Environment in Dartmouth (lloydcenter.org) or wander through Parsons Reserve or Paskamansett Woods, operated by the Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust (dnrt.org). Take a free guided Sunday Bird Walk at the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown (normanbirdsanctuary.org).

Day trips for the family

Whether indoors or out, there’s plenty for you and your family to do during school vacation and on weekends this month! Go on a guided Seal Watch boat tour December 4 through April with Save the Bay, departing from Bowen’s Ferry Landing in Newport (savebay.org/ seals), or take the kids to see the Harlem Globetrotters at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence on December 30 – and check out the hockey and basketball games (dunkindonutscenter. com). Delight the family with Cirque Dreams Holidaze December 17-18 at the Providence Performing Arts Center (ppacri.org)!

If you’re in the mood for a quiet afternoon, spend time in the galleries at the RISD Museum – free admission on Sundays (risdmuseum.org). And you can purchase tickets online for the indoor planetarium shows at the Museum of Natural History in Roger Williams Park (provideneri.gov/museum) or explore the Children’s Museum in Providence Tuesday through Saturday (childrenmuseum.org).

Welcome the lights

Don’t let the shortest days of the year keep you indoors! The Annual Festival of Lights at LaSalette Shrine in Attleboro runs through January 2 – more than 300,000 lights illuminating ten acres (lasaletteattleboroshrine.org). You can check out WaterFire in Providence on December 4 (waterfire.org), or you can celebrate the re-opening of Edaville RR in Carver at the Christmas Festival of Lights – take your children on a heated train ride illuminated by 17 million lights throughout the park, Thursday through Sundays, through January 1 (pre-purchased tickets from 2020 will be honored!) (edaville.com). Or else bundle up and enjoy larger-than-life dazzling displays illuminated by 1.5 million lights as you stroll through the Holiday Lights Spectacular at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence on select dates through January 2 (rwpzoo.org/holidaylights).

Old-world holiday charm

Whether it’s your grandmother’s cookie recipes or carols from “the old country,” there’s something special about keeping family traditions alive. You can hear the Vienna Boys Choir in either Plymouth or Providence this year – listen to them perform “Christmas in Vienna” at Plymouth Memorial Hall on December 3, or at the McVinney Auditorium in Providence on December 5 (viennaboyschoir.org). Or listen to a truly inspiring performance of Handel’s “Messiah,” performed by the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra and the Providence Singers on December 12 at the VETS (riphil.org). You can listen to the chamber choir Ensemble Altera perform at Emmanuel Church in Newport on December 3-4 (emmanuelnewport.org). Or you can experience the grandeur of a Christmas choir accompanied by a century-old Casavant pipe organ on December 19 inside the magnificent Saint Anthony of Padua Church in New Bedford (musicatsaintanthonys.org). Or you can experience Christmas music and pageantry from the past, when St. George’s School in Middletown presents its candlelight concert of hand bell choir, lessons and carols on December 10, and the 110th Medieval Christmas Pageant on December 14 (stgeorges.edu/ christmas). And you can shop at a European-style Christmas market on December 11-12

at the 35th Bristol Christmas Festival (christmasbristolri.com or facebook. com/bristolchristmasfestival)!

Magical moments

Let the children experience a magical performance of “The Nutcracker,” a dream-like recreation of an old holiday tale performed by Festival Ballet Providence December 17-24 at the VETS in Providence (festivalballetprovidence. org), or let your them watch the rarelyperformed “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” a one-act children’s opera, December 2-12 at The Little Theatre in Fall River (littletheatre.net). Gather your family together to watch

Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” performed by Trinity Rep in Providence this year – either a live performance on stage through January 2 or live-streamed into your home December 6 to January 6 (trinityrep.com), or go back to holidays past with “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play,” a unique adaptation of the wildly popular holiday movie, performed as a 1940s radio broadcast December 3-12 at the Plymouth Center for the Arts (americanatheatre.org)!

Dive into the New Year

Head for downtown New Bedford on December 31 for “City Celebrates New Year’s Eve”! Fireworks, live music, ice sculptures, dance party, street performers, and more (downtownnb. org, ahanewbedford.org)! Or celebrate a groovy New Year’s Eve with “The 60s” at the District Center for the Arts in Taunton (thedistrictcenterforarts.com)! Then wash away 2021 on New Year’s Day in the chilly waters along the South Coast with a charity Polar Plunge! Brave the frigid waters at Fort Phoenix in Fairhaven (fairhaventours. com), or at Sandy Beach in Fall River, a fundraiser for Forever Paws Animal Shelter (creativeartsnetwork.org). You can help raise money for the Tiverton Library by jumping in at Grinnell’s Beach (tivertonlibrary.org), or fulfill a wish for a sick child at Newport’s Wish Come True Annual Polar Plunge at Easton Beach (awish.org).

ENJOY THE LOCAL HARVEST!

Fill your baskets with local produce, baked goods, and holiday greenery! To find a farm, vineyard or winter farmers market near you, visit semaponline. org, coastalfoodshed. org, farmfreshri.org, or localharvest.org.

BE PREPARED!

Many South Coast venues have successfully reopened, but Covid-19 safety precautions still apply – whenever you’re indoors, wear a mask and keep your distance as much as possible, even if you’re fully vaccinated. Always check the event/attraction’s website for ticket pre-purchase information, last-minute cancellation or scheduling changes, and their refund policy. And remember – if you don’t feel well that day, stay home!