Asphodel-Norwood’s Christmas spirit was on full display last Sunday at the annual Community Carol Service, a treasured part of the village’s festivities for nearly 50 years.

In mid-October, the call is put out for volunteers who would like to participate in the choir. This is followed by eight weeks of practice and culminates in a choral celebration of the season for a packed venue.

The format usually includes a mix of traditional and modern carols, some sung by the choir only while some of the more well-known numbers have the audience joining in. Short scripture readings are intermixed throughout the presentation. In recent years, the evening has also included wonderful performances by the children’s choir from St. Paul’s Elementary School.

Norwood has always celebrated the holidays in some fashion. Indeed, many of the annual Christmas traditions can find their earliest beginnings in the village’s historical past.

In those early days of village life back in the 1820s and 1830s, Christmas celebrations would have been considerably simpler than what we are used to today. Most of the early settlers were men and woman of strong Christian faith, so a time of worship, prayer and reflection would have been at the forefront of their Christmas activities.

Dedicated church buildings and even ministers were scarce at the time, so their devotions would have been held in a settler’s home, usually with other like-minded families. In similar fashion to modern times, a........

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