This Week in Lincolnville: Seasonal Traditions

Sun, 12/21/2025 - 9:32am

Ed O’Brien

A tree full of memories (photo by Ed O’Brien)

The air is freezing, and the wind has been whipping around this old farmhouse recently. The same tall pines and small hill of Frohock Mountain that makes us an unsuitable location for solar panels also generally protects Sleepy Hollow from the worst of the storms. Thanks (allegedly) to my wife’s insistence that the more storm prep we do, the less likely we are to lose power during Friday’s wind driven rains. The lights stayed on, though many in town were not as fortunate.

Hopefully everyone has their power back, and we really need to invest in a generator.

All over town, Christmas lights are shining. Covering eaves, landscaping, and on the Christmas trees in the windows. I sit down to write this just before the sun rises on the shortest day of the year.

Our distant ancestors knew this, and understood that while all was brown and dead outside, warmth and light would eventually return to the land. When the early church needed a date to commemorate the Nativity and the birth of Jesus, which the New Testament does not offer a date for, December 25, when the winter solstice was celebrated in Rome, was selected.

Therefore, our Christmas traditions, new and old, draw from all kinds of sources. The foods we eat, the decorations we put up, the gifts we give.

Is it any wonder that those of us who celebrate become nostalgic at this time of year? Our Christmas traditions tend to draw from our families, and our cultural origins. I look at the Christmas Tree in our living room, and I see the story of our family hanging on the boughs of the pine which grew to a rather impressive height in Don French’s field.

Ornaments given to us during our first Christmas as a married couple, creations made in primary school or at the UCC Children’s church. The figure of a cartoon character beloved by my son during his months in the hospital, the ornament purchased during his Make-a-Wish Trip at Disney. Old photos and videos of our little family decorating past trees that always surface this time of year.

Then there are the memories of our own childhood Christmases. Going out with my dad into the back field to find the perfect tree- which in old photos always looks a little on the Charlie Brown side, but we loved them. Waiting upstairs Christmas morning with my brothers, trying to catch a glimpse of what might have appeared under the tree overnight, by way of the vent over the living room, in the upstairs hallway. Would that my dad hurry up and milk the cow, and my uncle and grandfather make their way from Camden, so we could see if those stockings which were hung with care over the old stove in the front room had been filled?

So many people long gone.

That front room. Where my grandfather passed. Where many years later my father peacefully left this world, surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren. Where in my family memory, a wedding was held, my older brother and I apparently witnesses, bundled in sleeping bags on the floor. Who knows what else that room has seen over the last 150 years?

Last night, several of my daughter’s friends came by, before heading off to the Camden Hills hockey game. Young adults making their first steps into the world. After being given a tour of the entirety of the old place, one approached me, herself from an old Lincolnville family, and commented on that front room. The presence she felt there- not bad or frightening, but just, well present.

Of course. It is the room in this house most strongly associated with joy and sorrow. Previously my father’s den, lined with his books, reminders of his teaching days, the gun case in the corner holding his hunting rifles and shotguns. It is now my mother’s place, and while reminders of my father’s presence remain, the gun case now holds dolls, and there is a wall of photos- the strong women that influenced my mother through her long life, now mostly gone as well.

December 24, as it has for so many years, the mantel over that old Franklin stove will be hung with stockings- with care. Christmas morning will dawn, and they will be filled. Then the room itself will be filled to capacity with family and laughter. Adding to whatever presence may linger there.

Library Happenings:

The needleworkers will meet from 3 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, and the library will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday for the Christmas holiday. Now is a great time to make a tax free donation to the Library, to support their programming and presence as a center of the community.

On that note here are so many organizations in need should you be feeling generous this time of year. Personally, I find that one of my favorite gifts to give my children every year is a donation to a local charity that holds special meaning to each of them.

Christmas Eve Service:

Join the Lincolnville UCC for its Christmas Eve candlelit service at 18 Searsmont Road at 4 p.m., though I strongly suggest getting there a little early. Enjoy a nativity play, readings, and carols, culminating with the old sanctuary lit up with individually held candles, one of the most stunning sights, and one that will always mean Christmas in Lincolnville to me. All are welcome.

Okay Lincolnville, the light of the shortest day is starting to dawn, and a light icy rain taps on the skylights of the barn roof above me. As always, remember there is light in darkness. Be generous, be kind, find joy. Reach out at ceobrien246@gmail.com.

Municipal Calendar:

Monday, December 22

Select Board Meeting, 6 p.m., Town Office

Tuesday, December 23

Library open 3-6 p.m. 208 Main Street

AA Meeting 12:15 p.m., Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road

Wednesday, December 24

Christmas Eve, Town Office closing at noon

UCC Christmas Eve Service, 4 p.m., 18 Searsmont Road

Thursday, December 25

Christmas Day, Town Office closed

Friday, December 26