Getting ready for Christmas

 Saving Christmas

The final performance of Saving Christmas will be on Saturday (Dec 14) at the former Ritz Theater (now Truth Bible Church). The admission price is $8.00 and the show begins at 7:00. The play is a musical written by local author Peter Schulenburg.

The story begins with three people arguing about whether Santa is real. They decide to find out by traveling to the North Pole. The action starts off stage as the three travelers sing about being lost in the snow.

But then they see a light and discover Santa's workshop.

They get to meet the elves at the workshop. Different elves inform Santa of two crises. One elf tells him about a boy in a town called Rensselaer who no longer believes in Santa and urges him to show himself to stop "claustrophobia" from spreading. The other, the North Pole Inventory Control Elf or N.I.C.E, informs Santa that work is behind schedule and Christmas needs to be postponed two days.

The explorers save the day by volunteering to help in the workshop making toys.  When the toys are finished, they have to be wrapped. All of these events are celebrated in songs. Some of the tunes are familiar Christmas songs with new words to fit the plot.

Gifts wrapped, they are then loaded into the sleigh.

The presents do not all fit into the sleigh, so a backup sleight must be added, and it takes the three explorers back to where they came from, a town called Rensselaer.

Below is the curtain call, sans curtain.

The play was a lot of fun. It lasted almost exactly an hour. It had two acts, but no intermission between acts. It was a very good community-theater play. 

One of the things that makes the play so enjoyable is the fun the cast has. They love to act and be on stage. There was a very respectable sized crowd on Friday night. 

City Hall

The offices in City Hall had a decorating contest. Below are pictures from the Clerk/Treasurer side of City Hall, where few people ever venture.

The front door to City Hall now has power-door openers recently installed to make the building ADA compliant. Pushing the button opens both doors.

Other

With the help of a façade grant, the old carriage house in the alley behind Fenwick's is being remodeled.

I tried to find out a bit about the history of this building but could not find much. It was once a warehouse. I do not know why it is called the carriage house.