Tree Lighting on Bedford Common

Bedford Common's holiday lights will twinkle and Santa will arrive on Wednesday, December 9.

Children's Librarian Sharon McDonald will set the scene with stories of the season at Old Town Hall, beginning at 6:15 pm. The crowd will gather on the Common at 6:45 to start the countdown and at the stroke of 7, Citizen of the Year Joe Piantedosi will turn on the lights and Santa will arrive aboard a Bedford fire truck. There will be candy canes for everyone and the Coming of Age youth of First Parish will serve hot cocoa will be served in the vestibule of the church during Santa's visit.

Holiday Markets

Winter Market at Emerson Umbrella opens at 1 pm on December 4 and will run through Sunday, December 6. BCA artists Sing Hanson and Mary Johannessen will join painters, poets, printmakers and illustrators, potters, poets, sculptors, furniture and violin makers, fibre artists, ship model builders and guest artists in the Umbrella's seasonal celebration of fine art and craft.

Lexington Arts & Crafts Society's Holiday Market Place 2009 opens at 10 am on Friday, December 4: 10 am in the Parsons Gallery and the Plummer Studio at Lexington Arts and Crafts Society. The LACS sale will continue during regular gallery hours until 3 pm on December 24.

Western Avenue Studios Holiday Open Studio Weekends will take place on December 5 and 6 and December 12 and 13, from noon to 5 pm at 122 Western Avenue near the heart of downtown Lowell. Click to take a short tour of the Western Avenue Studios. Also: The Loading Dock Gallery, a cooperative gallery representing more than 50 members of the Western Avenue Studios Artist Association, presents Winter Lights II, a seasonal four-artist gallery exhibit with a fashion show featuring Ann Lee's jackets on Friday, December 4 at 6 pm, with an artists' reception from 6:30 to 9 pm.

The RISD Alumni Holiday Art Sale sponsored annually by the Rhode Island School of Design will take place from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, December 12 at the Rhode Island Convention Center, One Sabin Street, Providence. Admission: $7; children under 14 and current RISD students with ID: free.

Holiday Concerts in Bedford

Madrigal Nights, an original performance by the BHS Madrigals choral ensemble, will take place at 7:30 pm on  Friday and Saturday, December 4 and 5, in the Lt. Job Lane School Cafeteria, 66 Sweetwater Avenue, Bedford. A dessert reception will follow each performance.

General admission tickets are $5 each. Tickets are available at the Bedford Council on Aging in the Town Center building; Fetch It! at 48 Great Road; in the school offices at Davis, Lane and the John Glenn Middle School, as well as at the door. Call 781-271-1043 for  ticket information.
 
Holiday Sweetswill showcase the brilliance of Christmas bells in the sanctuary of First Parish on the Common when New England Ringers, the Northeast's premier community hand bell ensemble, presents their concert on Saturday, December 5, at 3 pm. Performing familiar and classical works on six octaves of hand bells and seven octaves of chimes, the program features selections from the Nutcracker Suite, unusual arrangements of traditional carols and much more.
 
Proceeds from the concert will benefit First Parish in Bedford. Suggested donations are $20 for adults, $10 for seniors & students, free for children under 12.  First Parish is located at 75 The Great Road in Bedford. Tickets and information are available from the church office (781-275-7994).

Breakfast with Santa & Mrs. Claus
 
Join Santa and Mrs. Claus when they drop in for their annual breakfast with Bedford families, courtesy of the Bedford Rotary Foundation. The festivities will take place on Sunday, December 6, from 8 am to noon at the Bedford High School cafeteria. There will be face painting, professional keepsake photos, a silent auction, crafts, plus a raffle and a few surprises.

Tickets are available from Rotary members, New England Nurseries and the Middlesex Savings Bank. Contact Christine Pinney (781-271-0398) for additional information.

Bedford Artist Exhibits

Brewed Awakenings at 321 Marrett Road, Lexington, will exhibit Judi Babcock's paintings for the month of December.

And, the Bedford Arts and Crafts Society has just hung a new exhibit in the Flint Room on the second floor of Town Center. The show will be up until June, 2010.

Vacation Magic Show

Bedford magician Jeb Brack will present a free magic show for kids of kindergarten age and beyond on Wednesday evening, December 30, at 7 pm in the Meeting Room at the Bedford Library.