Buxton lit its Christmas tree Sunday evening at Tory Hill Church and then 80 people gathered inside for refreshments and the annual presentation of “The Old Peabody Pew.”
Carolers sang at the tree lighting at 6:15 p.m. on the church lawn across from the Royal Brewster mansion at the intersection of routes 202 and 112. The 20-foot living tree has 1,700 Christmas bulbs. Pat and Erwin Wales donated the tree to the community four years ago.
“It’s a beautiful tree loaded with lights,” said Beverly Atkinson, a member of the Dorcas Society of Buxton and Hollis.
After ceremonies outside in the evening chill, festivities continued inside the church, which is decorated for the season. Atkinson and Sharon House provided the usual holiday treat of cookies along with hot and cold cider for the holiday gathering.
Carla Turner, president of the society, led caroling at 7 p.m. inside the church.
The play, written by Kate Douglas Wiggin, was first produced by the Dorcas Society of Buxton and Hollis in 1918. In recent years, it has been presented during the Christmas season and has become a holiday tradition at the Tory Hill Church.
Kathy Miles directed the play this year. Others who performed include Timothy Cook, male lead; Lyn Cummings, female lead; Teivy Manuel, the reader; and Carolyn Vail, Linda Caouette, Jane Piecuch, Jan Flint, Barbara Cole, Susan Williams, and House, cast members.
Wiggin adapted the play, which is a Christmas romance, from her book by the same title. The author, who spent summers at her residence, Quilcote, in nearby Hollis, created the play as an original with the Tory Hill Church as the setting. Wiggin later added a part in the play, as a birthday present for a neighbor’s daughter, who was named in her honor.
Although well attended, “The Old Peabody Pew” didn’t play to a full house in the church, which is usually packed, this year. Atkinson thought that the wintry evening and traveling conditions discouraged some people. “It might have been cold and a little slippery,” Atkinson said.
The Dorcas Society sold a few more of their 2005-2006 calendars at the event. The calendar, featuring members of the Dorcas Society, was modeled after a calendar in the movie “Calendar Girls.”
In 1897, Wiggin founded the Dorcas Society, which does community charitable work. A childrens’ author, she also was a leader in the movement that introduced kindergarten to American education.
Wiggin died in 1923 and the play was not presented that year.
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