By Alexandra Pecci
Correspondent

You don’t need to be Scrooge to visit Christmas past.
This year’s Candlelight Stroll at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth is celebrating “Visions of Winters Past,” with more than 200 years of holiday traditions on the historic grounds.

Over the first three weekends in December, the 10-acre museum site will be transformed to reflect what the evening of Dec. 25 might have looked liked throughout history. Seven of the museum’s historic houses will be decorated in the style and traditions of a particular year, with costumed role players inviting visitors into their homes to celebrate.

“It will be different time periods in each of the houses,” said Amy Moy, director of marketing and communications. “It’s an excellent way for people to come through and see four centuries of American life on this one day and time that’s depicted.”

“We have such a different view today of what Christmas is,” Moy said.
Now it’s all about Christmas trees and shopping, she said, but at Strawbery Banke, “only five of the historic houses here would have even had Christmas trees.”

In the Chase House, the year is 1818, and the family is throwing a winter soiree, complete with entertainment in the formal parlor. It’s 1919 in the Shapiro House, and the family is getting ready for a Hanukkah party.
The Shapley-Drisco House is divided in two, depicting Christmases that were separated by 200 years.

“It’s a house that’s intentionally divided to show two vastly different time periods,” Moy said. On one side it’s 1795 and the Shapley sisters are preparing for a holiday gathering. Across the hall, it’s 1955.

“You’ll see the pink-tinseled Christmas trees and aluminum tables,” Moy said. Plus, the Drisco girls will be having a slumber party.

Moy said the Candlelight Stroll is not a traditional museum experience where kids are just dragged through and can’t touch anything. Visitors are encouraged to interact with and ask questions of the costumed role-players, who depict characters based on the real-life people who lived in the homes.

Don’t be surprised, however, if you get some raised eyebrows and questioning looks if you mention a new-fangled invention like a car to the Chase family, for example. The role players will stay in character to tell you about their lives and traditions.

In addition to the scenes in historic homes, the Candlelight Stroll will include horse-drawn carriage rides, learning about and making traditional crafts and decorations, roasting chestnuts, and a Candlelight Kids’ Treasure Hunt. There is live music, hot cider, and doughnuts in the cider shed. St. Nicholas also will be making an appearance, looking very different from our modern Coca-Cola Santa Claus.

There’s also the annual gingerbread house contest in the Cater Collections Center, which Moy said is a highlight every year.

“They bring in these amazing confections. It’s an incredible sight to see how creative people can be with gingerbread and icing and gumdrops,” she said.
This year is the 30th anniversary of the stroll and Moy said Strawbery Banke is working to make it bigger and better than ever, incorporating as many historic traditions as possible.

She also said the stroll is a great chance to “make an evening of it,” thanks to a free trolley that zips visitors throughout sites in Portsmouth, allowing them to park conveniently, get dinner, check out downtown, and visit Strawbery Banke, which will be lit up with candles along all of its walkways and bustling with holiday revelers.

“It’s quite magical,” Moy said.

HISTORIC HOUSES
ALDRICH HOUSE : 1908, A Colonial Revival Christmas. The boyhood home of the writer Thomas Bailey Aldrich is decorated in a fanciful vision of a Colonial Revival Christmas.
CHASE HOUSE : 1818, The Soiree. Guests are invited to join in the Chase family’s winter soiree with entertainment in the formal parlor.
GOODWIN MANSION : 1870. A Victorian Christmas. Mrs Goodwin and her grand children welcome visitors into their beautifully decorated Victorian home.
MARDEN-ABBOTT HOUSE & STORE : 1943, Christmas Dinner. Join members of the Abbott family as they prepare for Christmas dinner and visit the 1940s Abbott Store next door to purchase period candy.
SHAPIRO: 1919, The Party. It’s Hanukkah, and the Shapiro family prepares to host a party for friends and neighbors.
SHAPLEY-DRISCO HOUSE: 1795, Getting Ready for a Holiday Gathering. The Shapley sisters eagerly prepare for to attend a holiday gathering. AND 1955 Sleepover – Peek in at the Christmas slumber party the teenagers are having in the Drisco House this year.
WALSH HOUSE : 1800, Welcome Home. The Walsh family celebrates the return of their son, Keyran Walsh Jr., from his first long sea voyage.

If you go
What: Candlelight Stroll.
When: Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 5 and 6, 12 and 13, and 19 and 20 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Where: Strawbery Banke Museum, 14 Hancock St., Portsmouth.
How: Tickets are $20 for adults. Kids ages 5 to 17, $10. Kids 4 and under, free. Family rate is $40. Check out the Web site for advance ticket discounts. Learn more www.strawberybanke.org/candlelight-stroll or 603-433-1100.