Step into Christmas Eve, 1894, at Lawrence House

Lawrence House Museum will be all dressed up for Christmas Eve, 1894, when it opens as part of the eighth annual Maitland Christmas Festival. The Hants County event runs from Friday, Nov. 29 to Sunday, Dec. 1.

Lawrence House Museum is one of three historic houses in Maitland featured in a self-guided tour that also includes Whidden House and the manse of St. David's United Church. Two local churches will also be decorated and open during tour times.

In 1894, the Lawrences' were celebrating the birth of William D. Lawrence's granddaughter, Abby, who would later turn the family home into a museum.

The museum will feature typical holiday decorations such as a kissing ball, seen in homes in rural Nova Scotia in the late 1800s and other festive items such as Sicilian-style Christmas wreaths and a table centrepiece decorated with fruit, animals and ribbon.

Visitors will be welcomed by costumed interpreters and treated to the sounds of traditional Christmas carols and hymns. The Christmas display includes early holiday postcards received by the Lawrence family. Traditional Christmas cookies from countries of the world visited by the Lawrence ships will be served.

Tickets are $9 each, which includes admission to all three houses. They can be purchased at MacQuarrie's Pharmasave locations on the Esplanade, Truro and in Brookfield, at Collins Country Store, South Maitland, and at Frieze and Roy General Store, Maitland.

Lawrence House Museum, part of the Nova Scotia Museum, is located at 8660 Highway 215 in Maitland. Its regular season is June 1 to Oct. 15. The museum is pleased to be a community partner in this annual special event, which is organized by the Maitland and District Development Association.

The festival hours of operation are: Friday, Nov. 29, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 30, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 1 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

More information on activities during the Maitland Christmas Festival, including the holiday house tours, special suppers and teas, Christmas displays and a Christmas craft fair, is available by calling June Duckenfield at 902-261-2102.