Belsnickel made an appearance at Christmas on the Farm at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center in Kutztown on Dec. 3.
Bearing gifts for the good and a switch for the bad, the Pennsylvanian Dutch Christmas figure reminded the young and old that they better be good.
The Belsnickel was just one PA German Christmas tradition shared at the Heritage Center’s celebration of the holiday season. The Heritage Center’s annual Christmas on the Farm also featured PA Dutch folk life demonstrations, live animals, kid’s activities, food, music and crafts.
The Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen showed guests traditional crafts of the PA Germans throughout the site. Local artisans and crafts people displayed their created work. There was a children’s craft tent to encourage their own holiday creativity. Also, attendees could make Christmas cards with Dave Hoffman and Fleetwood author Dori Hoch shared her children’s book “Bunny Brothers’ Christmas.”
Historical and cultural live demonstrations included blacksmithing, hearth cooking, tinsmithing, and fraktur work. Terry Berger baked PA German sweets like Ox Tongue Cookies and Moravian Sugarcake.
The Old Time Plow Boys Club offered food and drinks, while local Girl Scout troop members helped attendees make S’mores over a fire.
Musical entertainment included harp music by Sarajane Williams in the Sharadin farmhouse, Keith Brintzenhoff performing in the schoolhouse, and selections by the Reading Leiderkrantz singers.
For more information about the Heritage Center, visit www.kutztown.edu/pgchc, or call 610-683-1589. Find PGCHC on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and TripAdvisor.
