Lumpkin Baptist Church Youth Choir perform at Yule Log Ceremony, December 4, 1999. Photo: Mike Haskey
Westville Yule Log Ceremony
This event traditionally opens the Christmas season
at Westville Village, a collection of restored antebellum buildings
and artifacts near Lumpkin, Georgia. Westville, billed as "a
working 1850 town," is peopled by local craftsmen practicing
blacksmithing, pottery, basket-making, spinning, weaving, farming,
fireplace cooking, candle-making, lye soap making, and other
crafts. The yule log ceremony is a blend of nineteenth century
church rituals and plantation customs, featuring a hunt for the
log, hanging of the greens, choral music, lighting of the log,
passing of the touch of peace, a wassail bowl, and the procession
of the greens. The ceremony is documented in text and photographs
and in the book
The Magic and Mystery of Westville.
Originally submitted by: Paul Coverdell, Senator.
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