| February 6, 2017 -- Feb 9: “Be My Valentine” Program: Jim Lamoureux, Ref: Marcia
Feb 23: “71st Anniversary of Iwo Jima” Program: Jim Ref: Janet
Meetings in December: December 8: A “Christmas Program” on the Puritan’s of New England and specifically those in and around Guilford was presented by Mike McBride of Guilford’s Henry Whitfield Museum’s 1639 Stone House. The Stone House is the oldest house in Connecticut and the oldest stone house in New England. The Puritans were originally from England and they got the name Puritans because they wanted to create a more “purer” religion and adherence to the Bible. This had started in the 1500’s and thus decided to set out to the New World in 1600’s to live out their faith and way of life. The Pilgrims were Puritan separatists from the Church of England. They did not celebrate Christmas because there is no mention of it in the Bible. In the 1650’s you could be fined a few shillings if you celebrated Christmas in the Puritan Colony. The Puritan concept of Christmas continued into the 1800’s. As more immigrants populated New England they brought with them celebrations of Christmas. Christmas cards started appear in the 1840’s in England and the 1850’s in America. Christmas trees were part of Northern Europeans celebrations appeared in America after the Civil War. |
