Carrol
Walker's Old Norfolk
Holidays on the Hague
By Peggy Haile McPhillips
Norfolk City Historian
It was a clear, cold night on the first day of winter,
21 December 1938.
Some 8,000 local residents gathered along the Hague
for the citys first Community Christmas Festival,
made even colder by a brisk wind out of the northwest.
The program featured seven tableaux of the Nativity
by the Old Dominion Guild Players, under the direction
of Mrs. Florian P. Harrington. A chorus of 1,000
voices from the Blair Junior High School chorus
and other local choral groups offered carols and
anthems, including a solo rendition of O Holy
Night by young William Meissel that was a
crowd favorite. The program was preceded by an overture
by the Blair band, under the direction of Mr. Robert
A. Mau. Many of the musicians, as shown here, shivered
under a layer of blankets against the 34 degree
temperature as young fingers struggled to play their
notes.
Norfolk City Manager Charles Borland opened the
festival with the flick of a switch that illuminated
the banks of the Hague and a large Christmas tree
floating in the water on a barge. The Virginian-Pilot
of the following morning declared the festival a
huge success.