Holidays on the Hill

Make McDaniel College part of your holidays this year. Enjoy a light show synchronized to music at the stadium, shop for gifts at the art club’s art fair or from librarian Jane Sharpe’s book gift list and take in a concert or two or even all six.

• As part of McDaniel College’s 150th anniversary celebration, the College hosts a drive-in light display at Kenneth R. Gill Stadium that is synchronized to music throughout the holiday season. The inaugural Holiday Light Show is free and open to the public. 

This approximately 15-minute show features nearly 5,000 red, green and multicolored lights and is choreographed to holiday music, including “Feliz Navidad” and “Let It Go” from “Frozen,” as well as the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s “Carol of the Bells” and “Nut Rocker.” Visitors can tune into 96.5 FM on their car radios to hear the music.  

• Ars Nova, the art club at McDaniel College, hosts a student-run art fair with holiday gifts available for purchase, as well as craft activities. The event in Hill Hall is open to the public. 

Inexpensive holiday gifts created by McDaniel students will be for sale to benefit Ars Nova. Items include tie-dyed T-shirts, hand-painted mugs and coasters, bookmarks, watercolor drawings, Hogwarts acceptance letters (“Harry Potter”), Lightsaber pencils (“Star Wars”) and potted Groots (“Guardians of the Galaxy”). Prices range from $1 to $10 per item. 

Attendees also can make dreamcatchers ($5), have Henna art applied ($5) and participate in a “The Princess Diaries” balloon art activity ($2). In addition, the event includes a taco bar with food available for purchase for $8 (free for McDaniel students with ID).

• Jane Sharpe, associate librarian emerita at McDaniel College, provides advice on the best books to give as holiday gifts from her 26th annual “Books Sandwiched In.” During the hour-long session Nov. 16, Sharpe recommended more than 20 fiction and non-fiction titles for children and adults, including cookbooks, biographies and picture books. (See her list of books at the end of this story.) 

• Take in a concert — African percussion, college choir, gospel choir, jazz ensemble and band are all performing.

     - Premiere performance of the African Percussion Ensemble on Nov. 30 at 7 p.m. in Decker Center Forum

     - College Choir performs “Musical Legacies,” in celebration of the College’s 150th anniversary on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. in Baker Memorial Chapel.

     - Jazz Ensemble performs classic big band, swing, bebop, Latin, funk, jazz-rock and classic blues on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. in Decker Center Forum.

     - College Band in concert with classical to pops on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. in WMC Alumni Hall.

     - Westminster Symphony Orchestra, with McDaniel and Carroll Community College students & community musicians, on Dec. 9 at 3 p.m. in WMC Alumni Hall.

     - Gospel Choir sings “Saved, Healed, Delivered!” spirituals and traditional and contemporary gospel music on Dec. 10 at 3 p.m. in WMC Alumni Hall.

Jane Sharpe’s Book Gift List:

• “Origin” by Dan Brown

• “A Column of Fire” by Ken Follett

• “The Weight of Ink” by Rachel Kadish

• “The Life She was Given” by Ellen Marie Wiseman

• “The Secret, Book & Scone Society” by Ellery Adams

• “The Noel Diary” by Richard Paul Evans

• “Mr. Dickens and his Carol: A Novel of Christmas Past” by Samantha Silva

• “12 Days at Bleakly Manor (Once Upon a Dickens Christmas Book One)

• “Leonardo da Vinci” by Walter Isaacson

• “Ali: A Life” by Jonathan Eig

• “Sisters First: Stories from our Wild and Wonderful Life” by Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush Pierce

• “Killing England: The Brutal Struggle for American Independence” by Bill O’Reilly with Martin Dugard

• “The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For” by David McCullough

• “The Last Castle: The Epic Story of Love, Loss & American Royalty in the Nation’s Largest House” by Denise Kiernan

• “The Appalachian Trail: Hiking the People’s Path” by Bart Smith (Photographer)

• “You Don’t Look Your Age…and Other Fairy Tales” by Sheila Nevins

• “The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Come and Get It” by Ree Drummond

• “Celebrating Every Season with Six Sisters’ Stuff” by Six Sisters’ Stuff

• “Everything I Need to Know About Family I Learned from a Little Golden Book” by Diane Muldrow

• “A Christmas Carol: A Seek & Find Classics Book” by Charles Dickens, retold by Sarah Powell and illustrated by Louise Piggott

• “Runny Babbit Returns: Another Billy Sook” by Shel Silverstein

• “The Castle in the Mist” by Amy Ephron

• “Mr. Lemoncello’s Great Library Race” by Chris Grabenstein

• “The Babysitters’ Club: Dawn and the Impossible Three” by Amy M. Martin

• “I Am Sacagawea” by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoules

• “Real or Fake 2?” by Emily Kreiger

• “Inside Out T-Rex” by Dennis Schatz

• “Lucky to Live in Maryland” by Kate B. Jerome

• “Blue Sky White Stars” by Sarvinder Naberhaus and illustrated by Kadir Nelson

• “Surfer Dude: The Legendary Stallion of Chincoteague” by Lois Szymanski

• “Oliver’s Travels” by Carolyn Seabolt

• “The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors” by Drew Daywalt and illustrated by Adam Rex

• “Give Me Back My Book” by Travis Foster and Ethan Long

• “The Mermaid” by Jan Brett

• “My Little World Touch and Feel: A Fun-filled Book of Learning” by Little Tiger Press

• “Touch and Feel Winter” by Scholastic

• “Santa’s Sleigh” by Annie Auerbach and illustrated by Robert Pagnoni