NEWTON GROVE — None of us were around when the Archibald Monk house was built about 1830 nor do we remember the Christmas celebrations that house could have seen back then. But it was the dream of Jo Anne Fields and Sue Britt to see an old tradition come back to life.

The Newton Grove Area Committee of 100 is sponsoring an old-timey Christmas at the Archibald Monk Museum ,located adjacent to Weeks Park in the town. The tours and festivities will begin at 6 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. starting on Sunday, Dec. 6 and going through Wednesday, Dec. 9. The event is free to the public.

Fields said the last celebration was held in 1999. “The children just don’t know about the way Christmas was celebrated a long time ago. We did this some time back and we felt our children needed to know about the focus of Christmas, where times were tough and things were not like today. We knew we could not do this by ourselves so we decided to go to our community churches and ask them to participate.”

A total of nine churches will help host the celebration, performing at different times throughout the four-day event. Britt and Fields are co-chairwomen of the celebration and said they were excited that the churches have agreed to help provide the manpower to pull off the celebration.

“A different group of churches will be performing each evening, providing music on the porches of the Monk house while other members will be directing tours through the house explaining what is being depicted. The last stop will be to go into the detached kitchen where old-timey refreshments will be provided,” explained Britt.

“I am looking forward to some real old time tea cakes,” she exclaimed.

Churches participating include Newton Grove Baptist, Goshen Methodist, Maple Grove, Newton Grove Methodist, Cedar Point, Oak Grove Baptist, St. Paul Baptist, Randall’s Chapel and Unity Presbyterian. The churches will also be hold a live nativity each evening in addition to the tours.

“We were hoping to get the whole community involved, and so many of the citizens of Newton Grove would like to see the museum opened more often. We are so thankful to the Committee of 100 for giving us their support in getting this accomplished for the Christmas season,” commented Britt.

There are two bedrooms, a parlor and a long hall that will be decorated disclosed Fields. “We have asked several businesses and people to help contribute to authentic period decorations for the house. Hopefully we will be able to remind the citizens of Newton Grove and the area that Christ is the reason for Christmas. That is why I wanted to do this so badly.”

There are three structures that comprise the museum, the Archibald Monk House, the kitchen donated by Zella King, that helps provide a more authentic representation as houses during the time period had detached kitchens for fire safety purposes. A two-story log building was give by Naomi Weeks and is planned to be used for a agricultural museum. The land for the museum was donated by Mr. and Mrs. A. W. Weeks. The buildings have been restored to their original conditions and offer a wonderful experience for anyone interested in history shared Britt.

“We are hoping that the community will come out for this event and that they will be blessed by the experience of an old-timey Christmas,” concluded Fields.

The tours, music and live nativity will run from 6 to 8 p.m., nightly, Sunday, Dec. 6 through Wednesday, Dec. 9 and is free to the public.

To contact Billy Todd, call 910-592-8137 ext. 117 or e-mail sigeneral@myclintonnc.com.