Legendary Glen Rock Carolers to publish history
The Glen Rock Carolers plan to update their history this year with publication of a book. Advance order forms for the publication are available at Wetzel’s Market, Peoples Bank, CommunityBanks, the Arthur Hufnagel Public Library or by calling 235-1444.
A group known for their all-night strolling songfests through the streets of Glen Rock plan to publish a 160th anniversary book.
The Glen Rock Carolers Association will incorporate history and pictures from 1972 to the present into previous published work.
Each copy of the book costs $25, and it will be available in November.
York Daily Record/Sunday News photographer Bil Bowden captured the group with his pen in 2005:
Some things everyone should all see: Bryce Canyon, Disney World, a bull moose in the wild, Madame Butterfly, the Lincoln Memorial, New York City at Christmastime, and, of course, the Glen Rock Carolers.
Oh, you say, that’s a bit of a stretch.
But few things in this world shout the spirit of Small Town, America, better than the early hours of Christmas Day with the 50 or so carolers. This Christmas morning they hiked up and down the glens of Glen Rock for the 158th time.
The group warmed up at the Zion Lutheran Church, then headed out exactly at midnight, accompanied by a crowd of more than 400 people. At the evening’s first stop at the American Legion Hall, most of that crowd dropped off. A later stop at the local fire hall further reduced the numbers. And by the time the carolers reached the top of Church Street, stopping for the last time, only about eight or 10 hearty souls — mostly relatives of the carolers — were hanging on.
It was a chilly morning, and some of the men have long ago seen their youth fade, but they were still there along with their sons and grandsons. Walking, laughing and singing.
When the end came about 7 a.m., a smaller crowd had formed at the borough’s Christmas tree for the doxology.
