The Historical Society of Rockland County has set its holiday season at the Jacob Blauvelt House in New City, and the first program on the calendar is one Rockland families have been booking since 1961: St. Nicholas Day, on Saturday, December 5, and Sunday, December 6. Two weekends of candlelight tours follow, and reservations for both are open now, with a mail-in deadline of Wednesday, November 25.

The Blauvelt House is an 1832 farmhouse on Zukor Road that stands on the society's four-acre headquarters, beside its history museum. Each December the society turns it back toward the Dutch American household it was built for, using the customs that Rockland's early Dutch families brought to the holidays.

St. Nicholas Day, December 5 and 6

St. Nicholas Day follows the Dutch tradition of the saint's feast in early December, when children leave out their shoes and find them filled with treats. At the Blauvelt House, children meet St. Nicholas and his horse, hear stories, have holiday refreshments, and each one goes home with a treat placed in his or her shoe.

Programs run four times each day, at 10:30 a.m., noon, 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., and each lasts 45 minutes. Admission is $5 a person, for children and adults alike. The society says the sessions fill quickly, keeps a waiting list once they do, and refunds a ticket only if the spot can be filled by someone else.

Candlelight Tours, December 12, 13 and 19

The evening tours show the farmhouse lit by candles and lanterns, dressed in greenery and scented with traditional sweets, with nineteenth-century music and song and seasonal refreshments. The theme is the Dutch American holidays of the 1830s, the decade the house was built.

  • Saturday, December 12: 5, 6 and 7 p.m.
  • Sunday, December 13: 5 and 6:15 p.m.
  • Saturday, December 19: 5, 6 and 7 p.m.

Each tour lasts 40 minutes. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for society members and seniors, and $5 for children. Children 5 and under are free, but they must be carried inside the house. Every tour ticket also includes admission to the society's 50th Annual Holiday Exhibition in the museum next door. Groups of 10 to 15 can book a tour by arrangement with the society.

How to reserve

All reservations are prepaid and space is limited. There are two ways to book: online through the Eventbrite links on the society's website, or by downloading the registration form, filling it out and mailing it with payment to the Historical Society of Rockland County, 20 Zukor Road, New City, NY 10956, so that it arrives by November 25. The society's phone number is 845-634-9629, and its email is info@rocklandhistory.org.

More from the society this season

The same calendar includes A Colonial Christmas at the Reformed Church of Tappan on Sunday, December 20, a free afternoon of readings and carols that also requires a reservation. Through November, the society's Orangetown Museum has an exhibition on the town's 1976 Bicentennial on view Sundays at 1 p.m. and Tuesdays at 10 a.m.

Getting there

The Jacob Blauvelt House and the society's museum are at 20 Zukor Road in New City, in the Town of Clarkstown, next to Zukor Park. The society's research library and offices there are open by appointment, at 845-634-9629.

St. Nicholas Day: December 5 and 6, at 10:30 a.m., noon, 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., $5. Candlelight Tours: December 12, 13 and 19, $15 adults, $10 members and seniors, $5 children. Both at the Jacob Blauvelt House, 20 Zukor Road, New City. Prepaid reservations required.

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