Christmas Caroling

Every Christmas Eve, the Hertzler Family and Friends and neighbors gather together and go Christmas Caroling for several hours. Cousins ride with Cousins and everyone piles into different cars and follow the leader~Grandpa Hertzler. We usually go to the same places every year and usually add on a new family. Phil's dad has unusual stamina. The rest of us wear out long before he does. (When he was young, they would drive through the town and sing carols from the back of a truck until 5:00 in the morning. Then they'd go home and milk the cows.) There is one place we go where the dear lady knits cotton washcloths all year long so she can give one to each of us after we are finished singing. We are going to miss caroling with the old crew this year, but are hoping to start a new tradition with Tom's this Sunday night. They are coming over early in the afternoon and we will sing and visit some folks in our neck of the woods and then go visit some folks that they know. We'll still go caroling with the Pa. folks when we are up for Christmas eve. but this year, the trade-off is the joy of being at our own home for Christmas Day.