Community invited (free) to unique show on Sunday, Dec. 7

Adults and children of all ages are invited to join Foxcroft School students in celebrating the holiday season Sunday, Dec. 7, with a spectacular Christmas Pageant, followed by a visit from Santa Claus, on the Middleburg, Va., campus of the School. To accommodate the event's popularity in recent years, Foxcroft will present two public performances, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., in FoxHound Auditorium in the School's main building.

Foxcroft's pageant is a tradition that was started by Charlotte Haxall Noland, the founder of the School, nearly 100 years ago. Each December, Foxcroft's new students and Chorale present the nativity story as a gift to the community. Miss Noland's script includes several characters you won't find in the Bible and provides a musical and visual treat -- complete with live animals. This year, goats and bunnies will be featured, along with non-stop Christmas music and beautiful costumes that have been part of the show for decades. Karin Thorndike, a Fine Arts teacher at Foxcroft, directs the performance, assisted by Fine Arts Department Chair Robyn Yovanovich and other faculty members.

Following the Pageant, Santa Claus will give the children in the audience gifts that have been prepared by Foxcroft students. The pageant is the culmination of a weekend devoted to community outreach and holiday activities at the School. Last, year, the girls decorated scores of Christmas wreaths for residents of Loudoun Hospital and Goodwin House; filled care baskets for needy families and boxes of supplies for Middleburg Humane, wrapped more than 250 gifts for local children, created a float for the Middleburg Christmas Parade, and went Christmas caroling on horseback.

The highlight of the weekend, however, is the Pageant and all are invited! Foxcroft is located on Foxcroft Road (Route 626), four miles north of the center of Middleburg. For more information, call 540.687.5555.