Cornwall’s Christmas Pageant tradition

The Annual Christmas Pageant in Cornwall takes place on Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. Jane Prentice, director since 2005, will step down this year after 19 years of directing the pageant.
Lazlo Gyorsok
The Annual Christmas Pageant in Cornwall takes place on Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. Jane Prentice, director since 2005, will step down this year after 19 years of directing the pageant.
CORNWALL — Jane Prentice of Cornwall has directed the Cornwall Christmas Pageant since 2005. This year will mark her nineteenth and final pageant.
She will be turning the role of director over to Katherine Freygang, who is helping her cast this year’s pageant. “It is time for me to pass it along,” said Prentice.
The pageant tells the traditional Christmas story, complete with Mary, Joseph, angels, shepherds, and three kings.
Jane Prentice said they’ve been using the same script since the pageant began. She is not sure how long the pageant has existed, but she has written documentation going back to 1959 and knows that it was going on before that.
Jane took over the directorship from Charlotte Frost in 2005. Charlotte Frost took over from Prentice’s grandmother-in-law, Theodora “Dody” Prentice who, Prentice thinks, took over from Mary Shefflin.
The Christmas Pageant is filled with tradition. “Zejke Herman started as a littlest angel, became a shepherd, king and then narrator – 60 years of involvement,” said Prentice.
“Dody got the job because she had the costumes,” explained Prentice of her grandmother-in-law’s years as director. Those costumes are still in use with some repairs and updates over the years. Prentice said she and others “snatch up things that might fit at Cornwall’s annual rummage sale.”
Casting has gotten harder over the years, she commented. “Demographics and the people who live here have changed. In Charlotte’s day there was a choir at the church, and a children’s choir and the high school had a choir. Now we are a pick-up choir.”
“Before it was kind of like tryouts for the kings and Mary especially. Now it is about trying to fill the cast and find children to fit the parts. It is harder to find people,” explained Prentice. “One year, I called thirty-five men in turn to find the last king.”
“Now we really, really need community to make it happen.”
Added to that is that the parts are sung, so not only does she need someone who fits the role visually, but they have to sing.
Prentice recalled one year that was a disaster. “Mary lost her voice on the day of the pageant. I had to find a new Mary that day.” She added, “Basically it flies by the seat of its pants every year.”
The year of the COVID pandemic, “We did it outside on the front steps of the church. Being outside, we could have Robert the llama from Llama Quilt Farm take part.”
“It was beautiful when it was done. The lighting was great. Luminaries were on the front lawn. It was beautiful.”
She talked about favorite memories. “Something special happens every year.” For instance, one year she remembers “The little angel yawning” in the middle of the pageant.
One year “one of the shepherds had to help a ‘sheep’ (his family’s dog named Minnow dressed in a sheep costume) up the steps,” she said. “He was a Jack Russell, and his legs were too short. He was also elderly.”
Prentice talked about what she will miss about directing the pageant. “I think what I’ll miss is this: When it is all over and everything is cleaned up and everyone’s gone home, I sit in the dark with just the star illuminated, reflecting on how beautiful it is really – even with the disasters.”
This year’s pageant will be on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. with a snow date of Dec. 15, though Prentice said they have only had to cancel for snow twice in all the years of the pageant - once when Theodora Prentice was the director and once Jane herself had to call it off.
The pageant takes place at the United Church of Christ Meeting House at 8 Bolton Hill Rd. Anyone attending is asked to bring a present wrapped in white for children in need.
LAKEVILLE — Barbara Meyers DelPrete, 84, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025, at her home. She was the beloved wife of George R. DelPrete for 62 years.
Mrs. DelPrete was born in Burlington, Iowa, on May 31, 1941, daughter of the late George and Judy Meyers. She lived in California for a time and had been a Lakeville resident for the past 55 years.
Survivors, in addition to her husband, George, include son, George R. DelPrete II, daughter, Jena DelPrete Allee, and son Stephen P. DelPrete. Grandchildren; Trey, Cassidy, and Meredith DelPrete, Jack, Will and Finn Allee, and Ali and Nicholas DelPrete.
A Funeral Mass was held at St. Mary’s Church, Lakeville, on Saturday, Oct. 4. May she Rest in Peace.
Ryan Funeral Home, 255 Main St., Lakeville, is in care of arrangements.
To offer an online condolence, please visit ryanfhct.com
SHARON — Shirley Anne Wilbur Perotti, daughter of George and Mabel (Johnson) Wilbur, the first girl born into the Wilbur family in 65 years, passed away on Oct. 5, 2025, at Noble Horizons.
Shirley was born on Aug. 19, 1948 at Sharon Hospital.
She was raised on her parents’ poultry farm (Odge’s Eggs, Inc.).
After graduating from Housatonic Valley Regional High School, she worked at Litchfield County National Bank and Colonial Bank.
She married the love of her life, John, on Aug. 16, 1969, and they lived on Sharon Mountain for more than 50 years.
Shirley enjoyed creating the annual family Christmas card, which was a coveted keepsake.She also enjoyed having lunch once a month with her best friends, Betty Kowalski, Kathy Ducillo, and Paula Weir.
In addition to John, she is survived by her three children and their families; Sarah Medeiros, her husband, Geoff, and their sons, Nick and Andrew, of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, Shelby Diorio, her husband, Mike, and their daughters, Addie, Lainey and Lyla, of East Canaan, Connecticut,Jeffrey Perotti, his wife, Melissa, and their daughters, Annie, Lucy and Winnie, of East Canaan. Shirley also leaves her two brothers, Edward Wilbur and his wife Joan, and David Wilbur; two nieces, three nephews, and several cousins.
At Shirley’s request, services will be private.
Donations in her memory may be made to the Sharon Woman’s Club Scholarship Fund, PO Box 283, Sharon, CT 06069.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
MILLERTON — Veronica Lee “Ronnie” Silvernale, 78, a lifelong area resident died Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, at Sharon Hospital in Sharon, Connecticut. Mrs. Silvernale had a long career at Noble Horizons in Salisbury, where she served as a respected team leader in housekeeping and laundry services for over eighteen years. She retired in 2012.
Born Oct. 19, 1946, at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, she was the daughter of the late Bradley C. and Sophie (Debrew) Hosier, Sr. Following her graduation from high school and attending college, she married Jack Gerard Silvernale on June 15, 1983 in Millerton, New York. Their marriage lasted thirty-five years until Jack’s passing on July 28, 2018.
Ronnie is survived by her daughter, Jaime Silvernale (Wm. MacDaniel, Sr.) of Millerton, her beloved grandson, Wm. MacDaniel, Jr.; two special nieces, Shannon and Rebecca and a special nephew Sean Hosier. In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by her brother, Bradley C. Hosier, Jr. and her dear friend Ruth Fullerton of Millerton.
Visitation was private. A celebration of Ronnie’s life will be held in the future. Arrangements have been entrusted to the Scott D. Conklin Funeral Home, 37 Park Avenue, Millerton, NY 12546. To send an online condolence to the family or to plant a tree in Ronnie’s memory, please visit www.conklinfuneralhome.com
Christine Gevert, Crescendo’s artistic director, is delighted to announce the start of this musical organization’s 22nd year of operation. The group’s first concert of the season will feature Latin American early chamber music, performed Oct. 18 and 19, on indigenous Andean instruments as well as the virginal, flute, viola and percussion. Gevert will perform at the keyboard, joined by Chilean musicians Gonzalo Cortes and Carlos Boltes on wind and stringed instruments.
This concert, the first in a series of nine, will be held on Oct. 18 at Saint James Place in Great Barrington, and Oct. 19 at Trinity Church in Lakeville.
For those unfamiliar with Crescendo, the award-winning organization was founded in 2003 and brings lesser-known works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods — along with contemporary fusion pieces — to new life. Its performances often blend classical composition with nontraditional instrumentation for a refreshing new take on an established body of work.
Gevert, who is German, Chilean and American, is a conductor, keyboardist and musical scholar. As the multi-national, multi-lingual (German, Spanish and English) creative director, she is a veritable whirlwind of talent, professionalism and inspiration who conceives of new musical treats for her audiences. She also hires and nourishes local talent, sources internationally known vocal and instrumental professionals, and provides her audiences with well-researched program notes for each concert, packaged in lush, full-color programs that resemble illuminated manuscripts.
“It is the excitement about and dedication to the music, along with the prerequisite vocal and instrumental talent, that characterizes a Crescendo member,” said Gevert. “I don’t care about things like how old or young you are or where you’re from — it’s all about bringing these performers together to provide unforgettable musical experiences for its audiences.”
“Traditional audiences for classical music performances tend to skew older,” Gevert continued. “For that reason, I’ve embarked on an effort to reach younger listeners, and have done things like taken a Crescendo choral group to perform at Housatonic Regional High School. I’ve also launched an effort to recruit and train young singers in Baroque singing techniques so they can perform with our existing choral group.”
The upcoming 2025-26 season includes, among other performances, a solo recital and benefit concert on Nov. 22 by the international Baroque opera star and countertenor Nicholas Tamagna. The curated program will include works by Handel, Vivaldi, and Monteverdi.
Two dazzling Christmas concerts follow: on Dec. 6 and 7, Crescendo presents J.S. Bach’s “Sweet Comfort” cantata and Mass in G minor, featuring the full chorus and soloists with a period instrument orchestra. On Dec. 21, the annual Holiday Concert will be presented: “A Tapestry of Traditions: Unraveling the History of Christmas Carols,” with the entire Crescendo vocal ensemble and Gevert on organ.
For the full schedule, concerts details and ticket information, visit: www.crescendomusic.org