Thursday, November 26, 2009 — It is the only place you can take a candlelit tour during the day. Special tours are given by costumed interpreters with the mine illuminated by lanterns and candlelight. much as it would have been when the mine was active.

Tours focus on the miners who were working and how they would have celebrated the holidays, including the Germanic origins of our modern day celebrations.

Enjoy refreshments and cookies provided by the Cabarrus County Extension and Community Association.

For those who simply cannot get enough Christmas music, local choirs will be presenting their programs in the auditorium while craftsmen display their quilting, lace, toy making, and other amazing talents.

This year they will be expanding the event because of their partnership with the Cooperative Christian Ministries to help those in need this holiday season.

On Dec. 11 and 12, 6-8:30p.m. they will have a special reception, including refreshments, hors d'ouevres, a showing of A Garfield Christmas in the auditorium, and special lantern tours around the site and underground mine.

Reservations will be required for evening activities.

All proceeds and food donations will go to help Cooperative Chistian Ministries achieve its mission of providing support for those in need in the local community. Thanks to local sponsors, The Fresh House, The Daily Grind, and Walmart of Locust, this event is free of charge. Please join them to celebrate the Christmas season and lend a hand to those less fortunate this year.

They are now accepting donations for the food pantries provided through Cooperative Christian Ministries. These donations include plastic bags, canned food items, peanut butter rice, or paper towels. For more information on Cooperatve Christian Ministry, or other ways you can help please visit their website: www.cooperativeministry.com.

Why A Golden Christmas?

They believe that people connect with people, as part of their mission that is hat they want to do with a Golden Christmas, both through telling the stories of Eastern Cabarrus residents through the 19th century, as well as by coordinating with Cooperative Christian Ministries to allow the local community to help others in need.

A Golden Christmas provides the opportunity to meet an enertainment/educational need as well as help those in need during difficult economic times.

Often times people want to help, but do not know how, or are unsure where a donation may go. By working with a local organization visitors know their donations are staying in the community. They also strive to provide a quality experience that is affodable to anyone.

A Golden Christmas is free to all visitors, including their lantern/candlelight tour on Dec. 5.

When John Reed arrived in1782 as a Hessian deserter, he found himself at home in a community with a familiar language and customs. Like John Reed, many of our modern American Christmas customs have Germanic origns. The Golden Christmas event allows them the opportunity to connect with their ancestors and discover how Christmas transformed through the years based on interaction with new cultures and traditions; but also how they have remained the same. They will also include Cornish and Scotch Irish traditions, as those cultures made up a large part of the residents in this area at that time. The discovery of gold is the major story at Reed, but is not the only story.

Reed Gold mine is in southeastern Cabarrus County—12 miles southeast of Concord, 25 miles east of Charlotte, and18 miles west of Albemrle. For more information, call (704)-721-4653, or email them at johnreed1799@gmail.com.

Reed Gold Mine will be closed Nov. 26 and 29 for Thanksgiving and Dec. 24, 25 for Christmas.