Picture this: it’s Christmas Eve. Snow is hopefully (but not likely) falling softly outside, lights are twinkling on the tree, cinnamon and chocolate waft through the air and suddenly, harking from the HI-FI speakers, you hear a familiar gravelly voice that shakes the tinsel, rattles the ornaments and rolls a parade of jingle-janglin’ good times into the mix.
That’s right — Happy Holidays, Billy Idol’s 15-track Christmas basharole is here, bursting with festive flavor to add a dash of rebel Yule spice to your holiday soundtrack.
Don’t let Billy’s brand of swagger fool you; he clearly knows how to balance naughty and nice.
From the opening riffs of “Jingle Bell Rock,” Billy slaps on a red leather jacket, revs up the reindeer and tears straight into a festive fireball of tunes so good it’ll convince Santa to ditch his sleigh for a Harley and Rudolph for a Les Paul.
His rendition of “Winter Wonderland” drops a punky-honky-tonky twist onto the fire, while the vintage chops of “Let It Snow” has holiday dive-bar party vibes.
With a magical high-hat of old-fashioned fun, “Frosty the Snowman” taps onto the set with a version so cool you’ll melt, and his warm and cozy rendition of “Silent Night” is a pure crooning classic.
For those used to holiday sonic stockings filled with Mariah Carey’s high notes and Nat King Cole’s roasted chestnuts, Happy Holidays is no lump of coal. It’s got attitude, charm and enough pick-up to provide a festive free ride over the hills and through the woods with something in the trunk for everyone.
– Chris Rucker
From New York Times bestselling author Charles King comes the moving, true story behind one of the best-known pieces of music ever written: Handel’s Messiah.
It’s time for twinkling lights, joyous music and winter wonderlands in Columbia County:
Grovetown
The twilight parade begins at 6 p.m. at Harlem City Park and follows West Milledgeville Road and North Louisville Street to West Forrest Street, where the tree lighting ceremony starts about 6:45 p.m., or whenever the parade ends, on the library lawn. 
Christmas music and the holiday season go together like Santa and his reindeer, and the Augusta Symphony will present two holiday performances this month. 
New York Times bestselling author Tieghan Gerard has been busier than ever. In her fourth cookbook, Half Baked Harvest Quick & Cozy, she returns with a collection of more than 120 soul-warming recipes that use simple ingredients and are easy to get on the table — dishes short on time yet big on flavor.
It’s time for ice skating and light displays, fair food concessions and a fire pit.
Tickets, which include skate rentals and unlimited rink time, are $14 on weekdays and $17 on weekends and holidays. Season passes cost $140 per person, but avid skaters should get them early. “We sell out of season passes every year,” Boerner says.
A tent with seating for 24 guests also will be available to rent for private parties in two-hour time slots. Hosts must provide their own food and beverages, and ice skating tickets are not included in the tent rental.
Love, hope, provision, benevolence and the strength of community have been on the hearts of many as we navigate a new normal and the undoing of our landscapes and livelihoods after Hurricane Helene. Humanity, at its purest and most vulnerable state, was tested and strengthened overnight with a continuous outpouring of unconditional love.
