Christmas Lights, A Nativity Scene, and Christmas Memories

Christmas Lights, A Nativity Scene, and Christmas Memories

By Jack Coll

      Santa Claus arrived at Borough Hall a few weeks back, Santa’s visit to Conshohocken was courtesy of the Conshohocken Ambucs and Bob Moore. Young Bob who runs an automotive repair shop located on Colwell Lane has been friends with Santa for many years.  I believe Bob met Santa some years ago when on Christmas Eve Santa’s sleigh was having mechanical problems and Moore’s garage put Santa back in the air so the jolly fellow could visit 1.6 billion homes all over the world. When Santa arrived at Borough Hall he helped light the borough Christmas tree, a delightful tradition that never gets old.

     Once again the borough had the holiday lights installed all along Fayette Street providing shoppers and residents with the holiday spirit.  Back in the late 1940’s and throughout the 1950’s the Conshohocken Chamber of Commerce would install the lights throughout the business section of Fayette Street, and along Elm and Hector Streets as well.  The Chamber would actually string lights in front of every business from Second Avenue down to the bridge, and charge each and every merchant a fee for the lights.  If the merchant didn’t pay, the lights would be blackened in front of their store, meaning they weren’t in a Christmas holiday mood and in a silent way encouraging shoppers not to stop at that place of business. 

     All good things come to an end, the Conshohocken Chamber later merged with the Valley Forge Chamber, who became the King of Prussia Chamber, who merged with the Philadelphia Chamber, and now it’s just one big happy Chamber, but for many years it left Conshohocken without Christmas lights along Fayette Street.

     In the early 1980’s, that all changed when Jim Flanigan and Chuck Hemcher came to town to open businesses.  At that time I questioned their business savvy, at that time Conshohocken had nothing to offer, as a matter of fact all we had was 25 acres in the lower end of town collecting dust.  There were no buildings, no people, and Conshohocken was light years from becoming a “Hot Spot.”  Very few businesses were opening in Conshohocken back then, and even fewer were opening with any kind of success. 

     Ten years earlier Dom Gambone and Frank Manze took a chance on Conshohocken when they took their life savings and opened the Conshohocken Bakery located on Jones Street, and the residents of Conshohocken have been thankful ever since.   Jim Flanigan opened “Flanigan’s Boathouse” and Chuck Hemcher opened the Great American Pub.

     I’m telling you all of this because these guys came into town, and not only took a chance on Conshohocken but became part of the successful process.  These guys single handily started to dress up lower Fayette Street, it was Hemcher and Flanigan who installed large flower pots along lower Fayette Street, it was Hemcher and Flanigan who insisted on overhead street and pedestrian lights, and it was Hemcher and Flannigan who insisted on restoring the holiday lights.  Conshohocken has had holiday lights on Fayette Street for many years thanks to the Chamber, thanks to tax payer’s dollars, and thanks to early visionaries like Flanigan, Hemcher, Manze and Gambone, and guys who believed in a festive Fayette Street.

     Small town traditions are good for the community, Santa’s arrival, Christmas tree lightings, and Holiday Lights provide a festival atmosphere along Fayette Street.  Perhaps the holiday event I look most forward to is the Live Nativity Scene that’s played out every year at the Conshohocken United Methodist Church located on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Fayette Street.  I have visited the scene, walked past it, or have driven by it every year since 1974, and it never gets old.  The mangier is well lit, very colorful, pleasant characters, and there was a time when they featured live animals.  It turned out that the live animals became a little bit of a problem.  They needed to be fed, they didn’t like standing in one place that long, on occasion they would take it upon themselves to wander away from the mangier, forcing Mary and Joseph to get a babysitter so they could chase the animals down, and on several occasions it was like they knew the camera was on them and they would take that opportunity to relieve themselves one way or the other.

     The Nativity Scene was first staged at the Conshohocken United Methodist Church back in 1957 under the fine leadership of Pastor Paul Chreiman.  More than a half a century has come and gone since that first viewing and for three nights just before Christmas, the corner at Sixth Avenue and Fayette Street will be well lit, thanks to the live nativity scene and thanks to the bright smiles on the faces of the visitors.

     In 1957 when the live nativity scene made its debut, holiday shoppers were spending time on lower Fayette Street looking for holiday gifts at D’Annunzio Brothers Jewelers once located at 40 Fayette Street, Anthony’s Men Shop located at 117 Fayette Street and Flocco’s Shoe Store.  (Yes, Flocco’s was selling shoes in 1957, Flocco’s was founded in 1926, and may we all live to see their 100^th Anniversary in 2026).

     To look good for the holidays perhaps many of the residents stopped at Charles Hair styling then located at 517 Fayette Street, and if all that shopping made you hungry perhaps you would have stopped for a bite to eat at Ralph’s Luncheonette at 131 West Fifth Avenue, or if you were heading back to Connaughtown you just might have stopped at Johnny’s Sandwich Shop once located at 565 Old Elm Street, just across the street from the old Ivy Rock School.

     While the live nativity scene made its debut in 1957, the Conshohocken United Methodist Church made its debut more than a century before that.  The first service conducted by a Methodist preacher in Conshohocken was held in 1848, two years before Conshohocken was incorporated as a borough.  The first service was held under a tree near Marble and Forrest Street by the Rev. Thomas C. Murphy. 

     In 1848 the town of Conshohocken had no Mayor, no governing body, very little law enforcement, and still very few residents.  But the faithful Methodist continued to meet at the old Temperance Hall on Elm Street just above Forrest Street.  They later purchased property at Elm and Fayette Street and a corner stone was laid in 1857, the building progressed slowly and by the outbreak of the Civil War, the church was still not finished.  The unfinished auditorium in the church was used for drills by the Civil War troops of the community.

     Come Christmas Eve in this year of 2013, the churches of Conshohocken will be well lit, the proud members of this community, the rich and the poor, the black and the white, the old and the young, and many others will come together in these shrines of worship, many of them built and or started more than a century ago.  We will smile and pray, shake hands and socialize with our friends, neighbors, and perhaps meet a few new faces of the community.  Conshohocken is a forever changing community and it’s high time we all understand and appreciate each other.  As the elderly look upon our younger residents, we must guide and encourage them to embrace this great community we live in.  The younger generation isn’t looking to take over, they are looking to establish themselves and root themselves in the community just as the rest of us have enjoyed throughout our lives.

Merry Christmas everyone, May God Bless you with good health, and May God look favorability upon Conshohocken.