The Octorara Covenanter Foundation will present its annual Celtic/Traditional Advent Service on Sunday, Dec. 7.

The service will be held at 3 p.m. at Middle Octorara Presbyterian Church, 1199 Valley Road, Quarryville.

Refreshments will be served following the event.

"We build it around our culture here in the Southern End, the Scots-Irish background, which gets the Celtic part," said event organizer John Girvin. "We also wanted to focus on some of the traditions, so that's why over the last few years when we put this together, we wanted to get different instruments involved, obviously focusing on getting a piper, but also bringing in some other things this year, a trumpeter and the organist."

The Schoolhouse Museum at the Covenanter Church will be open from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

The service will feature music from Middle Octorara organist Boni Henry, piper Rhys Weibel, and trumpeter Kenton Green from Solanco High School; a duet from Donald and Becki Henderson; and a performance by Donald, Becki, and Rosa Henderson along with Luke and Marsha Marchant.

"Donald Henderson, who is on the board, plays a key role in presenting Christmas readings from the Bible in the Braid-Scots dialect," said Girvin. "And he also has a group, and he sings with his family. They'll be here for that program, and then him and his wife and daughters will then sing a couple Christmas carols in Scottish-Gaelic music, and they lead the congregation in learning how to do it in the Scottish-Gaelic language. That's something we always look forward to."

Pastor John Barlow will lead attendees in prayer.

"We've also kind of now made a tradition to end the program with 'Auld Lang Syne' featuring on Scotland's major poet and bard Robert Burns. So it is a nice ending and nice way to finish up."

The Octorara Covenanter Presbyterian Foundation is a nonprofit group formed to restore and maintain the Covenanter church and old Bart High School.

"This is a service that dates back into the '80s," Girvin said. "Some of the folks in the church did the program. Eventually, they had a Lancaster youth symphony or artist performing. Artists came down and did a program, and over the years, it just started to really fall off in attendance. So we decided to take it over ourselves and offer up as a program that could definitely bring in some local talent." He noted that the Solanco Chorale has performed in the past and that instrumentalists also display their talents. "(People) like the music," he continued. "They don't necessarily want to have to come and hear a sermon per se. So basically, the message they get here is essentially the readings."

Girvin's father, Barry, who is helping organize the service, stated, "Just the idea of a Celtic Christmas, a celebration which speaks of the Scottish heritage, is something that a lot of people are interested in. The people who come to the Scottish Festival are very much into that culture, and this is a service that would really be of interest to them."