Hartland's Holiday Season Runs Through One Former Church on Avon Street
November 12, 2026
November 12, 2026
In 1929, J. Robert Crouse Sr. paid $500 for a run-down church in the village where he was born. The First Congregational Church had built it in 1858, used it for 65 years and disbanded in 1923, and the building had been falling apart since. Crouse had Dr. Emil Lorch, dean of the University of Michigan's College of Architecture, plan the renovation. By 1932 the building had a Greek Revival portico, a stage house and a Kilgen pipe organ. The next December, during the Great Depression, he paid for and organized Hartland's first community performance of Handel's Messiah, and it went out live on the radio.
Ninety-three years later, Hartland's holiday season still goes through that building at 3619 Avon St. This year it hosts something on three Saturdays in a row:
All three depend on tickets, sponsors and volunteers. One of them nearly ended four years ago, and the hall hosting them is managed by a library that turns 100 next year.
Vintage Christmas in the Village runs from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 28, across Historic Hartland Village. Admission is free. The Hartland Area Community Council puts it on, and Hartland Insurance is the presenting sponsor. The Livingston Post's preview of the event lists ten stops around the village. The Music Hall is the center of the evening. Santa greets families there from 4 to 6 p.m., the official Christmas tree lighting starts at 6:15 p.m. "sharp," and Hartland High School choirs perform afterward.
The rest of the village fills in around it:
The paid event of the night is the King of the Wing competition, held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at Hartland United Methodist Church, 10300 Maple Road. Local restaurants compete for the title and ticket holders do the judging. A $10 ticket gets you a tasting and a ballot, and the winner is announced between 5:45 and 6 p.m. Tickets are limited and on sale now through a QR code on the official event flyer.
The proceeds explain the rest of the calendar. Wing money pays for holiday help for a Hartland family through the Optimist Club's Adopt-a-Family program. It also supports the Community Council's other events, including Vintage Christmas itself, the Memorial Day Parade and Wreaths for Veterans' Graves. Kevin Brennan, president of the Hartland Area Community Council, told the Livingston Post where the event came from:
"We created Vintage Christmas in the Village to rekindle the spirit of one of town's cherished traditions, Hartland Heritage Days, while bringing a new sense of excitement and celebration to our community."
Getting there: Roads inside the event area start closing at 2:30 p.m. Parking information, road closure details and the full event map are being posted before the event on the Facebook pages of Cromaine District Library and the Hartland Area Community Council.
At 3620 Avon St., across from the Music Hall, is the newest business on the block. The Livingston Daily reported that Hannah Green opened Greenhouse Bakery on June 20 in the former home of Hartland Village Pizza & Custard. She took over the space in November 2025 and spent about seven months renovating it.
Nov. 28 will be the bakery's first Vintage Christmas, and it is taking part in two ways. It is on the list of sponsors with Cromaine District Library, Hartland Players, the Hartland Area Historical Society and others, and its treats are one of the stops around the village. Hartland Village Pizza & Custard already had a long run at this address. A new owner who joined the village's biggest night within six months of opening has put the storefront back to use.
A week later, the Music Hall hosts the 2nd annual Sounds of the Season concert from 3 to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5. Local musicians perform, and all proceeds go to the Hartland Optimist Club Adopt a Family Program. Tickets cost $25 and are sold through the Sounds of the Season event page on Eventbrite, which says seats are limited.
That makes two events in eight days, on the same block, supporting the same Adopt a Family program. The wings on Nov. 28 and the music on Dec. 5 both raise money for Hartland families during the holidays.
The longest-running tradition at the Music Hall almost stopped. According to the Hartland Messiah Chorus's own account of its history, the concert was considered canceled for lack of funding as late as August 2022, after 88 years. A small group would not let it go. The Hartland Community Chorus reorganized as the Hartland Messiah Chorus, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and the performance became entirely self-funded. At that point the December 2022 performance was 12 weeks away, and the chorus says it had no singers, no director, no rehearsal space, no rehearsal pianist, no performance venue, no organist and no money.
This year's concert, the 93rd, begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12. Kelli Falls directs the chorus. Richard Helderop plays the Kilgen pipe organ, which is back in good form after a $30,000 renovation. The chorus is also adding a harpsichord this year, played by guest harpsichordist Joseph Daniel-Hoste, along with a string quartet and piccolo trumpet. The chorus says the concert is paid for through ticket sales, donations and grants, with no taxpayer funding.
The organ is reason enough to go. The Music Hall's history page says it was installed for the hall's dedication in April 1932, a nine-day run of performances that included the Austrian violinist Fritz Kreisler. It is one of only two ever made, has more than 1,000 pipes and cost $12,000 at the time. The 1932 renovation also added wiring so live events could be broadcast by radio as far as Detroit. Three ranks of colored stage lights added in the 1930s are still in use.
The hall has 224 seats, with 199 on the main floor and 25 in the balcony. Tickets on the Hartland Living calendar listing run $20 to $30. The chorus sells tickets through the link on hartlandmessiah.com, which goes to its Givebutter ticket page.
The Crouse history behind these events didn't end with the Music Hall. The Messiah Chorus credits Cromaine Library, which it calls "yet another part of the Crouse legacy," with managing the hall today. Cromaine is also one of the Vintage Christmas sponsors and one of the two Facebook pages posting the Nov. 28 parking map.
The library will mark 100 years of serving Hartland throughout 2027, with centennial events being planned for the whole year. The construction on its south lawn connects to the holiday calendar through parking. The Livingston Post reported in October that work on the Cromaine Commons and Heritage Gardens should continue until winter weather forces a pause. The parking between the library and Hartland Consolidated Schools is expected to be restored for public use this winter, and Cromaine is tentatively targeting Memorial Day 2027 to finish the outdoor spaces. Before you drive into the village on Nov. 28, Dec. 5 or Dec. 12, check the library's Facebook page for current parking.
The Music Hall shows how a small village can keep an old building busy. When I talk with Hartland homeowners about what sets the village apart, it is usually the places like this one, and what it takes to keep them running. If you're weighing a move within Hartland or nearby, or just want to talk through what's happening around Avon Street, Sherry Cynowa is glad to help. Let's Connect.
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Veteran Michigan Real Estate Agent since 1994, Sherry is “short in stature and tall on results,” bringing local expertise and a passion for helping you achieve your real estate goals.