Holiday Tradition – Basking Ridge Christmas Eve Community Sing

The 2025 Community Sing starts in….

Days

Hours

Minutes

Second

“It’s like Norman Rockwell meets Doctor Seuss’s Whoville on Christmas Eve!”

Put this one on your bucket list

https://www.mrlocalhistory.org/basking-ridge-stream

The History

Every year on December 24th, at 7 pm on the ” Town Green,” residents, families, friends, and guests gather in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, singing Christmas carols, wishing good tidings, and then moving on to their family traditions. Join the community and celebrate the 100th anniversary as the Church bells begin ringing at 7 pm. Nine songs are sung, and the caroling ends around 7:35 pm, again with a round of ringing church bells. The “Christmas Eve Sing” is the oldest continuous Christmas Eve sing in New Jersey.

Everything started on December 24, 1924, when Basking Ridge resident and businessman Ray Moffet of Moffet Chevrolet took his Chevy truck to drive around town with his friends singing Christmas carols. Each year, Ray partnered with his friend John Carswell, and they spread their holiday spirit by traveling around town singing the night away.

In 1927, the event relocated from a Chevy truck to “the Village Green,” where it has been centered ever since. The “Green” is a small patch of grass located at the center of Finley Avenue, across the street from 1 East Oak Street, in front of the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church. Moffet solicited $5 contributions from local businessmen to pay for decorating a tree and providing music for the occasion. The event typically occurred at 8:00 pm, but was later moved to 7:30 pm, and now kicks off every year at 7:00 pm.

All Volunteer Brass Ensemble

A welcome addition in 1932 was a brass ensemble that led the carolers in song. The ensemble is all volunteer. A similar event was held at Olcott Square in Bernardsville, led by William Van Houten and Charles Swain, during the mid-1930s, but it did not last, leaving Basking Ridge to hold the area’s only Christmas sing.

Resident Jim Felter has been the Christmas Eve Carol coordinator since 2006. Before 2006, long-time BRPC member George Fricke did it for 17 years. If you’re interested in participating, reach out to [email protected].

Anyone can join to play. You are to arrive at Westminster Hall (BRPC) at 6:00 pm. The “Carol Sing on the Green” for those who wish to sing typically brings a flashlight or a cell phone with a flashlight app to read the carol sheets offered to anyone starting at about 6:45 pm. The attendees sing 9 songs (the same every year), and the singing comes to a close with a generous ringing of the church bells from the Presbyterian and Methodist churches.  Then, the area’s church doors open for an early service, and neighbors or strangers wish each other a Merry Christmas and go their separate ways. By 7:25, the green is deserted.

In Basking Ridge, John D. Carswell, who had led the singing and helped Ray for fifty years, died in May 1975. Richard Booth had been leading the ensemble. In 1975, Bob Verburg stepped in and served as chairman of the event. The 1975 all-volunteer committee included a standing committee to support the Carol Sing, including Harold M. Bieber, Norris Birnbaum, George L. Fricke, Dr. William J. Haines, Gregory Lane, Ernest R. Shears, Jean-Louis Terry, Robert M. Huggins, Burr Williamson, and Robert M. Verburg. The general committee members are Rev. Norman M. Post, Rev. Dale H. Crouthamel, Rev. Joseph A. B. Wade, Rev. Wilbur A. Thomas, Rev. Rudolf J.S. Keyl, Rev Dwight A. White, Dr. J. Calvin K. Jackson, and Rev. Carl Abrahamsen Jr. In the 1980s, Gregory Lane led the singing, followed by George Fricke, for 17 years, from 1987 to 2005. Since 2006, Jim Felter has been leading the way.

Supporting organizations have included Moffet Motors, the Women’s Auxiliary of the Basking Ridge Fire Company, the Bernards Township PTA, the Ridge Home & School Association, and nine of the town’s religious congregations. And you can’t forget the Basking Ridge Fire Department, which stands up and decorates the town tree every year.

Special thanks go out to those who serve on the general committee:

• Rev. Msgr Sylvester J. Cronin (The Church of St. James)
• Rev. Bob Erbig (Millington Baptist Church)
• Rev. Daniel Fenco (Somerset Hills Lutheran Church)
• Rev. Dennis Jones (Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church)
• Rev. Canon Gerald S. McLynn (Covenant Chapel Reformed Episcopal Church)
• Rev. Rick Morley (St. Mark’s Episcopal Church)
• Pastor Timothy Sudolcan (Somerset Hills Baptist Church)
• Rev. Dr. Barnabas Sprinkle (Liberty Corner Presbyterian Church)
• Rev. Dave Tillisch (Bishop Janes United Methodist Church)
• A standing committee of support for the event includes Susan Felter, Josh Felter, Kate and Dave Tullo,  Martha Heiner,  Sally and Ronald A. Horan (for the 45th year),  Wyman Wong, Dan Zugale, and Sing Coordinator Jim Felter.

Anyone interested in joining the brass ensemble meets at 6 p.m. Christmas Eve in Westminster Hall at Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church, 1 East Oak St.

They’re Here – They’re Gone!

One of the most amazing observations of the event is that if you arrive at 6:30, you will probably be the only person there. At 6:45 p.m., there are probably about 500 people there. By 7 p.m., there are literally thousands of people present. And as quickly as they came, by 7:30 p.m., the town center is almost deserted.Many walk, some drive, and they park off the town green.

Hasn’t Changed Much Since 1938

The song list has varied little since 1938, when the cadence was as follows:
O Come All Ye Faithful, Hark the Herald Angel Sing, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, The First Noel, Silent Night Holy Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Deck the Halls, We Three Kings, Joy to the World

Download Song Sheets

If you are lucky enough to make the sing, some volunteers have been handing out the same colorful song sheets almost every year. Why change it if it ain’t broke, right? Today, you can click the link below, save the sheet on your phone, and read from there. Or use a flashlight and go old school.

Related Mr. Local History Holiday Posts