The monument on Water Street next to the railroad tracks honors the tradition of the Glen Rock Carolers. In 1848, five men sang Old English Carols to the residents of Glen Rock, carols they brought from the village of Micklehurst, near Sheffield, England. On December 24, 2025, for the 178th time, The Glen Rock Carolers will again be celebrating the unbroken tradition of singing carols on the streets of Glen Rock. The public concert will begin at 10:45 pm at Zion Lutheran Church, 49 Hanover Street, and will last one hour.
At 11:45 pm, the square at the signal light will be closed to traffic. Nearly a thousand people will gather in the street, and the Carolers will form in the center. At the stroke of midnight, Carolers will sing “Christians Awake! Salute This Happy Morn” and another carol before starting the 6-7 hour trek around the town.
Everyone is welcome to follow the Carolers for all or part of the night. To accommodate the Carolers and crowd, there will be rolling street closures as described here. First: Manchester St. with the first rest stop at the Legion about 12:45. Followers will wait outside for the 20-30 minutes that the Carolers are inside. Second: Pine St., Hillside Terrace, Edgehill Rd., Glenvue Rd., Hanover St., Cottage Ave., Cottage Way, Hanover St. with stop at the Fire Co. around 3:15. Third: Baltimore St., Valley St., Glen Ave., Rail Trail, Main St., Church St., New St., Church St., W. Center St., Walnut St., High St., E. Center St., Park Ave., Hayward Heights, with the last stop at the home of Holly and Glenn Geiple around 5:30. Last: Down Geiple’s steps.
From there, the Carolers will go over to the community Christmas tree between 6:30 and 7:00 am. The Carolers expect to finish at the monument by singing a few carols. Following “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”, the Carolers will remove their top hats and sing the Doxology: “Praise God from Whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” And that will end the 178th consecutive celebration of the Glen Rock Carolers Christmas Tradition.
For futher information, see glenrockcarolers.org. A book, “Salute This Happy Morn” and video “Softly, Sweetly, Through The Air” are available at the Glen Rock Library.
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