Musical group finds holidays bittersweet

The Bittersweet Christmas Band, four musicians whose performance reflects the varied feelings prompted by the holiday season, will present a benefit concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19 at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva at 110 S. Second St. The concert will benefit Mutual Ground, an agency that serves victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Susan Urban of Chicago says the group has been performing together since 1998. Urban was doing a solo act in Madison, Wis. when she opened for Cooper, Nelson and Early. The other musicians liked her songs and they blended to form one group.

"After we performed, the man who booked us said, 'It was a mixed bag, but Christmas is a mixed bag,'" Urban said.

The sentiment reflects the performances that the Bittersweet Christmas Band present each year from Thanksgiving through Dec. 25.

"We do some traditional songs, but not many," Urban said. "We try to address the holidays from a number of spiritual points of view, including Christianity, and also the return of the light, which came before Christianity.

"Christmas can be a microcosm of the world," Urban added. "It can be a mixture of joy and frustration, and love and anger."

Urban sings, writes some of the songs and plays the guitar, the banjo and the mountain dulcimer. The other musicians are Phil Cooper of St. Charles who sings and plays the guitar, and Margaret Nelson and Kate Early of Evanston, who sing and play percussion.

Tickets for the concert are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. For tickets and information, contact the Unitarian Universalist Society at (630) 232-2350 or office@uusg.org. Information is also online at uusg.org.

Historic ornament available

A limited edition Christmas ornament depicting Bethany Lutheran Church in Batavia is available for $10 at the Batavia Depot Museum, 155 Houston St., and at the Batavia Park District Civic Center, 327 W. Wilson St.

The ornament is the second in a series of six ornaments being offered through the Depot Museum that will depict historic Batavia churches.

The Batavia Depot Museum is also offering a brass collectible ornament that features the City of Batavia's 175th anniversary logo.

For more information, call the Depot Museum at (630) 406-5274.