233 Kings Highway East, Haddonfield, NJ, 08033

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MUSIC OF CHRISTMAS '98 FILLS TAVERN
Singers, Musicians and Festive Greens

	HADDONFIELD, N.J. (Dec. 6, 1998) -- Hundreds of visitors streamed into the Indian King Tavern yesterday for the facility's fourth annual "Music of Christmas" festival. The four-hour event featured a holiday choir, musicians playing period instruments and demonstrations of traditional crafts in rooms decorated in festive yuletide greens.

	Brad Mattson, a senior at Haddonfield High School and long-time volunteer at the tavern (above, right) organized the first "Music of Christmas" special in 1994 when he was a freshman. "The idea came to me when I was looking at a book that my mother had from when she was a teenager -- A Williamsburg Christmas," he said. "I could see how nice it would be to have the same kind of thing at the Indian King." That first year, he recruited the musicians, made the decorations and distributed the fliers. Eighty people showed up. Now, the annual event draws as many as 500.

	For the last two years, the Haddonfield Garden Club has created the period Christmas decorations for each of the tavern's rooms. Musicians such as the Tapestry Dulcimer Band (above, right) also volunteer their services. Also appearing this year were the Colonial Consort Singers from Haddonfield High School (above, left) performing under the direction of teacher Paula Meyer. They sang on the front steps of the tavern, drawing a warm response from the crowds of holiday shoppers strolling to and from nearby shops.

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