Christmas Eve

Down through the ages there has been a Christmas Eve caller who has had a special relationship with children. In the past, he has gone by several names, including St. Nicholas and Kriss Kringle. Today, he is that fatherly figure known as Santa Claus. Yet whatever he was called, he was a nonthreatening, benevolent figure whom children loved as they do today. But during the 19th century in the Pennsylvania German communities of our region, there was another late-night caller who was just the opposite of Nick, Kriss and Santa.

At Salem Baptist Church of Jenkintown, hundreds gathered for a candlelight service last night. The special Christmas Eve program included Christmas carols and Scripture readings.

Buck County Courthouse employees crooned holiday tunes and welcomed visitors to sing along at times for their 26th annual holiday program. The public was invited to the event Christmas Eve morning.

Larry Funk watches as heavy equipment demolishes the old World of Primates building at the Philadelphia Zoo, which was destroyed in a fire Christmas Eve 1995 that killed all six of the Zoo's gorillas, three orangutans and 14 other primates. A new $21 million primate center is to be built, with the opening set for spring 1999.

The Philadelphia Committee for the Homeless held a Christmas breakfast for the homeless yesterday at Arch Street United Methodist Church. Among the volunteers were parents and children from Stetson Middle School in West Kensington. The city was stepping up its efforts for the homeless as well, through the cold-weather Code Zero program. On Christmas Eve and again last night, outreach workers rounded up homeless people and took them to shelters.