Many photos at bottom of story -

What's cooking for the Saturday, Dec. 1, Christmas open house at the Schumacher Homestead?

Lots of seasonal treats reflecting the lives of Swiss settlers in the Bluffton-Pandora area. The festivities will be from 2-7 p.m. at the 8350 Bixel Rd. farmhouse in rural  Bluffton.

The Swiss Community Historical Society's newly refurbished sleigh will be displayed on the front porch. Indoors, the farmhouse will be adorned with natural decorations, perfumed by home cooking, and lit by candles beginning at dusk.

Oven and hearth baking will be demonstrated in the main kitchen between 2 and 4:30 p.m. Two Swiss-German Christmas delicacies will be served: crispy and sweet "Nothings" and Pfeffernusse (pepper-nuts), along with other Christmas cookies.

Performances in the living room will include the Christmas story read in the Swiss Bernese dialect and songs from the early settlers' hymnal at 3 p.m.; dulcimer and recorder music at 4 p.m.; and the Bluffton Fiddlers at 5 p.m.

A Christmas shop will be set up in a second-floor bedroom. For children, there will be candle-making in the flagstone cellar. Demonstrations of period woodworking tools will be given in the workshop, weather permitting.

The Swiss Community Historical Society was founded over 50 years ago to honor and preserve the heritage of the Bluffton-Pandora community. It is currently conducting a capital campaign to create a heritage center with a timber-frame barn that will be moved to the Bixel Rd. property.

For more information on the campaign, contact Samantha Shrider at (419) 204-1926or [email protected].