History of the Barrington Christmas Soiree at Calef's Corner

Our traditional annual Barrington Christmas Soirée at Calef’s Corner was founded in 2001 by Lindy & Cleve Horton, the owners of Calef’s Country Store.  Lindy & Cleve purchased Calef’s Country Store from the Calef family, after Mary Chesley Calef opened Calef’s Store in 1869 in the front rooms of her Barrington home.  Thereafter, until the purchase by Lindy & Cleve, the Store had been operated by five generations of the Calef family until the 1990s. 

The exclusive participants in that first Soirée in December 2001 were Calef’s Country Store and Calef’s Gift Shop.  Amidst festive Christmas decorations, Lindy & Cleve hosted this community event in the evening.  In grand fashion, they were dressed in an elegant gown and tuxedo, respectively; and they and their workers served complimentary hors d’oeuvres and even offered valet parking to attendees! 

The annual Soirée tradition has endured and expanded, with Edward Jones Investments joining the Soirée in its second year in 2002.  From that time on, numerous businesses and organizations have shared in the annual Christmas Soirée celebration, both indoors and outdoors, including The Christmas Dove, Village Barn, Elf Made, Hampshire Pewter, our local Boy Scouts, our Food Pantry, Greater Barrington Chamber of Commerce, and many more, along with the delightful musical talents of our Barrington school children. 

Today our community continues to embrace the Christmas Soirée - all in the spirit of celebrating Barrington!