The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year, and the Rochester Women’s Club celebrated the arrival of longer days with a celebration.

On Saturday evening, more than 20 members of the club and the public gathered together to sing holiday songs. This was the first time the club gathered for the solstice.

“People are instinctively drawn to celebrate light,” said Naomi Arenberg, who led the singing of the carols. A Wareham resident, Arenberg is a Rochester native who joined her childhood friend and club president Marsha Hartley for the event.  Hartley’s grandmother founded the club in 1928.

Participants enjoyed an assortment of homemade holiday-themed refreshments. They caroled inside the club’s meeting hall and outside near a roaring fire.  Tambourines and hand bells rang out to accompany the singing.

The club hosts a variety of events throughout the year including scholarship fundraisers. Hartley said the club welcomes new members and residency in Rochester is not a requirement.

Meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at 37 Marion Road, Rochester.  For more information, visit the Rochester Women’s Club on Facebook.