In 2007, Christ Church Anglican hosted a CBC Radio reading of Charles Dickens’ classic tale of poverty and redemption, A Christmas Carol. This year, on Dec. 7 at 2:30 p.m., another reading will take place, with the proceeds once again going to the York-Durham Aphasia Centre at Parkview Village.

CBC has hosted readings across Canada for the past 18 years, raising more than $180,000 for charities in 2007 alone. The tradition was initiated by CBC newsreader Judy Maddren, who still participates, along with many other Canadian celebrities, including distinguished actor R.H. Thomson, who read at last year’s local event.

Stouffville is host to one of over a hundred readings, which benefit a wide variety of local charitable organizations. It’s a tradition that originates with Dickens himself, who used to read A Christmas Carol to audiences to raise money for the poor, the illiterate and children.

CBC national radio reporter Maureen Brosnahan will be among the readers at this year’s event and will be joined by broadcaster and author Ted Barris, actor Whitney Barris and York University professor emeritus Maurice Elliott, all of whom participated in last year’s reading. Members of the Christ Church choir will provide beautiful musical accompaniment to the afternoon’s entertainment.

Ted Barris, who has also been involved in the project from the beginning, agreed to focus his efforts on raising money for the Aphasia Centre after his father, Alex, was diagnosed with the condition, which impairs the expression and understanding of language, following a stroke. Alex Barris died in 2004, and Ted gave a moving speech about his father at the reading of A Christmas Carol in 2005.

He talked about the tragedy of his father’s loss of the ability to communicate, and the horrific complications resulting from the SARS epidemic. The hospital where Alex was a patient was under strict quarantine for almost six weeks, during which time his family were unable to visit him, at a time when he needed them most.

“In all that darkness,” Ted noted, “the one and only glimmer of light came from a conversation with someone familiar with the frustrations of aphasia, both for the patient and the caregivers. Right after she found out about Dad’s condition, Anne Wells of the Aphasia Centre called me. She was the first person to educate me as to what was happening to my father. She was the only person to offer any real direction or hope.”

Tickets for this year’s reading of A Christmas Carol are $20 and are available from the York-Durham Aphasia Centre office and Christ Church Anglican.

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