NEW YORK CITY ATHEISTS
WEB: WWW.NYC-ATHEISTS.ORG                 PHONE: (212) 535-7425
For Immediate Release

NO CHRISTMAS, CHANUKAH  OR  KWANZAA  FOR NYC ATHEISTS

Group Celebrates with Non-Religious Festivities
Solstice Feast Harks Back to Pre-Christian Era

Tired of looking for the right holiday gift for Uncle Ralph--which he's going to throw away anyway?  

New York City Atheists have dispensed with all the burdensome obligations of Christmas, Chanukah and Kwanzaa. No more decimating our pine forests to put  a dead tree in our living room for 10 days! No more dragging out a dead tree after New Year's day, no more littering the streets with tinseled dead trees!  No more returning badly chosen gifts the day after Christmas!

But that doesn't mean the Atheists aren't enjoying the spirit and festivities of the winter holidays. The group is, instead, celebrating the Winter Solstice with a 100-foot-long sushi buffet feast.The Winter Solstice celebration, which harks back to pre-Christian times, is usually held around December 21st and marks the shortest day of the year. To the ancients, it appeared as if the sun    and moon stopped in their flight across the sky. A feast was traditionally held to anticipate and rejoice at the Sun's rebirth.

Food has long been associated with winter celebrations. In ancient times, the winter would have meant lean months and surviving on the last of the crops and meat harvested during the fall. On the day of the Winter Solstice, a festival and the sharing of food honored the return of the Sun and marked the peoples' joy in nature's cycle of seasons.

Date:               December 21, 2005 (Wednesday)
Time:               6:00 - 9:00 PM
Location:         Minado Restaurant - 6 East 32nd St. (5th/Madison)
Cost:                $35 (Includes one drink)
Dress:              Dressy, Creative, etc.  
Reservations:  Not Required

Questions:       Ken Bronstein - President - NYC Atheists                                        
                         212-535-7425 / INFO@NYC-ATHEISTS.ORG