Dear A. C.:
I’ve recently arrived in this area from another country and I am curious about the kinds of Christmas traditions you have here. Please share some of these with me.
Sincerely,
— Newby
Dear Newby:
Thanks for asking about our Christmas traditions. I asked my circle of friends about the traditions they grew up with and they immediately shared as we sat around a roaring fire sharing some delicious egg nog.
Christian Shore started by telling us “One of the biggest traditions, and one of my fondest memories involves selecting, purchasing, bringing home, and decorating the Christmas Tree. We always did this as a family and everyone had a say on the selection of the tree. Many people do this several weeks ahead of Christmas while in some families, Santa Claus brings the tree and all the presents on Christmas Eve.”
“In addition to decorating the Christmas tree,” added Jerry Coe, “most people decorate their homes. Christmas stockings are hung up on the mantle, everyday items are replaced with those having Christmas themed decorations on them. The whole house takes on a festive atmosphere.”
“In addition to the inside,” shared Mara Lowe, “we love to put up our outdoor Christmas decorations. My Dad always fought with the strings of lights and the electric cords, but us kids loved to plug in the light and watch the house just light up.”
Kay Nan pointed out, “We always love to drive around the area and see how other people’s homes are decorated. There is always one house that goes overboard on the decorations. It always looks like a Christmas Tree Shop exploded on their lawn. Each year they have more decorations and we always wonder what their December electric bill is like.”
“As a Jewish family,” remarked Beth Lehem, “we always lit our Hanukkah Menorah, played Dreydel and ate Latkes, which are traditional potato pancakes. They are so good that on occasion we have gotten sick from eating too many.”
“Most of our Christmas Traditions revolved around food,” shared Lee Banon. “Making and decorating Christmas cakes and cookies is always a fun activity, as is eating them, of course. The Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals are always something special that I look forward to each year.”
“A central part of Christmas celebrations, of course,” exclaimed Alex Andria, “has to be the exchanging of gifts. That was always a favorite activity for me when I was a child.”
There are so many more traditions that I couldn’t possibly list them all in this article. As always, when the egg nog ran out, so did my friends, but not before wishing all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.
— A.C. Worth
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