Joy of Christmas

Archive for February, 2007

Tradition often trumps the trendy during the Christmas season. People send traditional Christmas cards through the mail far more than they send greeting cards by e-mail. Most people think it’s OK to have Christmas decorations at public buildings, even though it occasionally draws protests and lawsuits.

And many people long for the days when businesses routinely told customers “Merry Christmas” rather than the more politically correct, “Happy Holidays” or “Season’s Greetings.” But nearly half are not bothered by the broader greeting.

These are among the findings of an AP-AOL News poll.

“I think we should stick with the traditional things we were raised with,” said Melody Sadler, 31, who is bringing up her family in Livingston, Tenn. “I think we’re getting away from what’s important in life. We forget why we have Christmas. When people say ‘Happy Holidays,’ it turns the season more commercial.”

The poll found:

• People were four times as likely to send traditional Christmas cards, 64 percent, as opposed to send greeting cards by e-mail, 16 percent.

• They were twice as likely to call someone on the phone with holiday greetings, 64 percent, as to send an e-mail, 33 percent.

• People are divided on whether it’s a good thing or bad thing that businesses often greet their customers by saying “Happy Holidays” instead of Merry Christmas. About half, 48 percent, said it is good and almost that many, 42 percent, said it is bad.

• Seven in 10 say they will use the Internet for Christmas shopping as much or more as in past years, while 25 percent will rely on it less.

• Nine in 10 people say it’s appropriate for public buildings to have Christmas decorations.

The poll of 1,000 adults was taken Dec. 12-14 and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The growing popularity of the Internet is not keeping shoppers away from the stores, the poll suggested.

While online holiday shopping continues to grow in popularity, people still flood the shopping malls during the holiday season. Some people who shop online said they enjoy going to the mall for the holiday music, mood and crowds.

Mailing traditional Christmas cards remains very popular, though not as much among young people. Those over 50 were much more likely to have sent traditional Christmas cards, than those in the 18-to-29 year age group. And young adults are more likely to say the Internet makes it easier to stay in touch with family and friends.

For 81-year-old Emmett Tillett, exchanging traditional Christmas cards is a way of keeping track of family and dozens of friends made during a career in the Air Force. Tillett still hears from five men he served with during World War II.

“Every year I get five cards from these guys,” said Tillett, who sends out almost 100 Christmas cards each year. “They tell us about their grandkids, tell us about their travels. I get cards from all over the country.”

For Steve Hall, who lives in House Springs, Mo., holiday traditions are part of the glue that binds one generation to the next. “They help ensure your children will have the same values in celebrating the holidays that you have,” he said.

Most Americans celebrate the birth of Jesus today, but Christmas is special for many non-Christians as well. Christmas is a time for family, for giving, for happy children, for sharing a meal – acts and feelings that aren’t exclusive for just Christians. One iconic symbol of the season unites just about everyone, regardless of their beliefs – the Christmas tree.

Look around this time of year, and you’ll see perhaps more kinds of Christmas trees than there are religious beliefs. The traditional fir and pine trees abound, but “trees” are also made of plastic and acrylic, paper and cardboard. They can be as tiny as a thumb or several stories high – and virtually every size in between.

Many people experience several different tree rituals over a lifetime. Every family should, at least once, savor cutting down a live tree on snow-covered ground, bringing the fresh tree home and – if you’re lucky – hearing the pine cones pop and crackle over the next couple of weeks. As we age and lose the desire for the labor required in sawing down a live tree, we turn to the tree lots that crop up at businesses, churches and elsewhere over the season, inspecting each tree to find the one of perfection, one that fits the designated room just right. Later, we settle for an artificial tree that doesn’t leave sap, doesn’t have to be watered, doesn’t trigger allergies.

Christmas tree ornaments become treasures to hold for life, memories of people and years, symbols of different life stages.

Buying – or assembling – a tree, placing it in its stand and adding lights, ornaments, garland and other decorations is, for many families, as much a part of the Christmas tradition as buying and giving presents. And most families share the tradition of finishing the decorating by placing a star or angel at the top.

Christmas trees are ubiquitous in our favorite Christmas movies – how could there be “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “A Christmas Story” without a Christmas tree? Even pitifully undergrown and misshapen trees can still serve the purpose, as Charlie Brown taught us in the first “Peanuts” TV special.

History offers various versions of the beginning of Christmas trees. European pagans commonly worshipped trees. The triangular fir tree may have been used to symbolize the Holy Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and by some accounts, Martin Luther decorated a tree with candles.

Most agree that the traditions we follow today have roots in Germany. A German medieval play about Adam and Eve featured a “paradise tree” representing the Garden of Eden, and Germans began placing such trees in their homes on Dec. 24. People hung wafers – symbolizing Christian redemption – and later cookies and candles. Homes also had Christmas pyramids, holding evergreens, Christian figurines and a star. Around the 16th century, the pyramid and paradise tree became one, and by the 18th century, the Christmas tree was an established tradition for German Lutherans.

Britian’s Prince Albert is credited for bringing the tradition to England in the 19th century and adding toys and gifts. Germans also brought the tree tradition to North America as early as the 17th century. By the end of the 19th century, F.W. Woolworth was selling millions of dollars in ornaments each year, and electric lights were available.

Perhaps the tree’s near-universal appeal in Western nations is the fact that as an inanimate object, non-Christians can consider the tree secular, while the Christmas tree tradition is well-steeped in Christianity.

Whatever your family’s traditions are today, they will most likely – at some point – involve the Christmas tree. So enjoy your tree with the knowledge that throughout the nation and beyond, the tree is one element of Christmas that nearly everyone shares.

Merry Christmas.

Arlyne and Dayton Silk, 605 Gleason Avenue, Thief River Falls, will probably sell their Christmas display. Dayton began his setting up his Christmas display sometime in the 1970s, and it all began with this church, a scale model of the Black River Church near St. Hilaire.

Constant care and attention are required of Dayton Silk’s Christmas display – too much now that he’s 88 years old. Silk began his Christmas display in the 1970s with a scale model of the Black River Church near St. Hilaire. This next year, he anticipates selling the display, which has grown every years since he began.

Dayton Silk has no idea now why back sometime before 1972 he started making Christmas decorations for his yard. He does know that it gives him great satisfaction watching the beaming faces of children and parents as they appreciate his moving display.
The years have caught up with Dayton and now his children worry that he’ll get injured trying to put up the decorations. So the years of children, and their children’s children coming to see his display on Gleason Street in Thief River Falls, may be at an end.
It first began with a church. “I haven’t the faintest idea why I started. I guess I just wanted to make a church,” said Dayton.
As he recalls now, that church was the Black River Church. At the time, his father-in-law stepped it out and they came up with a sort of “scale model” of the church. The store came next, then the barn and then of course, said Dayton, he had to add moving cows. A sleigh, a moving train, a nativity scene with 400 lights, and much more were added. The moving train is his favorite, even though it’s hard to keep it running.
Creating the displays took quite a bit of ingenuity. Almost all of the displays are made from scrap. The cows are able to move, for example, because of a bicycle chain, a washing machine motor, some sprockets, and a garage door opener. But through this labor of love, he pieced together a work of art that has been appreciated by generations of appreciative fans. One year, readers of the Thief River Falls Times voted his display as the best Christmas display in town.
Dayton said just last week he was at the hardware store picking up some parts for the display when a man in the store stopped him and told him he’s been going to see the display every year for 20 years.
Dayton often hears that visiting his display is a Christmas tradition shared by many people.
“Every year we start our Christmas tour of lights there. I just love it. My kids love it, too,” said June Beito of Newfolden. Beito said she’s been going to the display since she was a teenager, and when she heard it might not be displayed next year, proclaimed, “it just wouldn’t be Christmas without it.”
Busloads of school children have gone past the display, and even stopped to see how it worked.
It’s amazing to Dayton, every time they stop.
Time changes many things, and not always for the best.
Last year was the first year since he began that he didn’t add a new element to the display.
Dayton admits putting up the displays, which runs from the day after Thanksgiving to Jan. 5th or 6th, is getting tougher.
He doesn’t admit he has any particular health problem preventing him from putting up the display – only the part that goes with being 88 years old.
Dayton has lived at the same spot at 605 Gleason Avenue since May of 1943. Before he retired, Dayton was a house-to-house milk deliveryman. He did that for 28 years before retiring in 1975, so he said, he knows a “few” people. It’s the people who have enjoyed the display the most that he hates to think will not see his Christmas display. So he teeters on letting his family have its way, and his desire to keep up with the tradition he started so many years ago. “You feel good every day you can get out there and do it,” said Dayton.
Dayton Silk’s Christmas display has never been vandalized. One year, he said some lights went missing, but that’s all. He’s been very fortunate – fortunate in many ways, and not just because no one has vandalized his display. He’s fortunate, he says, because he has so many friends; and, he’s fortunate because he’s been able to put smiles on so many faces.
Dayton said if he has to sell it and move into another home or apartment, he would like to sell the display as a whole.
Arlyne, his wife, said she’d like to see it in front of a church.
Wherever it ends up, Dayton Silk’s Christmas display will remind us of a different era – a time when Christmas gifts were made, not bought; and a time when people were not worried of offending anyone by saying Merry Christmas.
We are fortunate indeed.

A BROMSGROVE supermarket is offering very early Christmas cheer by giving away festive garlands.

Morrisons store, in Buntsford Hill, is offering 100 metres of Christmas garlands to a good cause to help brighten up its next Christmas.

This Christmas the store will be decorated with new garlands, and as a result the green and gold coloured garlands used as decorations over the recent festive period are no longer needed.
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The store’s now inviting any groups who can make use of the impressive festive decorations to contact the store by this Sunday to nominate themselves as worthy recipients of the free goodies.

Groups should leave their details at the store customer information desk.

Staff will consider which of the groups can make the best use of the garlands for future Christmas celebrations and the successful group will then be invited back into the store to be presented with them.

For Christmas 2007, all Morrisons stores will have new in-store decorations to replace the existing foil-based garlands which have been used in some stores for four years.

It is intended the new decorations will be made of paper-based materials, making them suitable for recycling.

Chances are good, there are still a few Christmas lights up in your neighborhood.

“(It’s a) tradition, everyone does it,” said resident Duncan Macleod, “kind of livens up the block instead of just a dark block.”

With the cold weather the metro area has seen this winter the rules do seem to be out the window.

Many Homeowners’ Associations are relaxing their covenants about the lights and for residents. Rules or not, residents say they are not taking them down until the snow melts.

Highlands’ Ranch typically wants residents to have their lights down within 30 days of the holiday. Now people are encouraged to wait, and not get injured.

A drive through any neighborhood in the metro area reveals Christmas lights or decorations on homes.

“Once the snow comes down a little bit, we have a nice warm spell, the boxes are ready to go,” said George Sfirri, a Denver resident.

Some Denver residents say it’s their tradition to leave the lights up through the National Western Stock Show.

“As long as all this snow is here, it kind of seems like it fits,” said Denver’s Missy Ellis. “They can see the lights and it looks festive and looks happy.”

However, even Ellis agrees, this year, the tradition is going on for a bit too long.

“We’ll turn them off when everybody else turns theirs off too,” said Ellis.

It’s Christmas Day, a time for presents, decorations and – for many Coachella Valley families – a plate full of warm tamales.

Making these delicious dishes is a Cervantes family Christmas tradition that has spanned more than 150 years.

Gathering on Sunday at the family’s Coachella ranch, where they grow squash and green beans, family members crowded around a mesquite-fired brick oven.

Using their bare hands, three generations of Cervantes family members prepared at least 50 pounds of food on Sunday.

And by the time the oven’s fire was put out, they expected to have about 500 tamales; some pork and some beef. Some spicy and others not-so-spicy.

“I can’t keep (people) away from the pot when (the tamales) are close to being done,” said Beatrice Cervantes, as she used her hands to mix a bowl of masa, ground corn kernels used to create the soft dough that is wrapped around a meat or cheese filling.

Tamales at Christmas time are a regular dish among Latino families.

For the Cervantes family the dish has been a holiday staple since the 1850s, said Beatrice Cervantes’ brother, Greg Cervantes, 45.

Their family’s tradition arrived in the Coachella Valley in 1896.

It has been a standard at the local ranch since 1921.

The oven, which the Cervanteses call a “wood oven” was built around 1941, and it’s only used for special events. Mesquite wood is used to cook the tamales, since it provides a larger flame and extended heat, Greg Cervantes said.

And it takes about 100 tamales, per batch, nearly three hours to cook.

Beatrice Cervantes expected about 25 family members to join Sunday’s festivities.

But they weren’t going to eat all the tamales at once – the food usually lasts for several days.

“Sometimes we’ll have leftovers for the New Year,” Beatrice Cervantes said.

Greg Cervantes’ 19-year-old daughter, Sabrina, was the first of the family’s younger generation to learn and participate in the tamale tradition.

She recalled watching the adults make the tamales and wanting to help, she said.

“We needed big-enough hands to hold (hojas),” Sabrina said, of the corn husks used to wrap the tamales.

The family only eats tamales at Christmas time, Sabrina said.

Greg’s mother, 86-year-old Tony Cervantes, said she could only eat a couple tamales. She plans to be involved with the tradition for as long as possible and hopes her family does the same, she said.

“I plan to stay here until the last day of my life,” Toni Cervantes said.

When are you making lefse?

My daughter-in-law Molly had e-mailed. She was remembering the fun in having many gathered in the kitchen creating lefse last year.

Counting the three busy weekends before Christmas, I picked the week just before Christmas and hoped it would work.

Not only did we make lefse, flatbread was rolled out and baked that day too.

Pre-Christmas Sunday afternoon lefse making is a family tradition. Once I discovered making lefse was easier with two workers, a roller and a cooker, I’d enlisted the help of my children.

My sons made a game out of it, counting the number of lefse rounds each cooked, making sure in due time another brother took his turn – of course, it had to be fair. I was always the roller.

This tradition has evolved through the years. Although I can’t pick exactly when it started, I do know how.

My Grandma Voxland always made lefse for Christmas – it was devoured by the cousins. My mom was not a lefse maker. So I learned on my own, much later.

After reading an informative how-to newspaper story I found courage to try the difficult task.

“No Fail Lefse,” the story was titled. One needn’t have fancy equipment, but having a pastry cloth stretched around a board on which to roll the lefse dough very thin was important.

I took the large wooden drawing board once used for my design classes, and thumb-tacked a rectangular pastry cloth around it. Not having a real lefse griddle was not a problem either, one could use a pancake griddle right on the stove.

So this was my first set-up. The recipe didn’t involve a laborious potato peeling procedure. No, Betty Crocker came to the rescue, and supplied easy to cook potato buds used in the “no fail” recipe. A plain round rolling pin covered with a pastry sock would sufficiently roll out the dough.

Over time I have gradually acquired better equipment. A real lefse stick for lifting the rolled out lefse circles from the cloth to the griddle was my first purchase. Currently, my ensemble includes a Bethany lefse griddle, a special round board fitted with a pastry cloth, and a rolling pin carved with indentations – a real lefse rolling pin.

Not only have I outfitted myself, I’ve given my daughter and each of my daughter-in-laws their own grooved rolling pin, circle pastry board and lefse stick.

When our day arrived, both Jenna, my other daughter-in-law, and Molly came with their extra equipment, in case we needed more. We did. While the Molly and Jenna team created lefse – as Jenna rolled and Molly cooked, my granddaughter Kylie and I rolled out and baked flat bread.

Kylie is 4, but most of the time she seems older. She amazes me with her insights and determination to do things herself.

One night she had come over and asked for a carrot. After I peeled it for her, we chopped it up and put it in a bowl as she instructed. Then she wanted some broccoli, so I got a bunch out of the fridge. What else, raisins? Ok, and how about some of these sunflower seeds from the pantry cupboard? Yes, she likes raisins and sunflower seeds.

While I was chopping up the broccoli, she was dumping raisins and seeds into the bowl. I suggested one more thing, a stalk of celery? Yes, that was fine. So I chopped one up and she added this. Then a big glob of that white dressing from the refrigerator (mayonnaise.)

Kylie mixed and then she tasted and she liked what she’d created. So did Papa Dale when he came home for his supper. Another evening when she and her dad came visiting while her mom was away, we had to make Kylie’s salad once again.

Kylie is also an expert on making flat bread. We have done it together before.

She positioned her wood stool right beside the cupboard and floured down the round pastry board and rolling pin with her little fingers. She started rolling the first dough piece, but I finished it and lifted it with my extra lefse stick – the handmade one I’d purchased for someone, before realizing I’d already given them one.

She watched carefully and then rolled the next dough very round and very thin, but I lifted it to the pan and popped it into the oven.

I could tell the stick lifting would be next for her. She picked up the stick and as she tried to spear the edge. I explained one needed to hold it more flat to slip it underneath.

In my mind I can see her dad, Tyrel, carefully slipping the lefse stick under a paper thin lefse round, edging it across the expanse, and hoping none of the dough would stick to the cloth as he lifted it up.

Kylie lifted the draped flatbread round over to the cookie sheet.

Of course she could do it, so I also demonstrated rotating the stick to position the remaining half of the dough onto the cookie pan.

Truth be known, flatbread dough is a bit more forgiving than lefse dough, thus good practice for her.

Even a very determined 4 year old got bored with such a repetitious project after a while, and thus Grandma was eventually left to her flatbread project. Meanwhile Kylie moved to the whisking job on the increasingly thick piles of lefse rounds.

We use a pastry brush to gently whisk away excess flour off the cooked rounds.

Kylie likes to be busy and useful too. And she is. I find her very amazing. Of course, I am her grandmother.

After just over a couple hours of intense work, we were done. Jenna had simply continued rolling and Molly cooking until the last round was ready-to-eat lefse. They were amazing too.

And the guys – well they just kind of showed up briefly from time to time and did nothing much.

I think they were out climbing the tree in the backyard to light the star from the east and they sawed off the bottom of the Christmas tree Dale had purchased. They got it positioned in the stand too.

But mostly, they seemed to be watching that video of Logan’s fight once again.

This was a big deal at our house and one that I will tell you more about in a couple of weeks. My son Logan, a mixed martial arts cage fighter, fought his first fight for the UFC in San Diego on Dec. 13, four days before we made lefse.

Both his brothers had gone to California to watch him while the rest of us stayed home and waited.

Molly had called me to say the guys had arrived at the naval base where the fight event was held and were there in the crowd right now… Then, half an hour later she called again and said it was over and Logan had won! He, the underdog, had fought a former marine on a marine base in front of a crowd that booed him and he’d won.

It’s hard to be the mother of a cage fighter, nice to be a mother-in-law to two helpful women, and easy to be the grandmother of Kylie. I am proud of all their accomplishments.

VANDALS rendered some Larne community Christmas trees potentially lethal last year.

There are now question marks over future festive celebrations, after thieves cut off vital transformers, which left some trees ‘live’ and at full mains voltage. In addition, around 2,100 bulbs were taken out and smashed.

The threat to life and the costs incurred have prompted Larne Borough Council to ask community groups to ‘reconsider their desire to hold a Christmas celebration’.

Larne Borough Council’s development committee was appraised of the festive horror stories in a report which revealed that voltage-reducing transformers – worth up to £70 each – were cut from three trees, leaving the wires ‘live’ and at full mains voltage.

In one case the electricity supply came from a private house rather than an NIE supply box. “The act of removing the transformer could have blown the circuits in this house”, the report stated.

One community group had specifically requested that an NIE supply be erected for Christmas 2006 celebrations, “as they were no longer prepared to run the cables from a private house, as the home insurance policy did not cover the house if the window was left open to accommodate the Christmas lights”.

The council arranged for the installation of an electricity supply box, at a cost of £500. “However,” the report revealed, “Vandalism to this particular tree was so bad and so persistent that the community group called Larne Borough Council to have the tree removed before Christmas.”

Councillors heard that the cost to ratepayers of the 18 community Christmas trees, including man hours, maintenance and replacement bulbs, was in the region of £9,170.

They were also informed that the trend for community groups to hold individual switching-on ceremonies impacted on the council budget. “This is considerable, not only in terms of supplying trees and ensuring that electrical work is carried out correctly, but in maintaining these trees during a six-week period over Christmas and New Year”, the report revealed.

The council has written to community groups, asking each to “give serious thought to Christmas 2007 celebrations and to action that you may be able to take at a community level to help prevent vandalism”.

It was recommended that community groups should be more proactive in managing Christmas trees and that trees should be surrounded with “large metal fences similar to that surrounding the one in Broadway”.

Excessive spending over the holiday season meant more than a million bills were not paid by Britons this January, new figures show.

Research from MoneyExpert.com shows hard-up UK residents missed payments on everything from credit cards and mobile phones to utilities and council tax this month – with many bills likely to stay unpaid in February.

“Money is always tight in January,” said MoneyExpert chief executive Sean Gardner.

“Most of us struggle to come to terms with getting paid early in December plus heavy spending over Christmas. It’s a difficult time and this can naturally lead to some people missing a bill payment.”

But the decision not to pay could prove more expensive than many realise.

Some service providers impose fines for missing payments, with the average cost of a missed credit card bill at £12 while skipping council tax bills can result in court appearances and even jail.

“Missing a bill might not seem a big deal but it won’t go away and often you’ll be charged with a fee or extra interest if you don’t pay up,” Mr Gardner said.

“It’s also possible that the service provider will withdraw their product from use, typically with telephone and the internet. So if you know you’ve overlooked a payment, don’t hang around or you’ll pay for it in inconvenience, cost and pure frustration.”

He added: “If you can’t afford to pay all your bills, you might need to consolidate your debts or consider a more affordable repayment plan.

“Our advice is to tell your bank or service provider if you are struggling. The more honest you are, the more they’ll want to help.”

The twinkling lights on Aspen’s Red Mountain, along with the wreaths, lights and garlands strewn through downtown Aspen might have a visitor thinking it’s Christmas Eve instead of February.

Some locals maintain that Aspen is a Christmas town all winter, but others have had enough of decorations and lights.

“Typically we take the holiday lights on the Main Street area down in late January, and then we’ll take the lights down in the commercial core in late February or the beginning of March,” said Stephen Ellsperman, the city’s parks and open space director. But the timing varies with weather and events in the city.

“We try to get through most of the major events in the downtown” with the lights on, Ellsperman said, adding he isn’t aware of any law that says homeowners must take down lights.

Mayor Helen Klanderud said she believes the plastic garlands and decoration stay up later for the Winter X Games and other events.

“I don’t mind them,” Klanderud said. “But there comes a point.”

Steve Purso, a bartender at Little Annie’s Eating House, said the lights transcend the holiday season.

“I like the lights in town,” Purso said. “They’re winter lights, they’re not Christmas lights.”

“They keep the lights up so drunk people don’t fall,” added Sara Beth Trogdon, a Little Annie’s customer visiting from Denver.

“No, they leave the lights up so drunks can see that they’ve already fallen,” Purso quipped.

“This isn’t the real world,” added Pat Deskin, another Little Annie’s employee. “It’s a winter wonderland.”

Michael Daniels, owner of Daniel’s Antiques on the Cooper Street mall, who keeps his decorations up until mid-February, said: “I know some people take them down right away. But Aspen, it’s still cold and snowy. … It’s a Christmas world.”

Others have had enough. Jennifer Blocker, a saleswoman at Paris Underground, took a warm, sunny Saturday to take down the wreaths and garlands from out in front of the shop as they were turning brown and losing their needles.

“I feel like it wasn’t looking fresh,” she said. “It reached the end of its time.”

The bear on the roof of the Hickory House still wears a wreath, the eaves sag with garlands and lights and stick-figure reindeer adorn the porch, but Brian Jack, the restaurant’s general manager, said it’s time they come down.

“Everyone who comes to town is so used to it, they kind of block it out,” Jack said. “I want it down personally. I’m tired of it.”

But Jack said his decorator won’t take the decorations down unless it’s warmer than 30 degrees.

“Hopefully we’ll have it down by March,” he said.

For the past 25 years, Douglas residents have flocked to the home of Dr. Michael Gomez to participate in what has become an annual Christmas event.

Each December, a North Pole scene is set up in the front window of the residence located at 2350 12th Street. Nearly 70 little homes, people, and of course, Santa are part of the wintry scene, but that’s not the only thing people come out to see.

A little pig named Hampton hidden in the North Pole scenery is the biggest attraction of all.

That is, if you can find him.

Hampton the Pig is hidden somewhere in the North Pole, and he needs to be found. If Hampton is found, there is a chance to win some holiday cash.

This is how it works: If you are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of Hampton, you will write down on a provided card where you saw him in addition to your contact information. All cards will be placed in a box.

On Tuesday, December 26, at a time yet to be determined, a drawing of all the correct answers will be held to determine 3 winners.

1st place will receive $25.00, 2nd place will receive $15.00, and 3rd place will receive $10.00.

The window is currently open and will be open every night through Christmas, and all are invited to come up to take a look.

Starting tonight from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., and running through Christmas, there will be popcorn and other treats served to all those who come out to search for this celebrity pig.

Music and lights also accompany the North Pole scene for the enjoyment of everyone, from little children to the elderly.

Classic Christmas films like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” have won a memorable place in movie history with viewers, and this year the films are celebrating big-time anniversaries.

The well-loved animated version of the Grinch first came to life in 1966, with the precisely crafted words by Dr. Seuss: “Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas … perhaps … means a little bit more,” telling the Grinch story in rhyme that seems to appeal to all ages.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the cartoon classic. But it doesn’t stop there.
“It’s A Wonderful Life,” starring Jimmy Stewart, turns 60 in 2006, and the cult classic “A Christmas Story” received added attention recently when the house featured in the 1983 movie was restored as a museum.

But what then, makes a Christmas movie a holiday tradition? Is there a formula movie-makers follow to guarantee a blockbuster?

The North Tahoe Family Resource Center decided to have a showing of “A Christmas Story” on Dec. 22. Staff at the center talked about what movie to show, and conversations kept revolving around “A Christmas Story,” said Sarah Coolidge, resource coordinator for the center.

“It’s very real and what Christmas is really like,” Coolidge said.

Coolidge said she watches the Christmas comedy at home every year and can relate to “living in the Midwest” as a child. “A Christmas Story” depicts the life of a Cleveland, Ohio family of four as the Christmas holiday approaches and finally arrives.

Iconic absurdities like the “Old Man’s leg lamp,” and colorful characters like “Ralphie,” who is told he can’t have a Red Rider BB gun because “you’ll shoot you’re eye out,” make the movie memorable, Coolidge said.

The scene where Ralphie’s little brother, Randy, “falls in the snow and can’t get up is so funny,” Coolidge said. Movies like “A Christmas Story” and “It’s A Wonderful Life” are classics this time of year because they’re really about family, she said.

At Barbara Cramer’s home in Nevada City, “The Grinch” is a Christmas tradition with her children and grandchildren. On Christmas morning, Cramer said, “we open presents together and then put in the tape and watch it together.” She said her favorite part of the movie is “at the end how everything is great” and “you just hope everything is like that” on Christmas.

In the last five years, close to 6.4 million viewers tuned in to watch “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” on television.

However, not everyone celebrates the holidays by watching movies.
“I didn’t have a TV growing up,” said Jakob Foley of Truckee. “I get together with my family.”

But for people like Foley and others, it’s never too late to consider starting a new Christmas tradition. Eight-year-old Maddison Paul of Truckee said she waits to see the new holiday movies every year, and this year recommends “The Santa Clause 3” for youngsters.

THERE is so much excitement and pressure leading up to Christmas that it’s amazing how fast the festivities come and go. Once the hustle subsides and you resume your natural pace, you just may find that early January is the perfect time to start thinking about next Christmas – and to get a few other things done, too.

1. Wrap up left overs: Food storage bags, particularly of the freezer-proof variety, can prove invaluable. Portion out remaining holiday treats into bags and mark the contents on them and then pop into the freezer. This is more practical than trying to consume all of the left overs before they spoil, and much more figure-friendly as well.

2. Make a greeting card list: There are likely the standard people with whom you correspond, but do you find that each year a certain individual sends you a greeting to which you forget to reciprocate? While all of your holiday cards are hanging in full view, make a list of the people who sent you cards. Keep the list handy because you’ll soon be storing it away.

3. Shop the sales: Some people just love the bargains that post-Christmas has to offer and are not bothered by the long lines at area stores. If you are still in the shopping spirit, by all means go out and spend your holiday loot. You can also log onto your favorite online retailers and check the sales there.

4. Stock up for next year: If the malls aren’t your thing right now, consider stopping by a pharmacy, card shop or discount center that has slashed prices on holiday merchandise. You can purchase new lights, wrapping paper, decorations and much more usually at a deep discount. While you’re at it, buy your greeting cards now. When you get home, wrap them up with the list you made and store away in your Christmas bins.

5. Stick to New Year’s resolutions: Ones that stray from the standards of losing weight or quitting smoking (although those are very valid resolutions) are more exciting and may motivate you to stick to them. Some ideas include volunteer work, spending more time with the kids or taking up a relaxing hobby.

6. Start a family tradition: Chances are the kids and you have off from school and work. Make the most of this rare time together to do something fun. Take in a movie, visit a zoo or indoor aquarium or hit the hills with a sled.

7. Pack up: While it may be too early for some to let go of their holiday decorations, others are busy and use the time to pack up the Christmas clutter. Stock up on some large plastic bins and resolve to clearly label everything as you put it away. This will make it much easier come next year.

8. Put materials to good use: Have empty wrapping paper tubes lying around? Wrap Christmas lights around them and secure each end with tape. Carefully pack them away so the lights won’t be tangled for next use. Used wrapping paper that is not in good condition for re-wrapping gifts can serve as packing material between delicate ornaments. Paper that doesn’t have a holiday theme can be set aside for wrapping gifts for other occasions.

9. Shop for big-ticket items: Now is a good time to look for a car or that big electronic item. Think ahead to your Super Bowl party and splurge on the flat-panel television.

10. Kick back and relax: Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all. Relish the joy of another successful holiday gone by.

Concerns over potential traffic backups is stalling an attempt to construct a new Christmas Tree Shop and Bed, Bath & Beyond on Durgin Lane.

The Technical Advisory Committee on Tuesday tabled the project to build the two businesses and a third as-of-yet unnamed retail store at the site of the existing Home Depot. The home improvement store is building a new facility at the old Portsmouth Circle Business Center.

Deputy Police Chief Len DiSesa said he worried about the additional traffic the project would generate, especially the volume visiting the Christmas Tree Shop. DiSesa said the stores could cause vehicle backups through the intersection of Durgin Lane, Woodbury Avenue and the access road to BJ’s Wholesale Club.

“This is going to be a mess of an intersection and the potential of it becoming a bottlejam is a major concern for us,” he said.

The committee also wanted to see proposed signs directing traffic to the new plaza.

Dave Palumbo, who lives on nearby Echo Avenue, said he fears travelers going to and from the new plaza will use a cut-through from a nearby auto dealership “Their traffic is going to be horrendous and we’ve got a lot of children on the street,” he said.

The developer’s attorney, Malcolm McNeill, said he believes traffic at the current Home Depot and the new Christmas Tree Shop would essentially be a wash and felt his client should only be concerned about the Bed, Bath & Beyond and the to-be-determined retail tenant.

The developer has suggested adding a center turning lane to Durgin Lane.

The committee seemed pleased with the revised plans overall.

“Outside of traffic, we’re largely there,” said Planning Director David Holden.

The Traffic and Safety Committee will review the project next month.

A Metro East woman who’s nearly nine months pregnant and whose husband is serving in Iraq says she’s at a loss to explain why she was ordered to take down her house’s Christmas lights or be fined 75 dollars.
Melissa Neitzel was among 32 Bethalto residents who received citations last week as part of the ten-thousand-resident village’s crackdown on so-called “junked-up yards” that violate zoning ordinances.

If residents don’t heed the warnings, the village would clean out the yards and charge the resident.

Bethalto’s mayor says there are local service groups to help people such as Neitzel, who also has a nine-month-old daughter.

The police chief says he doesn’t anticipate fining anyone for Christmas light violations, and that he’s giving residents another month to take down the lights.

Many Christians around the world decorate their homes for the Christmas holiday. In addition to the traditional Christmas tree, many people put decorated wreaths on their door. These celebratory wreaths can trace their roots back long before the birth of Jesus Christ, whose birth is celebrated on Christmas day. For producer Nadia Madjid, VOA’s Jim Bertel has more on the holiday tradition of Christmas wreaths.

At this time of year, many houses and buildings in the United States are decorated with Christmas wreaths. This tradition of adorning doors and walls with decorative wreaths dates back to the 7th century B.C. when wreaths made of tree branches were used to crown the winners of the Olympic games. No one really knows how or when the head ornament became a wall decoration. Many speculate it occurred when athletes hung their awards on the wall as a memento of victory.

Today wreaths are made from any number of things and decorated in many ways. Wreath making classes are offered each year at the Tudor Place Historic House and Garden in Washington, DC. Spokeswoman Emily Rusch. “Our wreath making workshop has been going on for a few years, and it’s grown in popularity every year. And it’s very rewarding to look at the wreath on your door and say ‘yes, I made that!’”

Kim Shaw and John Zimmer say the wreath-making workshop is a great way to get ready for the holidays. Kims says everyone gets in the spirit of Christmas. “I think it gets everybody in the Christmas spirit, the holiday spirit.” John adds, “It’s my first time, but it won’t be my last, though. I think we might be back next year, maybe bring some friends.”

The wreath makers have different levels of experience and some, like Kim Shaw, are not afraid to learn from others. “I saw her idea over there and I thought it was really cute, so I’m going to give it a shot. So I’m putting some things together and see what I get. Hmm, I don’t know, there are so many options!”

And John Zimmer is happy with his results. “Very proud!”

So is Kim Shaw “With pride! Yes! Yes! It’s so much more fun to make it than it is to buy it.”

It is Schaak’s decorations that catch peoples’ eyes: A Christmas tree on the back of his head.

The decoration starts with a patch of hair that is shaved into tree shapes and painstakingly decorated for the Saturday before Christmas.

“The things I do for attention,” Schaak said, mocking himself. Laughing or grinning through it all, Schaak said the one-day adornment is just a lot of fun. Friends at church look forward to seeing the trees and strangers on the street will “audibly gasp,” he said, when they see it.

Sometimes it takes a minute for people to figure out what they are seeing, then they will ask “what is that?” he said. When Schaak explains “well, it’s my hair,” on-lookers become even more amazed.

It took Schaak’s wife, Jan, about 45 minutes to get the three trees in this year’s hair “forest” decorated. She started by painting the hair with green acrylic paint. Once the paint dried, she applied dots of Super Glue to affix a string of tiny Christmas lights.

“They’re stuck on his head, for sure,” Jan Schaak said.

The lights are on a battery pack that Schaak carries in his shirt pocket. Teeny bulbs, about one-quarter inch in diameter hang from the string of lights that zig-zag the tree.

Schaak usually has one tree but this year three trees were shaved.

“You gotta grow the forest and then you clear cut it to get the Christmas trees,” he said.

The center tree was decorated while the other two were sprinkled with “snow.” Jan Schaak made the snow by grating a Styrofoam ball. The sparkling bits of Styrofoam didn’t want to stick with glue on the painted hair so she used hairspray to help them stick.

Five iridescent snowflakes were glued to the bald crown of Schaak’s head over the trees.

Schaak’s effort starts the day after Thanksgiving when he begins growing a patch of hair on the back of his head, which is usually shaved bald. An ever-receding hairline is taking its toll on the trees.

“We’re losing the forest,” Jan Schaak teased.

“Since 2002, I’ve lost about an inch,” Schaak said and added with a laugh that eventually there will be just a bush and then a hedge.

Congregants at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, where Schaak is head deacon, look forward to seeing his “trees” at services on the Saturday before Christmas. When he started sprouting the square of hair for this year’s decorations, Schaak had fun telling people he was growing a comb-over.

He used to have the trees done on Friday and leave them decorated for two days. But when he added the lights, that ended up in a sleepless night from the cord tangling and lights catching and tearing at his hair — so now the ornamentation is limited to Saturday.

The glued-on decorations are removed with a quick yank.

“That’s my favorite part!” Schaak’s daughter, Emilee, 11, said with a giggle. “I like seeing the bald spots in the trees.”

“I cringe all the way through it,” Jan Schaak said.

Schaak insists that it’s less painful than the frustration of waiting for her to snip the hair and try to dissolve the glue.

Schaak compared ripping off the lights to taking an adhesive bandage off a hairy arm — the quicker the better.

“It hurts that much,” he said with a snap of the fingers.

Once the decorations are off, Schaak shaves off the green-painted hair. There is some sting when he puts on after shave, Schaak said.

There are red spots that show where the glue was affixed to his skin.

The head-decorating tradition is about 12 years old, Schaak said. It dates back to when he worked as a detention officer at the jail in Bozeman and agreed to let the woman who cut his hair shave in bars. That Christmas, she suggested cutting in a tree.

“I said, ‘Sweet. Sure,’ ” Schaak said.

People took notice of Schaak’s head while he walked in downtown Bozeman at the town’s Christmas stroll.

“The attention I got was addicting,” he said.

Over the years, Schaak has had hearts in February and shamrocks in March.

“Maybe I should put a flag in,” Schaak said.

On Saturday, he relished the fun of people noticing the trees. After a stop at Rand’s Custom Hats, the family was going to see Schaak’s sister for a viewing.

“We may go some other place and walk around just to watch the reactions,” Schaak said.

The city’s Musical Fountain Committee has decided to take on a Spring Lake Township man’s Christmas light show that attracted tens of thousands of people to his home late last year.

Fountain committee Chairman Roger Jonas said the committee decided Tuesday that it would form a subcommittee to oversee the light display in a location somewhere in Grand Haven. Potential sites have been narrowed down to Harbor Island and Dewey Hill, he said.

“It’s designed to be, through donations, to raise funds for a charity and for the Musical Fountain, and that’s why we felt it belonged under our committee,” Jonas explained.

The display was created by Brad Boyink and operated at his home on Heather Court in Spring Lake Township for the first time last year. He estimates around 60,000 people visited the display between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, and donations in that five-week period resulted in $20,038 that Boyink gave to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan. He said there may be more donations that were made online through the foundation’s Web site, www.wishmich.org.

While the donations made the show a success, the high traffic it brought to Boyink’s neighborhood created a safety problem, and he decided it needed a more public location in 2007. In fact, he closed it a few days early because of the traffic.

“It was getting too dangerous,” he told the Tribune for a Dec. 30 story. “People were crossing the double yellow line on West Spring Lake Road, and we actually had someone drive down the bike path — and there were people on it.”

Boyink has been the technical adviser for Grand Haven’s Musical Fountain since May 2006, and he talked to Jonas about the committee absorbing the Christmas light display.

“It became very apparent that if I wanted to do it again, I would have to move it to another location,” Boyink said Wednesday. “I looked at other area parks, and Grand Haven had the only one I thought would work. … It really needed to be under a city’s control because of the liability issue, having a better location to expand, and it made the most logical choice being under the Musical Fountain Committee because they already deal with (a similar) production.”

Boyink said he is pushing to put the display on Harbor Island. He said adding the light display to Dewey Hill in December would interfere with the giant Nativity Scene, a tradition there since 1964. In addition, the scale of the light show on the hill would have to be greatly enlarged to be viewed from across the river, which Boyink said would be cost prohibitive.

Jonas said having the show on Dewey Hill would give the city a new “major tourist attraction” to promote, and the island location is not part of the Musical Fountain Committee’s dominion.

The next step, Boyink said, is to get approval from City Council. Once that happens, he plans to find corporate sponsors so there is no city money paying for the display’s operation, something both Jonas and Boyink said was essential.

Boyink also plans to keep the display affiliated with the Michigan Make-A-Wish Foundation as a contribution source for the children’s charity.

Building the new display will be expensive, but using commercial-grade lighting can be cost-effective in the long run, Boyink said.

“The first year could cost $50,000 to $70,000 to do it right,” he said.

But Boyink said the higher-grade LED lights he used last year at his home are cheaper to operate than common Christmas lights. He said his electric bill for December, while operating the big light display at this home, was just over $100 — or 20-percent less than December 2005 when he ran a display of giant inflatables.

A video of Boyink’s display from last month is available to download from the Musical Fountain’s Web site: www.ghmfsoftware.com/lights. Boyink said he plans to add new footage of the display to the site this weekend.

Primedia Face 2 Face annually give our non-profit organisation Carryou Ministry and all the orphans they care for, the best Christmas we possibly could! So ho-ho-ho and off we went!

“Through the years we all will be together, if the Fates allow. Hang a shining star upon the highest bough. And have yourself a merry little Christmas now” – Hugh Martin, Ralph Blane

Every year we take some of the pressure off Carryou Ministry and give the orphans a day filled with snacks, food, toys and most off all, all the love we have to give! Relying heavily on the giving and supportive spirits of the community and our client to help make this possible, we set out to make this the best Christmas yet!

Having catered for the 250 orphans, we never anticipated the 30 extra children we had there for the day, called “our STAFF”. The atmosphere was one filled with the innocence and pure excitement that only Christmas brings. From the start, when the buses arrived at the Methodist Church in Randfontein to the dance competition at the end-it was truly a fun filled experience.

The best part, as we should have guessed, was the arrival of Santa Clause and a couple of helper elves! Each child was given a toy and a hug from the Big Man, making it a truly special moment as their smiles proved. Appreciation for the little things in life was a lesson that all of us here at Primedia Face 2 Face learned.

With the help of our sponsors we were able to create not only a remarkable day for the Children, but an Unforgettable experience for the staff and helpers at Carryou Ministry. Primedia Face 2 Face had the great pleasure of giving them a shopping spree for food and much needed electrical appliances to make the New Year start with a worriless Bang!

The twelve days of Christmas traditionally end on Three Kings Day, January 6th. On Tuesday, February 6th, many homeowners still had not taken down their Christmas lights. They blamed the season’s snowstorms and cold weather. Many homeowners associations have decided to give homeowners a break.

“I was waiting to get a phone call, I’m glad it hasn’t come yet,” said Jeff Hoffmeister. For about a month, he has been procrastinating on packing away his Christmas lights.

He blamed the wild weather. “You know we’ve had a lot of snow here. I just haven’t wanted to get up on the roof yet.”

Mary Anne Miller has also been putting it off. “We have just a couple of wreaths to take down and we left the lights on one of our trees, but because of the snow we couldn’t get to it,” she said.

Fortunately for Hoffmeister and Miller, the Flying Horse Homeowners Association has been patient. “They’ve gotten more snow than other parts of town, without a doubt,” said Chuck Fowler, Flying Horse HOA Manager.

But as the snow melts, that patience is wearing thin. “I’m sure some people are just being lazy about it,” Fowler said.

Hoffmeister said his lights would come down over the weekend. “So if you come back and do a follow up story, you shouldn’t see any lights on the house,” he said.

The Flying Horse HOA uses a January 15th guideline for removing Christmas lights. But it is not a covenant, so on a case by case basis, homeowners have a little more flexibility.

However, the HOA plans to soon send a courtesy letter, strongly recommending homeowners remove those lights within a couple of weeks.

This is a story about heroism.

My mother-in-law, “Grammy” to our family, nearly 90 years old, lived in our family room for two months after suffering an onset of Dementia of Lewy Bodies. Similar to Alzheimer’s disease, the symptoms include Sundowner’s Syndrome, the expression of beliefs (usually surfacing in the evening) held desperately by the patient no matter how absurd they sound to a relatively clear-thinking observer.

For days, Grammy had been talking about a Mongolian boy who long ago my wife had adopted. Over a week or two, she had concocted an entire symphony of circumstances, played for us movement by movement, the crescendo exploding one Tuesday night in mid-December.

As the two women sat drinking their tea and watching CNN after dinner, Grammy casually announced, “The concert is tonight.”

“What concert?” Assurance asked.

“The concert your adopted son is giving you for Christmas. He’s coming home from the army tonight to sing for you.”

“Where did he come from?”

“You picked him up at the train station.”

“We have to go now,” Grammy insisted a minute later. “We don’t want to be late.”

I left the dishes and sat down next to the bespectacled, slight woman, her stooped back and sunken cheeks an illustration from a book of fairy tales. I had tried to be upbeat, knowing dementia patients reflected the spirit of those around them: happy met happy, bitter met bitter. However, one’s patience wears thin.

“Grammy,” I said sternly, “there is no Mongolian boy. There is no concert. You’re not thinking clearly. We have two children, neither adopted.”

“The concert is in the church across the street from that big church in St. Charles,” she explained.

“St. John Newman’s,” Assurance identified.

“The only thing across the street that’s close to a church,” I suggested, “is Borders.”

“Heh, heh, heh,” she chuckled at the idiot. “It’s there.” And with that, she began to push herself up and out of her chair.

Assurance stood up. “OK, we’ll go,” she said not angrily, but joyfully.

“What?” I exclaimed, horrified she was giving into fantasies. “It’s cold out. It’s 7:30.”

“The concert,” Grammy reminded me, “is his present for his foster mother.”

“We’ll drive around and look at Christmas lights,” Assurance whispered to me on the way out. “It’s better than just sitting around here.”

One hour passed. Another. When they finally got home, with Grammy back in her wingback, mollified, Assurance motioned me into the living room.

“How was the concert?” I asked.

“Oh my gosh,” she stared, her eyes wide, and related the story:

They had driven to St. John Newman’s church. Assurance tried the front door. Finding it locked, she reported the news to Grammy, expecting to go home, but the old woman pointed vaguely. “I saw people going around back.”

To placate her, Assurance pushed the wheelchair down a walk and discovered a door that, when tried, unfortunately opened. Inside, they roamed up and down deserted hallways until happening upon the grand, lofty-ceilinged room where Sunday services were held. They sat in the front pew and waited in silence thick as a bishop’s cloak for 45 minutes.

All of a sudden the side door burst open, and in burst more than a dozen boys, girls, men and women, all with Eastern features. Assurance’s jaw dropped. Grammy surely looked each one over carefully, and not seeing her adopted Mongolian grandson, must have been awed at how many of his friends had come to sing backup for him.

As they milled about the stage, Assurance found someone who told her in broken English that this Philippine choir was rehearsing for a concert next Friday. Of course, she and her mother were welcome to stay.

The star attraction never showed. One singer’s mother, a social worker, helped convince Grammy he wouldn’t be coming tonight, so, disappointed but relieved she had made the effort, she finally agreed to go home.

This is a story about heroism because the first hero, my wife, bravely and lovingly struck out in the cold to track down a figment of her mother’s imagination in order to allay her longing and anxiety.

The second hero, Grammy, committed herself to a cause she believed would bring joy and fulfillment to her daughter. Although misguided, her mission carried a Christmas reality endearing and comforting as any child laying in a manger on a silent night in December, surrounded by an angelic choir of low-braying donkeys and the muffled taps of one loan drummer boy bringing the only gift he had for his Savior.

There is so much excitement and pressure leading up to Christmas that it’s amazing how fast the festivities come and go. Once the hustle subsides and you resume your natural pace, you just may find that December 26 is the perfect time to start thinking about next Christmas – and to get a few other things done, too.

1. Wrap up left overs: Food storage bags, particularly of the freezer-proof variety, can prove invaluable. Portion out remaining holiday treats into bags and mark the contents on them and then pop into the freezer. This is more practical than trying to consume all of the left overs before they spoil, and much more figure-friendly as well.

2. Make a greeting card list: There are likely the standard people with whom you correspond, but do you find that each year a certain individual sends you a greeting to which you forget to reciprocate? While all of your holiday cards are hanging in full view, make a list of the people who sent you cards. Keep the list handy because you’ll soon be storing it away.

3. Shop the sales: Some people just love the bargains that post-Christmas has to offer and are not bothered by the long lines at area stores. If you are still in the shopping spirit, by all means go out and spend your holiday loot. You can also log onto your favorite online retailers and check the sales there.

4. Stock up for next year: If the malls aren’t your thing right now, consider stopping by a pharmacy, card shop or discount center that has slashed prices on holiday merchandise. You can purchase new lights, wrapping paper, decorations and much more usually at a deep discount. While you’re at it, buy your greeting cards now. When you get home, wrap them up with the list you made and store away in your Christmas bins.

7. Pack up: While it may be too early for some to let go of their holiday decorations, others are busy and use the time to pack up the Christmas clutter. Stock up on some large plastic bins and resolve to clearly label everything as you put it away. This will make it much easier come next year.

8. Put materials to good use: Have empty wrapping paper tubes lying around? Wrap Christmas lights around them and secure each end with tape. Carefully pack them away so the lights won’t be tangled for next use. Used wrapping paper that is not in good condition for rewrapping gifts can serve as packing material between delicate ornaments. Paper that doesn’t have a holiday theme can be set aside for wrapping gifts for other occasions.

9. Shop for big-ticket items: Now is a good time to look for a car or that big electronic item. Think ahead to your Super Bowl party and splurge on the flat-panel television.

10. Kick back and relax: Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing at all. Relish the joy of another successful holiday gone by.

Burrill Lake residents Shane and Pam Roche spend days decorating their home every year for Christmas.

They do it for the fun and to see the smiles on kiddies’ faces.

This year, the couple received an added bonus, and were the winners of the Times Newspaper Up in Lights competition, receiving a $200 Bendigo Bank account from the Milton branch.

“We are so pleased to have won,” Shane said.

“We really didn’t do it to win, we just appreciate seeing our neighbours and children enjoy it.

“Our neighbours always thank us for the effort we go to, and carloads pull up out the front.

“We had a little blond curly haired girl in her pyjamas make her mum get her out of the car to see the display.

“She had her little face peeping through the fence and just looked so cute.

“That is our reward,” he said.

Shane and Pam normally give out lollies to the children and last year bought out GoLo’s Christmas hats and gave them away to the children who come to gape in awe at the magnificent display of lights and activity within their front yard.

“I have added to the display this year,” Shane said.

“I bought a slippery dip from the tip for $5 and spent some time drilling holes and attaching two reindeer to it, making them appear to be sliding down the slippery dip.

“It looks magic at night.

“Seeing the children’s faces is really fantastic,” he said.

The Roches were in Batemans Bay purchasing more Christmas lights when the Times called them to say they were the winners of this year’s Up in Lights competition.

“I think we will save the new lights for next year,” Shane laughed.

Heather Horner of Cascade decorated the outside of her family’s home with Christmas lights when she was in seventh grade.

Now 19, Horner says those lights have never been taken down.

“We’re lazy and it’s cold outside,” Horner joked on Wednesday. “(And) they still work.”

Each Christmas, hundreds of Sheboygan residents adorn their homes with outdoor lights to spread joy and holiday cheer throughout their neighborhoods. But some say that kind of Christmas spirit can wear out its welcome.

There are lots of stories about people who leave their outdoor Christmas lights up and on until the warm summer months, but when exactly is the right time to take the lights down?

Pamela Holland, an etiquette expert with BRODY Professional Development and coauthor of “Help! Was That a Career Limiting Move?,” said the protocol for removing Christmas lights is “subject for debate.”

“New Year’s Day is sort of the magical day when many people aren’t working, they have time and down come the lights,” Holland said.

But, there are several reasons to leave Christmas lights up: The 12 days of Christmas goes beyond the first of the year, Russians celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, Christmas lights distract people from the bleakness of winter, families of soldiers fighting overseas leave lights up until they return safely and so on.

But that aside, Holland says there’s a limit.

“I really feel, unless you’re in that kind of gray area of knowing, and your neighbors know, you’ve got a loved one who’s due home, that anytime after that first week of January … is a little too much,” Holland said.

When is the right time to pull down the lights? It depends on whom you ask.

City of Sheboygan crews take down the city’s decorations early in the New Year, said David Biebel, interim public works director, because leaving them up in the harsh winter weather could damage the lights.

“Having those decorations up in the cold and the wind, they really take a beating,” Biebel said. “If the weather’s good, we’ll take them down right away. We will cut power to them if we can’t get them down, and then it’s just a matter of systematically getting at them and taking them down between jobs.”

Brandon Meulbroek, 22, of Sheboygan, whose lighting display at 4830 Ferndale Court was a first-place winner in this year’s Outdoor Home Decorating Contest, sponsored by Alliant Energy and The Sheboygan Press, said he’d take down his family’s decorations shortly after New Year’s Day.

“We have too much stuff to leave up for too long, and the electric bill is too high,” Meulbroek said, adding the electric bill goes up about $100 a month because of the lights. “Plus, the season is over and (the lights) have been up since Thanksgiving.”

Several people, when asked, said they didn’t care about how long holiday lights are up, as long as they aren’t too bright.

“Leave them up all year if you want to,” said Jean Uhlarik, 71, of Sheboygan. “But if they’re bright lights and your whole house is decorated, then just don’t turn them on.”

But some do find lengthy lighters offensive.

“It’s annoying,” said Karen Budworth, 30, of Sheboygan. “After New Year’s is when you should take them down. After New Year’s the whole holiday season is over with. It’s time to take them down.”

Laura Klemme, 19, of Plymouth, who was out shopping with Horner on Wednesday, said her own family approaches Christmas decorating much differently than her friend.

“My dad would put (lights) up the day before Christmas and we would take them down right after Christmas,” said Klemme, 19, of Plymouth. “I like that because it didn’t ruin Christmas. You weren’t sitting there going, ‘I’ve seen this for a month. It’s not special.’”

Meanwhile, Horner said her family usually doesn’t turn its Christmas lights on in the summer, and sometimes forgets to illuminate them during the holidays. But as of right now, she said the family doesn’t have any plans to take them down.

“We just don’t care,” Horner said with a laugh.

When it comes to lighting the way for Joseph and Mary to reach safety in Bethlehem it is to the Irish we look.

Sister of Charity of the Incarnate Word Michele Curtin told the Intermountain Catholic the Christmas Eve lighting of the tall, thin Christmas candle by the father of the family warms the whole Irish home.

“Then, we light many small candles for each of the windows to light the way for Joseph and Mary, should they be looking for a place to stay,” she said. “Looking at the town from the outside, one would see thousands of little lights leading the way.”

Immediately after the Christmas candle is lit, the entire family kneels before the crib, a staple in every Irish Catholic home, and prays for the needy and those who help them.

“The crib, instead of being filled with hay, is filled with mountain laurel, which makes a nice, soft bed for the baby Jesus,” she said. “And our home was decorated with holly, laurel, and Celtic art by Brian O’Higgins, who was also a poet.”

Born in County Cork in the south of Ireland, Sr. Michele grew up on a farm, the youngest of four children.

“I used to beg my mother to let me go to Midnight Mass when I was young. She would tell me, ‘When it’s warm enough for the crow to stick out his tongue, you can go.’”

The last Christmas Sr. Michele spend in County Cork was in 1947, before she entered her order at the age of 15. Inspired by St. Therese of Liseaux, Sr. Michele though if the saint could enter an order at so young an age, so could she.

Sr. Michele fondly recalls roast goose stuffed with potato and onion stuffing, and trifle for dessert.

“I still make trifle,” she said. “Today, we go down to the store and buy a plum pudding. When I was a child, Santa would put gifts in our stockings. They were always things we needed.”