JLC Member Holiday Traditions
Oh the holidays – a time for decorating, addressing cards, attending parties, shopping, cooking, giving to the community, and sharing time with friends and family. This time of year is rooted in tradition – either the traditions we’ve carried forward from our childhood, or “new” traditions we’ve created in adulthood. As new little ones emerge on the scene, and their little eyes light up with the joy of the holiday spirit, it seems that we all look for new ways to carry on these traditions or create new ones. So we thought it’d be fun to ask our own members…
What is your favorite holiday tradition or memory?
“I grew up just outside New York City, and my family really took advantage of being so close to the city. My favorite holiday memories were going into NYC to see the tree at Rockefeller Center and walking up and down Fifth Avenue to see the holiday windows and St Patrick’s Cathedral. It was so fun to be able to be part of New York during such a wonderful time when everything was decorated, and the sights, sounds and smells all reflected the holiday. We’d always go someplace special for dinner or see a show, and we were so lucky that we were able to do that.”
– Lauren Imrich
– Hometown: Wyckoff, New Jersey
– JLC Member Since 2006
“One of my favorite holiday traditions is sending Christmas cards to friends and family. I love to send them, but I love to receive them even more!”
– Name: Katie Katzman
– Hometown: Williamston, NC
– JLC Member since 2007
“Helping to prepare and serve lunch to the guests at the Urban Ministry Center on Christmas Eve has become an important tradition for our family in recent years. We first volunteered to serve together with good friends (and JLC sustainer) Linda and Jim Wallace when our two daughters and their three children were home from college. Now in their thirties, our daughters participate when they can (one now lives in Colorado) and we have been joined by the family of our son-in-law (whose mother is another JLC sustainer, Judy Gaines!) To be able to offer these neighbors a hot bowl of homemade soup and sandwiches along with a warm greeting has become for us a meaningful way to celebrate Christmas. We then enjoy each other’s company over a simple lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant!”
– Elizabeth Chaplin
– Hometown: Petersburg, VA
– JLC Member since 1976
“Growing up on a family farm in the Midwest, snow was a hit or miss, and while my friends at school longed for a White Christmas, I would pray for NO snow on Christmas Day. Snow to my family meant Dad spent the day feeding hay to the cows and couldn’t help us put a new toy together! Since our family raises beef cattle, it’s a tradition to enjoy prime rib on Christmas day. Beef… It’s what’s for Christmas dinner!”
– Crystal Mathews
– Hometown: Carthage, MO
– JLC Member since 2011 and transfer from Amarillo, TX
“My favorite Christmas tradition is going to Christmas Eve service at church with my family followed by traditional Texas chili, cornbread and Grandma’s fudge for dessert. My sister and I also have a yearly viewing of White Christmas… even if we are states apart when it happens.”
– Liz Farrar
– Hometown: Austin, TX
– JLC Member since 2012 and transfer from Austin
“When I was asked about holiday tradition, I immediately thought of a fun and totally 80s CD, ‘Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Christmas.’ We listened to this CD yearly when I was young and I continue this tradition with my husband. We laugh about it every year but still have to listen to this classic CD. Wishing all JLC members and your families a very safe and happy holiday!”
– Hope Kelly
– Hometown: Charlotte, NC
– JLC Member since 2010
“My holiday traditions are centered around the Morris family….Sally Morris, a league sustainer, and her husband Joe. They are like my brother and sister since I have few blood family connections left. Their girls — Alicia Morris (a JLC active) and Jaime Morris Pearman — have always been like my nieces. Their mother identifies me as the family’s “Auntie Mame,” and I’m continuing to uphold the title with Sally and Joe’s granddaughters, Hayden and Riley Pearman aged 8 and 6. For many years the Morris family has welcomed me into all their family traditions. They are proof that “you can pick your friends, but not your relatives.” I’ll be with them this holiday season as I have in the past 38 years.”
– Fran Mathay
– Hometown: Youngstown, OH
– JLC Member since 1973 and transfer from JL in Youngtown, OH where she joined in 1967
“My favorite two traditions are going to the latest church service Christmas Eve so it’s after midnight and Christmas Day when we leave and staying in our pajamas all morning on Christmas Day and having a huge breakfast… I can’t wait to start new ones this year with my own daughter!”
– Emily Agnew
– Hometown: Cary, NC
– JLC Member since 2009
From our Bloggers:
“As a kid, my parents, brother and I would pour ourselveseep into my dad’s old 1970’s standard cab pickup truck. I’d share a lap belt with my dad, and my brother would share with my mom. (Ah – the days before car safety!) We played Christmas music on the radio as we drove on down to the local Christmas tree lot to pick out the tree. We’d spend an hour at the lot looking at every tree, turning them and turning them, until we finally found one that we could all agree on, then return to the house where we trimmed the tree, ate cookies and enjoyed some eggnog. Making an entire evening out of picking out our tree and decorating it made our Christmas tree so meaningful and a true centerpiece to our holiday. It’s something I definitely look forward to doing with my own son as he gets a little older – well, minus the sharing of seatbelts.”
– Sara Sprague
– Hometown: DeLand, FL
– JLC Member since 2012
“Our family has always read the real Christmas story out of the Bible on Christmas Eve before bed.”
– Deanna Stephens
– Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA
– JLC Member since 2004
“We always have bacon-wrapped water chestnuts Christmas Eve. We always open presents from family on Christmas Eve and only open presents from Santa on Christmas Day.
Recipe: 1 8oz can water chestnuts, drained ¼ cup soy sauce 8 slices bacon, cut in half.
Soak water chestnuts in soy sauce for 1 hour.
Drain and wrap bacon around the water chestnuts with toothpicks.
Arrange on a cake rack in a shallow baking pan, or something that allows the grease to drip though so the bacon gets crispy.
Cook at 400 degrees for 30 minutes and drain on a paper towel.
Can be prepared ahead and cook when ready.”
– Stephanie Melhouse
– Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
– JLC Member since 2011
“Since I was little, all of the grandkids in my family go to our grandparents and decorate gingerbread houses! Then we make a village and leave it and my grandparents for the holiday season! It’s a fun time for the cousins of all ages to get together.”
– Marian Hodge
– Hometown: Greenville, SC
– JLC Member since 2013
“Since I was 15, my Dad has done what we call the ‘Elf.’ He has a Clark Griswold Christmas tie and rings the doorbell and says ‘Oh my gosh the elf stopped by.’ Then He passes out little presents. He waits until all the family is in town, which is typically three days before Christmas, then he does the elf every night until Christmas. Pretty cute idea.”
– Blair Harrison
– Hometown: Charlotte, NC
– JLC Member since 2006
Question to Readers: What traditions do you and your family share?
