25 Days of Memories: Days 1 & 2
One of my friends started sending ecards with notes attached that document some of her childhood memories of Christmas. I thought it was such a wonderful idea that I decided to document my own memories to pass along someday to my boys. Of course, since I started late, I’m already a day behind (something else I’ll pass on to my boys–ha!), but here are Days 1 and 2.
December 1st
When I was growing up in Millersburg, we always knew that Christmas was coming when the gazebo and the town square were decorated. Wreaths were hung all around the gazebo, and miniature evergreen trees and light strings were placed around the square and along Market Street and State Street. The lights were those old-fashioned big bulbs, and they only came in red, blue, and green. The decorations may have been simple, but they were unforgettable. Millersburg, in my mind, has one of the most beautiful Christmas displays I have ever seen, and it just embodies all that is special about living in a small town.
The annual tree lighting used to be the Saturday after Thanksgiving (I believe they now hold it on Black Friday evening, but when I was growing up, it was on a Saturday). My church, Trinity UCC on Center Street, used to hold a holiday bazaar that afternoon that ended shortly before the tree lighting. The ladies’ group would sell soup, sandwiches, and all kinds of baked goods; there would be different stations throughout the fellowship hall with various kids’ games, face painting, and such; and the Sunday school classes always made simple ornaments to sell to raise money for the Christian Education.
I don’t remember much about the actual lighting ceremonies, unfortunately, but I’m sure there was some kind of entertainment, whether it was carolers or the high school band and chorus doing Christmas songs. Of course, Santa would make an appearance as well, usually on a fire truck. At least once I remember him sitting up on the gazebo. Kids could go up and read him their Christmas lists or have their pictures taken with him.
December 2nd
Decorating. Every year I watch the TV specials about the extreme Christmas decorations some people put up, with enough lights to send your electric bill into the quadruple digits or with so many animatronic figures that the front yard isn’t even visible anymore. And I pore through magazines showing pictures of homes that are decorated according to a theme or a color scheme. Every light, Christmas ball, and mantle decoration had to fit in, or it was gone. I was always awestruck by both of these practices, probably because our decorations were nowhere near extreme or perfect. Nope, the Christmas decorations we had were an accumulated mish-mash of whatever struck my parents’ fancy.
Our decorations always came out of the basement and the attic on Thanksgiving weekend. As a young child in our house on Market Street, I recall boxes of decorations piled higher than I stood, and I used to love crawling around in between the stacks, hiding from my parents and my brothers. I don’t recall helping all that much with the tree; Dad always wanted the lights just so, and I think Mom was afraid Gary and I would break the ornaments (no shatterproof Christmas balls in those days!). We never had any special tree decorations, just the run-of-the-mill multi-colored glass balls and tinsel garland. One year Mom did buy some small blown glass ornaments—animals for me and trains for Gary. I don’t know that they lasted all that long, for obvious reasons.
One of my favorite ornaments was a huge snow-covered church that lit up and played “Silent Night.” It wasn’t ceramic like most music boxes today, but was some kind of waxy material. I remember it being quite heavy, and I was never allowed to move it. The snow on the roof was made of what looked like glitter-coated quilt batting. The church was old even when I was young, and the snow even then was already dirty-looking, but I loved it to death. I opted not to take it when Mom was cleaning out the house after Dad died, and I regret that now. I’m sure it’s gone to the land of memories.
Another decoration that I loved, and one that sits on my mantle now, was a carved wooden dog. It’s brown with black spots, and it’s sitting down with its nose pointed skyward. I never understood why Mom had that with the Christmas decorations because there’s really nothing Christmassy about it. Still, one of the highlights of getting the decorations out was the anticipation of finding that wooden dog so I could play with it for a month out of the year.
