HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-12-19, Page 15THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013. PAGE 15.
Around the holidays, the
Christmas spirit changes from room
to room at the home of Walton’s Jo-
Ann McDonald.
McDonald is the president of the
Brussels Legion and was recently
honoured with the Queen’s Diamond
Jubilee Medal for outstanding
service to her community. Around
Christmas, however, McDonald’s
focus is decorating her house.
While she admits that she only got
the decorating bug about 15 years
ago, she remains fully dedicated to
making her home as Christmas-
themed as it can be in December.
It all started, McDonald says in an
interview with The Citizen, when her
children were old enough to help out
and whether it was McDonald’s
daughters who passed decorating on
to her, or vice versa, it quickly
became part of the fabric of the
McDonald family.
“My parents weren’t big on
decorating,” McDonald says. “My
grandmother was though. She
always put lights around every
window of the house.”
McDonald said she tried to
emulate her grandmother’s style
when she began decorating her own
home. As she and her husband Rick
were the proud owners of an old
farmhouse, McDonald said she had
no qualms with putting small nails
and tacks into the window frames.
When they renovated the home,
however, and replaced the window
frames, McDonald says she wasn’t
as keen to start putting holes into the
window frames, so that tradition
stopped as a means of keeping her
house in great shape.
In recent years McDonald has
been busy with two jobs and her
numerous volunteer activities in
Brussels and the surrounding
communities, but she has still found
time to make her house look great in
the winter.
If given the chance, however, Rick
would change a few things, as the
family’s living room is a little cooler
in December as their wood-burning
stove is forced to give way to a
handful of stuffed Santa Clauses.
McDonald decorates for
Christmas by room, she says, never
mixing up her decorations.
The kitchen, McDonald says, isher snowman room, the office is thereindeer room, the living room is the Santa room and if you need to usethe facilities in McDonald’s home, McDonald decorates by room at Christmas
The Santa room
Jo-Ann McDonald, president of the Brussels Legion, is methodical when it comes to
decorating her home at Christmas, so much so that she doesn’t want her decorations to mix.
That’s why she has a reindeer room, a penguin room, a Santa Claus room and a snowman
room. She got serious about Christmas decorating around 15 years ago when her daughters
were old enough to lend a hand.(Shawn Loughlin photo)
'O Come All Ye Faithful
Guided only by a single star
Three wise men journeyed afar
To the manger where the infant lay
On that very first Christmas Day.
May your spirits be lifted and your faith renewed
as we recall the miracle of Christmas.
82589 London Rd., south of Blyth
519-523-9726
email: countryside@tcc.on.ca
Glory to the
Newborn
King!
All the best to you and your
family, as together we
celebrate the
Miracle of His birth.
JOHN RUTLEDGE ARCHITECT
406 Queen Street, Box 393
Blyth, Ontario N0M 1H0
Historic Renovations, Storefronts, Retail & Offices
Residential – New, Old & Additions
Barrier-Free Accessibility, Feasibility Studies & Reports
johnrutledge@live.ca 519-523-9000
❅❅❅❅❅❅❅
Wishing you a
white and bright
Christmas
~ Randy & Lorna
Fraser
❅❅❅❅❅❅❅
191 Westmoreland St., Blyth 519-523-9687
The Blyth Laundromat
We offer wash & fold.
Phone for more info
Taking care of your laundry since 2007
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Continued on page 16
235 Turnberry St.,
Brussels
519-887-9661
Hwy. #8,
Mitchell
519-348-8485
We really appreciate
your filling our year
with so much joy.
Merry Christmas
everyone!
RADAR
AUTO PARTS
"You'll find it at CARQUEST"
20 King St.,
Clinton
519-482-3445