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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2013-12-19, Page 16PAGE 16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2013.Club plans tourney Decorating dominates Christmas Well dressed It wasn’t enough to be loud and clear and sing well, but students at North Woods Elementary School looked good while doing it at their annual Christmas concert earlier this week. Shown in their Christmas duds are, from left, Erin Overholt, Emma Hruska, Maleah Taylor and Seth Snyder. The concert featured plenty of musical performances, dancing elves and, of course, Santa Claus. (Denny Scott photo) Continued from page 12 be “very quaint” as Seth says, with the holiday being celebrated mostly by his immediate family. As a family tradition that Seth remembers well, the gift-opening process begins on Christmas Eve, when he and his siblings have historically been allowed to open one present. The rest will have to be opened on Christmas morning. The Christmas Eve gift, he says, is always pajamas. That has never changed. Christmas Eve also usually includes some family readings from the Bible. On Christmas morning, another thing that has never changed is that the family is up early, as many children are, excited to open their presents, and their stockings, which also carry with them their own tradition. Seth and all of his siblings have hand-knit Christmas stockings, which were made specially for them when they were born by a good friend of his mom Kathy. Adorned with each child’s name, the stockings have stayed with the children for their entire lives. In his community service capacity, Seth says he was pleased to be involved with the Santa Claus Parade in Brussels this year with the Leo Club for the first time. The club, which was formed just months ago, was handing out hot apple cider to parade-goers, asking for a donation in return that he hopes will go towards helping the community in the future. The club, which has just over 15 members, also held its first annual Christmas party just before the holiday. On the horizon for the club, Seth hopes, will be its first major fundraiser, which will be a road hockey tournament at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. He said the club is aiming to hold the tournament on the Family Day long weekend in February. “It doesn’t get more Canadian than that,” he said. Continued from page 15 don’t be surprised when you see a number of penguins. McDonald’s family has always respected the traditional aspects of Christmas, always attending the Christmas Eve service at Duff’s United Church every year. When the McDonalds returned home from church, the children were allowed to open one gift, she says, as a reward for being good in church. When asked if her kids ever were not good in church, and therefore weren’t permitted to open a gift on Christmas Eve, McDonald said with a laugh that her children “knew better” than to misbehave in church. As her children got older, McDonald says, they began to have people over after church on Christmas Eve, friends and neighbours celebrating the holidays. The holidays eventually got to the point where they were an overwhelming time for the McDonalds, she says, saying that they were attending four Christmas celebrations in two days, eating four turkey dinners and eventually they had to cut it back, “downsizing” to just one Christmas celebration per day in the family. One distinguishable difference in the McDonald family was the lack of an early morning wake-up on Christmas morning. McDonald says her children never rose before 9 a.m. for their presents. “They were never up at the crack of dawn,” she said. “They just slept in, there was no sense getting up.” This is in stark contrast to how things were when McDonald was a child. She and her siblings were up at the crack of dawn, with six of them living in a two-bedroom apartment. “To say it was noisy is the appropriate answer,” she says. In addition to the large number of people in a small space, Christmas was always marked with visits from cousins and extended family, so there were always lots of people around during the holidays, she says. Christmas was always a time to play games in the McDonald family as well. With huge get-togethers come the playing of board games and card games. One of McDonald’s brothers, in fact, would always buy the family a new game every Christmas. It then became everyone’s job to learn that game so it could be played later that night. Recently, however, the holidays have changed for McDonald again, with her two grandchildren both being born in December last year. This year, she says, should be fun, with her grandchildren old enough to have fun around the holidays just after their first birthdays. GODERICH 519-524-7251 WINGHAM 226-422-2020 CLINTON 519-482-3677 Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy NewYear Huron Optometric Centres Doctors Nisbett, Padfield, Weaver, Taylor and staff would like to than our patients for their support throughout 2013. With glad tidings to you and your kin from all of us at this special season. We thank you for choosing us and look forward to serving you in the new year. West Wawanosh Mutual Insurance Company • Residential • Farm • Commercial • Auto email - wawains@wwmic.com Dungannon 519-529-7921 www.wwmic.com Season’s Greetings BLYTH PRINTING INC. BLYTH 519-523-9211 Wishing all our customers and friends a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! Wishing all our customers and friends a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! BLYTH 519-523-9211 Thank you for your goodwill and support all year long. Greetings of the Season 38505 Blyth Rd., Auburn • 519-526-1078