The Citizen, 2012-12-20, Page 27THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2012. PAGE 27. Strettons split decorating duties to prep for holidays
Things haven’t changed much
around the Stretton household,
Huron East Councillor Frank says,
just that traditions carried out with
his children are now being
introduced to his grandchildren.
“It really comes down to the
excitement of seeing our kids and
grandkids get excited when they
open their presents,” Stretton said,
“and getting together with friends
and family over the holidays.”
Christmas eve at the Stretton
household usually consists of an
informal get-together full of non-
traditional foods. Stretton says that
he and his wife Mary work together
to prepare a lot of finger foods for
the party and invite as many people
as the house will hold that night. His
family has saved the traditional
turkey dinner for the next day for
years.
Often several family members will
stay the night and those who live
right in Brussels will head home and
return to the Stretton home the next
morning.
He says his family’s house tends
to be where the family congregates
around the holidays.
Since the Strettons moved into
their new home on Halliday Street,
they started a new tradition that is
still alive today involving a very
special visitor on Christmas
morning.
“Since we’ve moved into the new
house, we always have Santa come
and visit the kids with a bag of toys
on Christmas morning,” Stretton
says. “It used to be Brussels’
resident Santa Wayne Lowe, but in
recent years it’s been different
family members or friends who have
taken on the role.”
The tradition began with
Stretton’s children and has
continued with his grandchildren.
When Stretton was a child
himself, one thing that has stayed
with him over the years was going to
get the Christmas tree with his
father.
When he was younger, he says,
the winters were much more harsh
and you never knew how much
travelling you would be able to do
around the holidays.
“They had woodlots back then and
you would go and cut your own tree
down,” Stretton said. He would
always go and cut the family tree
with his father at a local woodlot.
Stretton, however, remembers one
year where the tradition didn’t go
exactly as planned and his father had
to take matters into his own hands.
“I was about four or five years old
and my dad had been really busy
with work leading up to Christmas,”
Stretton said. “We weren’t able to
get a tree ahead of time, so my dad
went out to the yard and cut the top
off of one of our spruce trees and
that was our Christmas tree.”
Thinking back to his younger
days, Stretton says that one of the
things he looked forward to the mostwhen Christmas rolled around wasvisiting with his cousins in Listowel,a trip that the family didn’t take too
often.
“They were around my age, so we
always got together around
Christmas and played all kinds of
games,” Stretton said.
From that time he says he also
remembers that bountiful
homemade desserts that were
always available.
“Desserts weren’t store-bought
like they are today,” he says.
“Everything was homemade.”
In recent years Stretton has started
his own tradition with his son,setting up the outdoor Christmasdecorations together. It’s somethingthey do together every year as Mary
decorates the inside of the home.
...Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
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Putting in work
Frank Stretton, a Huron East councillor for the Brussels Ward, is responsible for decorating
the outside of his Brussels home, while his wife Mary has taken it upon herself to decorate
the inside. However it happens, the house has to be well-decorated because it hosts a large
number of people on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and has for years. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Another great
season is in
the bag, and
we hope it’s
filled with good times
for you and your
family. We really
appreciate your
shopping with
us this past year.
Best Wishes from everyone at
Blyth 519-523-4551
See videos from the
Brussels Santa Claus
Parade
on our website at
www.northhuron.on.ca