Happy Holidays to all of the readers of The Hamburg Area Item from Nala, Duke and Huey the reindeer in training! This time Huey made sure that he would not be alone in the dressing up and having everyone see him. And once again, I could not resist making him dress up for a few minutes in order to snap a picture.
Though Christmas is not my favorite holiday, Halloween will always top my list, I do enjoy this time of year. From the decorations to the food to the holiday cheer and the preparing for holiday parties, I enjoy it all. And lately I have even enjoyed the shopping for people.
One of the special features we have for this issue and the next is holiday letters from second grade students at Tilden Elementary Center, Perry Elementary Center, Schuylkill Valley Elementary School, Penn-Bernville Elementary School and Bethel Elementary Center. Each school was asked a different holiday themed question for the students to respond to. And respond they did.
I have heard that this is always a reader favorite and I can see why. Entering the answers, I have had the chance to read every response and do get a good laugh out of them. I have shared more than a few with others at the office.
Because the schools and students were so kind as to participate, I figured it would only be fair that I answer the questions as well. My favorite holiday movie is ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ for pretty obvious reasons and if I had to go with a second it would have to be ‘Love Actually.’ If I had to pick just one holiday TV special it would have to ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ as I remember that movie very well and Max was always one of my favorites. Now songs are easy. My two favorites are ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ and ‘What Child Is This?’ with a honorable mention of ‘Carol of the Bells’ and ‘Sleigh Ride’ because I fondly remember playing those pieces at holiday band concerts.
What I look forward to most at the holidays is being able to surprise friends and family in a positive way with gifts. I like looking for the unique gift that they did not know was coming or can easily be found. It becomes an adventure and the reward is seeing their faces when they open the gifts. The gifts may not be perfect, but I try to make them special.
My favorite holiday tradition would probably have to be the gift exchanges with my best friends. It has changes over the years as we’ve grown older, but we would get together and make a day/night out of it. It’s one of the things that I grew up thinking the holidays were about; getting together with your loved ones.
Holiday food is a tough one. We do not have one dish that is served exactly the same every year. I do love seven layers cookies that my dad always makes around this time of year and the iced cookies that my grandmother used to always make. There is usually so much good food that it’s hard to pick just one.
I hope that you, your family and friends all have a very happy and safe holiday no matter what you celebrate. And I certainly hope that the reindeer in training brought a smile to your face unlike the dressing up did for them. Happy Holidays!
Shea Singley is the editor of The Hamburg Area Item. She can be reached at ssingley@berksmontnews.com.