Breaking tradition with unique celebrations
Christmas tree hunting, cookie decorating, kissing under the mistletoe and sometimes even the occasional white elephant gift exchange are familiar traditions many choose to make a part of holiday celebrations. But it is not just the traditional traditions that make the holiday season special – it is often times the more quirky ones that bring out the Christmas spirit in all of us.
“Christmas is about being with family and having traditions with my family,” said Ashli Thomas, an undeclared sophomore. “We eat crab legs every Christmas Eve.”
Food is often times at the center of most people’s holiday traditions. Christopher Carter, a junior majoring in communications, said it has always been about sharing holiday food with friends and family.
“We make cookies and hang them on our Christmas tree,” Garter said. “Then people come over and we let them eat a cookie off of the tree.”
“Traditions are an important part of the holiday season,” Carter said. “I think that they tie us to our family and friends in ways that other things can’t. They help us associate us as a group.”
Nichelle Allen, a junior majoring in social work, said every year she will play what she calls “hardcore bingo” with her family just before Christmas.
“It gets pretty intense,” Allen said. “Everybody brings a prize and we play until everyone has won or at least until everyone has covered their entire bingo card.”
Allen said there is a catch to her family bingo games: they can steal prizes from other winners.
“Everybody hides their prizes, and when you want to steal one from someone you have to guess who has the one you want,” she said.
Allen said her Grandma is particularly ruthless when it comes to prize snatching and keeps her winnings well out of sight when it comes to someone stealing from her.
For Allen, the holidays are about not only about being with her family, but also about being able to make memories with her friends.
“Traditions are really important with my family, and my friends are equally important, so I wanted to start to do something with them,” she said. “I love playing bingo with my family and I wanted to do something like that with my friends.”
For the past four years, Allen has had an ugly sweater and Christmas bingo party. Everybody at the party will vote for the ugliest sweater at the party and the top three are awarded a trophy. The prizes for the bingo game are all bought second hand.
“I like to buy the prizes for Bingo a Somebody’s Attic because a portion of the money they make, they donate to CAPSA,” she said.
Allen said she likes to think that by purchasing the prizes for her party there, she is also giving back to those in need.
“It’s my way of giving back to the community,” she said.
For Kim West, a senior majoring in exercise science, it is her family’s Christmas Eve talent show that gets her excited. She said everybody participates in one way or another.
“Some people have legit talents, but most of us do stupid things,” East said. “I found a harmonica in my mom’s basement. I don’t play the harmonica, but I have two weeks to learn something for the talent show.”
For West, family traditions bring a comfortable sense of consistency.
“I just love how it’s the same every year,” she said.
“We are lucky if we even get out Christmas tree up the day before Christmas,” said Ashlee Peterson, a senior majoring in international business. “I guess that is a tradition.”
For some, procrastination during the holidays is seen as a part of the season as well. For Peterson and her family, it is a tradition that sometimes encourages the kindness of others to step up and try to help.
“I remember one year one of our neighbors actually gave us a tree because he thought we didn’t have one,” Peterson said.
– kiel.reid@aggiemail.usu.edu