Help keep holiday traditions alive
As the holidays approach, many of us think back to our past and remember our childhood traditions. Now, as parents, we have the opportunity to establish traditions with our children ... and so the cycle goes.
The 2007 edition of Dickens of a Holiday is a MainStreet Libertyville-sponsored event loaded with traditions.
As a MainStreet volunteer and the honorary MainStreet Santa Claus, I spend much of December sitting in my sled in front of Cook Memorial Library. I listen to children tell me that they have been good (usually), and watch their eyes light up as they recite their Christmas lists.
They ask for everything from puppy dogs to dolls and trains, computers and game systems. The experience goes far beyond the reciting of lists for the children who are truly taken by the wonder of the season. They tug on my beard to see if it's real and share their excitement with their siblings, many of whom are too young to express their own Christmas wishes.
Mrs. Claus is always with me in the park. She talks to the children, gives them a candy cane, and poses with us for Christmas family portraits. The families have come to expect that we will be there, and together we help to build their Christmas memories.
Over the years, my own family has come to view the Dickens of a Holiday events as a way to kick off our own celebration. I know many people share our sentiments.
Many years ago, on the last Saturday before Christmas, after the last child had visited, I was beginning to climb off of the sled when we heard a voice calling "Santa, Santa! We need to see you!" Running up was a young mother holding her tiny baby.
"My husband is in Iraq and he has never seen the baby. Can I get a picture for him?" she asked. So I invited the mother and baby to join me on the sled for as many pictures as the camera would hold.
What a feeling to know what we had done for this family.
Last year I saw this family come back to Libertyville's Dickens of a Holiday to see Santa. They had begun and continued a new tradition at this holiday event.
Each year as the holidays approach, Mrs. Claus and I look forward to working with the MainStreet board and the many other volunteers to make Dickens of a Holiday a success and to help spread Christmas cheer. I for one, especially look forward to the 2008 edition of a Dickens of a Holiday as my first grandchild will be born in June. A new tradition will begin that year with the baby's first visit to Santa.
What future traditions will begin and which traditions will continue? No one knows for sure, but if we don't support MainStreet Libertyville financially and with our volunteer time, there will certainly not be as many.
If the inner child in you has been touched by this letter, please contact the Libertyville MainStreet board to see how you can help keep our downtown traditions alive.
Rich DeCaluwe
Mundelein