As we approach the time of year when Halloween and Christmas decorations are fighting to have room on shelves, rain pours down on civilians, and cool breezes waft and sway into your hoodie, an important question must first be asked: does New Hartford like Christmas or Halloween the most? Debates often start around this awkward time – we don’t know whether to play Halloween or Christmas music (or the select few songs ‘made’ for Thanksgiving.) Should Halloween decorations stay hung up for a few more weeks, or should they be taken down and replaced with their jolly counterparts?
During the hunt for my answer, I was only able to find one student who valued Halloween more than Christmas, Sophomore Aria Mathias. She stated that although she loves Christmas because it is more nostalgic and fun for her, she loves Halloween more because dressing up with friends and trick-or-treating is a nice way to celebrate and begin the transition from fall to winter. This year at school she was Jack Skellington and when trick-or-treating with friends, they were all dressed as zombies from a popular TV show.
Christmas time in New Hartford is sacred. The village has strings of rainbow lights shimmering and gleaming on every light post, the fire department decorates with a firefighter Santa, and there are lots of festivals in the village square to commemorate the season. Spending time with loved ones is very fond in the community; from going sledding or tubing together, visiting Lights on the Lake, or even just staying in, bundled up in a warm blanket while it snows outside and watching a classic Christmas movie are all things one might hear about while walking down the halls of New Hartford High School during December.
Christmas is especially important to senior Haylie Cox. Christmas reminds her of all of her favorite memories, when all her siblings and herself still lived at home and got to celebrate Christmas together. On Christmas morning, her second eldest brother would wake her up right at the crack of dawn to go open presents, grabbing their older sister on the way. She joked about not wanting to wake their eldest brother due to him being cranky, so they’d all wait patiently and excitedly downstairs until he woke up. She especially adores core memories like these because all of her siblings are grown up now and often don’t celebrate Christmas all together because they all have new families who they celebrate with and new traditions and memories to make. She is excited to see all of her siblings this Christmas which she is looking forward to a lot! All she wants for Christmas is a massage from Lava Spa.
Christmas holds nostalgic memories for everyone, even teachers and the dean of students. Mrs. Clive, English and journalism teacher states, “I like Christmas because it’s a mix of two things that are really important to me, faith, family, and food and good memories.”
This year, all six of her kids are coming home as well as her grandson who is celebrating his first birthday right before Christmas! Her family does most of their celebrating on Christmas Eve. They have lots of snacks out that her family loves to eat – like pizza, dips, and shrimp – and her family goes to church where her husband is the choir director and they sing at mass. At night, they have ‘grab bags’ where everyone brings a gift all wrapped up, and everyone gets a number corresponding to a funny gag gift!
Mr. Romanow also loves spending time with family and friends during Christmas-time! While discussing the holidays in an email interview, Mr. Romanow said he loves Christmas “because spending time with my family is one of my favorite things, and my whole family is there for Christmas. Also, the food is way more exciting! … My parents host Christmas Eve and Christmas. We make homemade pierogi for Christmas Eve, which is one of my favorite days of every year. Family comes in from out of town and we spend time catching up. I’m not huge on gifts; I would rather make travel plans or plans to get out and do something instead. I go down to Manhattan with friends between Christmas and New Years every year, and I’m looking forward to that!”
He says he doesn’t find joy in coming up with new costumes every year for Halloween out of being too lazy. He would much rather plan for Christmas, spend time with family eating and making new memories!
So it seems that even though Halloween arrives first and gains lots of popularity and love on social media, Christmas holds more memorable and nostalgic value to the town and village of New Hartford. It is a good time to make new friends, remember family members who have moved out or passed on, and is a great way to spend time with the community we live in and the people we love to be around!
Mr. Romanow suggests that students learn more about your friends’ backgrounds, traditions, and celebrations, and ask to join in and add to their holiday fun! Don’t take anything for granted and always find fun in what you do and create! Happy Holidays!
