I reached out to a few faculty and administrators and asked them to share with me one of their favorite Christmas-related experiences, memories or traditions. Here’s what I received. Enjoy!
3CE true tale
Carol Sisson shared, “I was a PA on Third Center English (3CE). I was struggling with a difficult course load and persistent throat infection. Christmas on campus was in full swing. A tradition was for the PA to surprise the wing with a homemade gift. I am not crafty. I stressed and prayed and failed. I could not create 26 handmade gifts. I ended up writing each person a note. It felt inadequate. Before we gathered, I laid out each note, then stepped out to grab some snacks. When I returned, each note had a handmade, personalized ornament on it. My wing mates flooded in, read the notes and marveled at the cute ornament. I denied doing it, but they thought I was being modest. Despite my inquiries, I don't know to this day who did it. It taught me then that some of the best gifts we give are ones where we help others look good and don't seek to take the credit. A good picture of how our lives are meant to point others to God.”
Sisson serves as associate professor of education and director of OVC in History, Global & Political Studies at Taylor University.
Jingle bells wakeup
Tricia Stan shared, “A favorite Christmas memory growing up is of my Mom’s tradition on Christmas morning of going around by all our bedrooms ringing a set of jingle bells to get us up. She was an early riser and just as excited as we kids were to get Christmas morning started. The sound of jingle bells always reminds me of Mom and the impish smile she wore as she woke us up to the wonders of Christmas morning.”
Stan serves as department chair and associate professor of chemistry in the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department at Taylor University.
Biscuits & gravy
Colleen Warren shared, “In our family when I was growing up, my mom made biscuits and we all helped decorate them with Christmas designs using toothpicks and food coloring. Then we’d have them with sausage gravy. And after breakfast, we’d attack the bowl of oranges that had candy canes hung all around the edges. All three of us girls have continued that tradition with our own families, and all our kids have with their families as well. Even when we’re not with each other at Christmas (which is most years), we share pictures of our families making the biscuits, and it makes us feel a little closer.”
Warren serves as a professor of English in English & Modern Languages Department at Taylor.
Texas BBQ Christmas
Michael Lindsay shared, “The Lindsay family has a tradition of eating Texas BBQ on Christmas Eve and attending a worship service that evening and then opening presents with family. We often have a big meal early afternoon on Christmas day and often play a large game of charades or fishbowl as a family while watching the Dallas Cowboys or a cheesy Hallmark movie.”
Lindsay serves as president of Taylor University.
Nativity memory
Nancy Dayton shared, “My mother was an Art teacher, and she would use pencil to draw a nativity scene on our front-picture window.”
“We outlined the lines with black electrical tape and used stick glue and Exacto knives to fill in all of the spaces with tissue paper. We then positioned flood lights to shine through the scene on the window and from the outside of the house it looked like a stained-glass window,” Dayton said. “I remember neighbors driving by in the evening to see our Christmas creation – it was a great project she and I did together every year.”
Dayton serves as the dean of Arts & Humanities and as professor of English at Taylor University.
Christmas tree farm
Skip Trudeau shared, “Growing up in Colorado I have found memories of amazing white Christmases. We lived in the country and had access to our own ‘natural’ Christmas tree farm on our property.”
“Every year, one or two days before Christmas we would go out and after much deliberation cut down a tree that was almost always too big and needed to be trimmed once it was in the living room,” Trudeau said. “Then on Christmas Eve my grandparents would come over and we would decorate the tree together and then sing Christmas carols while my Mom played the piano.”
Skip Trudeau serves as vice president for Student Development & Intercollegiate Athletics and director of the Master of Arts in Higher Education Program.
’50s and ’60s Christmases
Tom Jones shared, “I am not sure why, but your e-mail triggered memories of Christmases in Marion, Indiana, during the 1950s and 1960s.”
“The downtown area surrounding the courthouse was full of retail stores decorated for Christmas and the sound of Christmas carols could be heard on every street in the downtown. Downtown Marion looked and sounded like a location for a Hallmark movie. Shoppers filled the sidewalks as they were hurrying in and out of the JC Penny, Sears and Hills Department stores and the dozens of smaller clothing and specialty shops and restaurants that were especially alive at Christmastime,” Jones said.
“Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, and an elf or two were downtown as well checking in with children whose parents brought them from their homes in Marion, Fairmount, Upland, Van Buren, Converse, Swayzee and Sweetser,” he added. “Marion’s two or three major downtown movie theaters decorated for Christmas and were packed with shoppers taking a break to watch Hollywood’s latest Christmas releases. Snow-covered streets, Christmas lights combined with city night lights, and church choirs singing on the courthouse square gave Marion, Indiana the feel of a Courier and Ives Christmas print.”
“Ah, it was good to pause and remember those special years when Marion and Grant County were special yet so similar to small cities and rural counties across Indiana and the United States,” Jones said.
Professor of History Emeritus Tom Jones serves in History, Global & Political Studies and was formerly a dean and interim provost at Taylor University.
Alan Blanchard, associate professor of journalism, serves as the faculty adviser to The Echo student newspaper and as executive director of the Pulliam Journalism Center, Communication Department, at Taylor University.
