By Kejsi Zyka and Izzy Requa, Staff Writers
Re-watching Christmas classics, finding a hidden pickle, lighting the menorah and hunting hogs for the holidays – these are all Christmas Eve traditions held by students at First Flight. Freshman Teresa Stanley can’t wait for the month of December and the fun activities that come with it. Stanley’s Christmas Eve traditions consist of prepping for her family’s holiday meal.
“We usually butcher hogs to have the hams for Christmas,” Stanley said. “We love to go fishing and hunting on Christmas Eve. It’s our big family thing.”
Stanley’s preparations don’t start early, and once the big day arrives, there is still more to do before everything is ready.
“I’m the only girl that goes hunting with the guys, and when we come back, the girls fix Christmas supper while the boys clean whatever we killed,” Stanley said.
Although Stanley is excited about her tradition, sophomore Laurel Perrin is not exactly looking forward to her family’s favorite activity this Christmas Eve.
“We always watch the movie ‘A Christmas Story’ because it’s my dad’s favorite movie,” Perrin said. “We have been doing this tradition for over six years, and after watching it so many times, it doesn’t appeal to me anymore.”
Most churches hold special Christmas Eve services that include favorite hymns and the telling of the birth of baby Jesus, the angels and the Wise Men. However, for sophomore Madison Murry, the service isn’t always filled with heavenly peace.
“During the candlelight service at Kitty Hawk United Methodist every year I get the candle that drips scalding hot wax onto my hand,” Murry said. “We don’t light the candles until ‘Silent Night’ at the end of service, but as soon as we start singing the candle wax starts dripping down my hand and I have to forcefully shove the candle into my mom’s hands so I don’t start screaming in the middle of the service.”
Some traditions may get tiresome year after year, but when your holiday season includes two religions, there’s plenty of room for creativity. Sophomore Alan Layton’s Christmas Eve brings some unique traditions to the table. Layton celebrates his biological mother’s belief in Judaism as well as his adopted family’s belief in Christianity.
“We have this pickle ornament that we put in our Christmas tree,” Layton said. “My siblings and I have to find it, and whoever is the first to find it gets $30. It’s really hard to see the ornament because we’re all trying to pick around a Christmas tree.”
For the other part of Layton’s holiday season, he celebrates the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
“I light the candles in a menorah, one for each night, and I get a present,” Layton said. “Since I do not technically consider myself Jewish, the presents don’t really have to be religious. Normally I will get an Xbox one night, and the next night I will get something else that means something to (the) religion.”
For Layton, celebrating both holidays gives him a chance to be part of different customs and to connect with his heritage.
“My family celebrates Christmas, and I want to do the same, yet I feel obligated to celebrate Hanukkah because my biological mother was Jewish,” he said. “I guess I’m trying to find my roots, in a way.”
No matter the tradition, just about everyone can agree that it really doesn’t matter how you celebrate the holidays: What’s important is that you’re doing it together.
“Friends and family really make the holidays the most wonderful time of the year,” Layton said.
Sophomores Kejsi Zyka and Izzy Requa can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].
