HOLIDAY MEMORIES

Have a look at some of Core’s favorite holiday memories!

Maggie Frye

All Smiles! Maggie Frye remembers loads of smiles during the holiday season. From her grandfather’s famous Ed’s Eggnog, to the hilarious skits she put on with her siblings every Christmas Eve, to the Chinese New Year cookies that chilled in the garage…every holiday season brought rich traditions, warm smiles and a full heart.

Jamie Holtzapfel

Thanks to an annual New Year’s Eve party at her grandparents’ house, Jamie Holtzapfel learned at a young age the importance of celebrating the past and looking forward to the future. The tradition included a packed house of family members (her mom was the youngest of 9), dancing to her grandpa’s large music collection, competitive games of shuffleboard, and lots of confetti. Cheers to new beginnings!

Christine Sapita

The anticipation of Christmas brings back the fondest memories for Chris Sapita. Her family would wait until after Thanksgiving to begin any type of Christmas preparation. It was during that meal together that her parents would play their favorite Ray Conniff Christmas albums to signal that Christmas was on its way! The next few weeks were filled with nonstop Christmas music, waiting for the most favorite Christmas special to be on TV, the day of decorating the house with bright, colorful lights on the roof, visiting Santa at the mall, sneaking around to find hidden presents, baking, wrapping, going to the local farm to find the perfect tree, driving around town as a family to view the Christmas decorations, and counting down until that joyful day arrived! It was a month full of special in every way.

Randy Benn

This is Randy dressed in his formal Sea Scout attire in the summer of 1974, which is Christmas season in Australia, where Randy lived from 1971-1975. An annual tradition was a regatta on Sydney Harbor on Boxing Day, December 26. The exact roots of the holiday name are unknown, but there are two leading theories. One is that December 26 was the day centuries ago when lords of the manor and distributed “Christmas boxes” filled with small gifts, money and leftovers from Christmas dinner to their household servants and employees. The other popular theory is that the Boxing Day moniker arose from the alms boxes (collections for the poor by parishioners) that were placed in churches during the Advent season.

Amy Clark

Holidays from Amy’s childhood invoke memories of cozy family gatherings with storytelling, spirited poker games and grandma’s homemade pies, cookie baking with mom, roaring fires and a shared sense of the wonder of Christmas with beloved family and friends.

Michelle Easton

Holiday season has always been one of Michelle’s favorites but one year holds a very special place….the year her son was born, the final link in their family. He was due on 12/25 but their special package arrived a few days early. Michelle’s daughter was 3 ½ when he was born and this picture is of the moment she met her baby brother for the first time.

Maggie Herrmann

Growing up, Maggie’s holidays were always about spending time with family, sharing memories and traditions and of course, presents! Some of her favorite holiday memories are watching Christmas Vacation every year with her dad, building snow forts and making christmas cookies.