With the holiday season commencing, that means it’s time for Morgan students to get festive and show their Christmas spirit. About 131 million Americans travel for Christmas, with 50 or more miles traveled by each. Not only is traveling important to the season but also the entertainment. According to CNBC, the most popular Christmas movies are The Grinch, Home Alone, and ELF. Putting up some red and green decorations is great, but let’s take a look at what makes these three girls the most festive students of Morgan.
Taylor Breen
Taylor Breen, a sophomore at the Morgan School, goes to see the Fantasy of Lights, a Christmas light drive-through in New Haven, every year with her family. Breen said, “The Christmas lights are a reminder of the beauty of the holiday.”
The New Haven Christmas lights aren’t the only event she attends, though. She also looks forward to being a part of Christmas in Clinton every year. It’s a way of getting involved in her very own community to give back. At the event, she helped to create and sell baked goods of all sorts to the town. Some of the sweet treats sold were brownies, sugar cookies, and cupcakes.
On the day of Christmas Eve and Christmas itself, some years the Breen’s, a fairly mid-sized family, will attend a Christmas Mass or Christmas Eve Mass at a local church. Although they haven’t attended it in a couple of years, the family still sees each other quite often. Everyone gets together for birthdays, other holidays, and sometimes just for fun little gatherings.
On Christmas Eve, she goes to her uncle’s house in Lisbon, Connecticut. However, on Christmas Day she goes to her aunt’s house in Easton, Co) Connecticut. She does this to balance seeing both sides of her family for the holidays.
Breen sometimes goes ice skating, bakes cookies, and goes to tree lightings with her mom, dad, and sister. The family also annually watches A Christmas Story. With cookies, she always bakes sugar cookies in the shapes of Christmas items. This includes ornaments, Christmas trees, presents, and so much more. Then, once they are cooled down, she decorates them with colored frosting and sprinkles. As for the tree lighting, she attends the Clinton tree lighting and the Madison Beach Hotel tree lighting.
Breen stated that her favorite childhood memory from the holiday season is “sitting by the tree with my family reading T’was the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve.” This story holds sentimental value to her now, as she has gotten older and continues the tradition of reading it. It has always been a tradition in her family that her dad held too when he was younger. The story sums up the Christmas magic for her.
Cora Dunham
Cora Dunham, a senior at the Morgan School, celebrates by getting Chinese food and watching a Christmas movie with her family, including her mom and two older sisters, Iris and Madeline, every Christmas Eve. Their food order typically consists of chicken lo mein and sweet and sour chicken. “When my oldest sister, Madeline, was born my parents wanted something quick to eat, and then we just had it every year since,” said Dunham. Last year, the movie they watched while eating was Christmas with the Kranks. In addition, as a personal tradition, she always watches the movie ELF multiple times leading up to Christmas.
Dunham’s family takes Christmas very seriously. They decorate as much as they can. “I would say we go a little overboard. My mom always displays her Nutcracker collection, and we have small decorations from when I was younger that I need to have every year,” she stated. Adding a sentimental touch to the decorations makes the holidays even more meaningful for her because it reminds her of her childhood.
Her mom makes cinnamon roll pull-apart bread for Christmas morning. She and her sisters also always like making Christmas sweets. They have made brownies, cookies, and cakes over the years, but her favorite is this year’s treat, sugar cookies with peppermint sprinkles.
As for events, Dunham and her family go to their Christmas Eve service at their church, Groton Bible Chapel. In years past, they have also attended the Christmas service the church holds in the afternoon on the 25th.
Her favorite childhood memory from Christmastime is going to Boston with her family in 2021. She had so much fun looking at all the lights and going into the Christmas shops. It was also a great opportunity to have some family bonding time. While they were there, they got to go to the Boston Christmas Market. Dunham stated, “It was a great experience for my sisters and me because there were many homemade ornaments and decor which we found to be interesting.”
“The holiday season is a reminder of what God has done for everyone,” Dunham said, “but also just a time when my family can gather and show our appreciation for each other.”
Ariana Farr
Ariana Farr, a senior at the Morgan School, celebrates with her brothers, mom, and multiple other family members. However, she deeply cherishes her time with her grandmother on the holiday. “I’m very close with my grandmother. She has been there for me through so much,” Farr stated. Showing appreciation for her grandmother during Christmas is important to Farr because she wants her to know the impact she has made on her life.
Farr’s family finds magic in the tradition of movies. Her family always watches Die Hard and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. They have been doing this for years now.
On Christmas day, her grandmother makes cinnamon rolls. She got the recipe from her mother and has passed it down since. Not only this, but sometimes her mom makes breakfast casserole, consisting of eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese, and tater tots, which she cherishes and savors.
As opposed to Dunham’s celebration, Farr doesn’t decorate her home as much. She says “Putting the tree up is enough for us. The spirit of Christmas can be spread in so many more ways than just decorations.” For her, this includes family time and movies.
Looking back on all the joy she has experienced during this season in the past, what she cherishes most is driving around Clinton with her grandma looking at all the Christmas lights. Christmas isn’t only about appreciating the past for her though. She finished by saying, “’It means making new memories with your family and experiencing the love from those surrounding you,” an important message we can all take away.
