7/30/2019 Chevy Chase is Our Christmas Tradition What is Yours
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Page A10 Berthoud Weekly Surveyor December 13, 2012
Chevy Chase is our Christmas tradition, what’s yours?By Heidi Kerr-SchlaeferThe Surveyor
There is no other time of year wheretraditions play such a vital role in ourlives. The holidays are rich with allsorts of cultural customs and expec-tations. Many rituals surroundingChristmas come from our heritage, andthese may be quite different dependingon whether our people hailed from Ger-many or South America, but individualfamilies have developed special andsometimes peculiar traditions that areall their own.
Our household has one of these oddtraditions. Every season we watch“National Lampoon’s Christmas Vaca-tion,” while my husband bakes a hugebatch of chocolate chip cookies. This isthe one time of year that he bakes, andI typically complain the entire eveningabout having to watch this silly holiday
lm. My incessant complaining hasbecome part of the tradition.
Our tradition came about early inour relationship when my husbandfound out that I had never seen theentire movie, and this was apparentlyunacceptable. So now, every year, I’msubjected to this ridiculous ChevyChase movie.
While our tradition is a bit uncus-tomary, some families do the usualstuff, like cruising the fancy neighbor-hoods to see the lights, or attendingChristmas Eve Mass, or baking Christ-mas cookies with grandma. Still othershave found a unique way to put theirpersonal stamp on the holidays.
You may have heard of Elf on theShelf, but Tracy Monthei Smith of RFIMarketing in Fort Collins has takenthis tradition a bit further.
“We have elves that randomly comeevery day, starting the day the kids g etout of school up until Christmas morn-ing,” said Smith. “They leave little giftsby the door as they ‘check-up’ on thenaughty/nice list. The elves are Stinkyand Pete and they smell suspiciously of cheap perfume — that’s how the kidsknow they’ve been there. Even thoughthe kids are entering their teens, I don’tdare give up Stinky and Pete!”
Bishop Ostteen, father of one fromBoulder, has created a new traditionthat includes heading to Rocky Moun-tain Park after presents and breakfaston Christmas day. He spends a fewhours at the park before nding a ran -dom Chinese restaurant to eat at on hisway home.
Chef and food blogger Lara Ficklin-Kelleher of Fort Collins serves herlarge family green chili with turkeyfor Christmas dinner, while the Floresfamily, also of Fort Collins enjoys tama-les every Christmas.
Speci c food combinations seem tobe a big part of many holiday tradi-tions. While turkey and ham are themost common, some families, like Ryan
Arbuthnot’s, dine on steak and lobsteron Christmas Eve and the Cramerfamily of Loveland always has roastbeef for Christmas dinner, although if it was a good hunting season the beef isreplaced with elk.
The Clark family of Loveland hasa special tradition involving music,not surprising since Steve Clark is thefront man in the local band, Last Menon Earth.
“After we go to Christmas Evechurch service, we go home and whipup lots of appetizers, start a replaceand Steve gets out the guitar and weall sing Christmas carols,” said KarenClark.
Traditions are a big part of whatthe season is all about. If it weren’t forthese special moments, the holidayswouldn’t be as unique and memorable.
Does your family have a special customat this time of year? If so, we’d love tohear about it on the Surveyor’s Face-
book page at www.Facebook.com/Ber-thoudSurveyor .
HSN gives year roundBy Shelley Widhalm
Loveland Reporter-Herald As Erin Becerra prepares Christmas
baskets for the community’s needyresidents, she said she likesto see the look of relief ontheir faces.
“If you’re struggling tomeet these basic needs, it’shard to enjoy the holidayseason,” said Becerra,food program manager atthe House of NeighborlyService. “It really brightenspeople’s days to know thatsomeone cares about them.”
The House of Neighborly Service,565 N. Cleveland Ave., is a recipientagency of the Northern Colorado Emp-ty Stocking Fund, a holiday fundrais-
ing campaign that provides donationsto area nonpro ts in Larimer and Weldcounties.
Becerra is among the staff andvolunteers at the House of Neigh-
borly Service who connect low-incomeresidents with a few extras during theholiday season. The nonpro t agency,which is open Monday to Thursday,provides for basic needs, gives refer-
rals, and offers advocacy to people whoare experiencing the effects of povertyor a situational crisis.
“For most families, the holidays areabout building traditions together.If you can’t afford food and gifts andyou’re stressed about nances, youcan’t build that tradition,” said Bente
James, assistant directorof the House of NeighborlyService.
“It really is a privilege tobe able to extend the gen-erosity of the community topeople in need,” James said.
The Christmas programmatches clients with a do-nor family, which assemblesa food basket with a turkeyor ham and all of the xings
or provides a gift card for the clientsto buy their own meals. Some of thedonors give gifts in addition to thebaskets, James said.
Last year, 670 clients receivedbaskets through the program. If thereare not enough donors, the nonpro twill provide the remaining clients withthe food they need for a holiday basket
from the food pantry, James said.“We never will run out. I think it’s
because people get more generous atChristmas,” James said. “We serveeverybody that really needs it; that’sour goal.”
Clients of the nonpro t can receivethe Christmas baskets on top of theirmonthly food baskets, which provideenough food for one week for eachmember of the family. Grocery stores,churches and the community donatethe food for the baskets, distributed atan average rate of 500 to 600 a month.
In 2011, the nonpro t gave outnearly 338,350 pounds of food — al-most triple the 131,600 pounds givenin 2000 through the food pantry, itslargest program.
The nonpro t serves an average of 20 to 25 clients in the morning and thesame number in the afternoon for thefood pantry and the other programsof the agency. Those other programs,which have various quali cation re -quirements, include:
Access to clothing and householditems — which is available to clientsone time each month. At this time the
agency is in need of winter coats andclothing, gloves, socks and boots.The transportation program —
which provides gas vouchers or buspasses to jobs and medical appoint-
ments, available oncea year.
The utility program — which provides assis-tance with one utilitybill through a coopera-tive effort with the cityof Loveland and Emer-gency Outreach Colo-rado. The assistance isprovided once a year toclients whose service isdisconnected.
The prescription pro-gram — which providesassistance up to $200,or four times a year.
Motel vouchers — where families canreceive a motel stay forup to two weeks, whilethey look for more per-manent housing.
The emergencyshelter — where home-less individuals may beeligible to receive emergency shelterduring the colder months and can ac-cess the day shelter, 137 Connection,
year round. The night shelter, whichrotates among 10 participating church-es, is open when the high is 40 degreesduring the day and 20 at night.
“We really are here for people who
really are struggling, who need thatextra hand up,” James said. “We wantto be a little bit of heaven in Loveland.”
Northern Colorado Empty StockingFund
Visit www.nocoemptystocki ng.orgor www.UnitedWayWeld.org to learnmore about Northern Colorado EmptyStocking Fund.
Courtesy photoErin Becerra, left, shows Alma Blanco how to packa grocery bag at the House of Neighborly Service inLoveland in this 2010 fle photo.
