Home for the Holidays

bed trailer brimming with giddy, candy cane-stoked kiddos — it’s a recipe for a wild, memorable JINGLE RIDE in the White Rock Valley neighborhood. Amazingly, the gifts are from, not for, most of the children in attendance. They bring them for families in need, identified through nonprofits such as Pamper Lake Highlands and Feed Lake Highlands. This year’s ride takes off the evening of Dec. 17.

Living Bethlehem

With no crib for a bed and in a manger not far away, a Baby Jesus proxy lays down his sweet head. Our area is home to two thoroughgoing live nativity scenes, complete with The Holy Family, Three Wise Men and fabled farm animals.

WILSHIRE BAPTIST , Abrams at Mockingbird, transforms its entire community hall into a Bethlehem marketplace, offering crafts, instrument demos, food and costumes of the day. The immersive event is free during the Advent season. Visit wilshirebc.org for times. ASCENSION

EPISCOPAL CHURCH at 8787 Greenville

offers live reenactments of the nativity story every 45 minutes beginning at 5 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 18.

Our Very Own Santa

During his offseason — approximately January through November — you can call him STAN GARINGER . At home in Lake Highlands, he wears casual khakis under a blue T-shirt, his bushy grey-white beard grazing the collar. When he shakes your hand and smiles, you’ll swear that, behind wire-rimmed spectacles, there is a twinkle in his eye. During December, when he sports the familiar red and white suit, you might spot him at the St. Pat’s Shamrock Jingle Bell Run, J.J’s Café, Top Golf or Whole Foods, with eager tots on his knees and in line at his feet, waiting to spill their holiday wishes.

Hanukkah Hoopla

Just two weeks before candles are lit and gold coins are doled out, the Jewish Community Center is hosting Hanukkah