December 2015 • FREE
12 Days of Christmas
Horse-drawn wagon tours of Albany’s Historic Districts a Christmas tradition.
Photo by Jeannette Knower
Holidays Ahead! by Rick Rogers With the aroma of a delicious Thanksgiving dinner lingering overhead it can only mean one thing, we are now in full holiday mode. Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Years are here and it is time to celebrate, be with family, share the feelings of the season and remember what this time of year is all about. There is much to see and do in the mid-valley this season. December gets its start with numerous community events around the area. That includes Christmas parades and tree lighting ceremonies on December 5th and 6th scheduled in Albany, Lebanon, Corvallis, Brownsville and Sweet Home. One California native once told me that living in the mid-valley during the Christmas season was like living in a scene from “It’s A Wonderful Life”. Another annual event that draws thousands of visitor is the “Christmas Storybook Land” at the Linn County Fair and Expo Center in Albany. This marks the 39th year for this all-volunteer effort. Walking through the exhibit is a true fulfillment of every child’s Christmas dreams. It is made to resemble a walk through a indoor forest with
Photo by Oliver J Anderson
The Victorian Parlor Tour in Albany is a trip through the past.
storybook scenes around every bend and a visit with Santa at the end. This year Christmas Storybook land will run December 4th through 18th. For times and other information you can go online to: www. christmasstorybookland.org. Another unique event in the annual Christmas Parlor Tour of some of Albany’s most historic Victorian homes. Visitors will have a chance to see the interior of the selected homes decked out in their full holiday splendor much as they would have been at the beginning of the last century. This year’s Christmas Parlor Tour will take place on December 13th with tickets and other information available at the Albany Visitors Association. For more information log on to: www.albanyvisitors.com. You also won’t want to miss the annual Christmas concert at the LaSells Stewart Center on the O.S.U. Campus in Corvallis on December 3rd, the horsedrawn nighttime wagon tours of Albany’s historic districts lighted for the season on December 20th and the annual Christmas Eve caroling at the historic Whitespires Church on Christmas Eve. From all of us at High Points may you and yours have a wonderful Christmas celebrating the birth of Christ and the time of year that is like no other!
A scene from Christmas Storybook Land.
A collectable 12 Days of Christmas plate from Red Rhinestone Boutique in downtown Albany.
by Karen Rogers Last year, one big box store had its first Christmas items out in August. I heard my first Christmas carol on November 2. This year it’s even worse, Christmas started in early November! Any more, it’s Happy Halloween and Merry Christmas Then it all comes to fruition on the 24th and 25th and BAM…It’s all over. For all those of us who have been immersed in Yuletide, it’s like quitting cold turkey. Or getting doused with an ice water wake up! Our personal decorating starts rather early, I must admit, since I am a Crazy Cat Lady, we don’t set up a tree, instead we hang our ornaments from the ceiling, interspersed with hand cut snowflakes. It takes a while to hang around a thousand of them in the living room and dining area. We usually start shortly after Veterans Day. I am hereby calling for resurrecting the Twelve Days Tradition. I LIKE to have friends and family over afterwards- it’s more relaxed and with an added bonus, you can show off your new loot! The Twelve Days sees us through New Year’s and wraps up neatly on the fifth of January. I must admit that one of the highlights of our family tradition was my beloved Uncle Bud’s rendition of the old carol. It usually occurred after a few visits to the punch bowl and was greatly anticipated and appreciated by all. The Twelve Days gives us time to round up all the people you really meant to have over... well, over. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just tea and cookies. Or a bowl of fresh fruit for those who have over indulged and have nagging guilt complexes. So, this year, I’ll play my Christmas carols and enjoy a few more days of my decorations and neatly pass on all of my left-over candies, cookies and calories to my friends. Enjoy!