MAYORAL TRADITIONS

Mayoral Traditions MAYORSat home

THE HOLIDAYS ARE A FESTIVE TIME OF YEAR when we share special moments with our

family, friends, and loved ones and look ahead to a new year filled with promise and opportunity. The mood of the holiday season always fills my heart. People show more kindness and humanity in looking outside themselves in the spirit of giving.

Special moments, shared with loved ones during the holiday season, invite us all to reflect on what matters most: relationships that warm our hearts, shelter that keeps us safe, and nourishment that fuels our bodies. The spirit of the season invites us to cultivate and express our gratitude for all we have and for the traditions we share as family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and with all the other important people in our lives.

My most joyous Christmas memory is special because of what Christmas means to me: the true meaning of the season – the birth and life of Jesus Christ. While playing out the nativity scene with my wife, kids, and grandkids, I feel deep gratitude for being surrounded by my family and loved ones as we reflect on the gift of the Savior while reading the Good News as it was recorded in Luke 2.

BRAD FROST

American Fork Mayor

TRADITIONS ARE SUCH AN IMPORTANT PART OF IDENTITY, and following

traditions we grew up with helps us maintain a level of connectedness with our loved ones. One such tradition came early in our married life when my mother gifted us a binder on the first of December, which included a Christmas story for each day of December along with a corresponding scripture. As a young family our nighttime ritual on the cold December nights was to read the daily story out of the “Christmas Book”. Each story taught an important Christlike trait we should want to emulate while sharing a heart-felt message about the meaning of Christmas. The stories progressed, culminating with the story of the Fourth Wiseman on December 23, and then on Christmas Eve we read the account of the Savior’s birth in Luke as we acted out the Nativity. This has carried on over the years, and now some of our kids have kids of their own. When I asked my adult kids about their most memorable Christmas experiences, they both said reading the stories out of the Christmas Book. I love that we have maintained the tradition of reading the stories as it helped our family get ready for the true meaning of Christmas. Yes, presents are nice, but the true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Lord and Savior and using the Christmas season to focus on helping others in the way He would. May we all be blessed with the spirit of Christmas this season

CARLA MERRILL

Alpine Mayor

IN THE ANDERSEN HOME, Christmas is the favorite Holiday of the year. We love to decorate the house from top to bottom, with themes in each bedroom and gathering space. (When I say “we” I mean me.) I love to gather friends and family for parties and meals and to be surrounded by festive beauty and cheer. Christmas Eve is usually spent with extended family, sharing old family stories and our traditional dollar store gift exchange. Christmas morning always involves a huge breakfast followed by Christmas gifts, and the reading of Luke 2, because the birth of the Savior is the real reason for celebrating.

I fully believe in the quote by L. Frank Baum, author of the Wizard of Oz, “East west – home is best!” I love to be at home with my family, and we have built our family Christmas traditions around that very ideal.

DENISE ANDERSEN

Cedar Hills Mayor

ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS started in college when I first put on

a Santa outfit. Yes, I mean the red suit, white beard, red hat, black belt, and boots. In my younger years, I would play Santa at ward and family parties. Over the past several years, the Santa suit has usually only come out to help local churches or other organizations deliver Sub for Santa gifts.

One experience was especially touching. My in-laws invited me to come to Idaho and put on the Santa suit to help deliver gifts that their local LDS ward had collected. One family they wanted to give some of the gifts they collected to was that of one of their local LDS ward leaders. My in-laws shared that the family was in real need but was one of those types of families that would never ask for help. The leader recently had a job change and was now under-employed and also doing odd jobs to make ends meet. The members in the ward had noticed that his kids had jackets but no real coats, and their house had plumbing issues, but they did not have money to fix them. I remember showing up at the door dressed in my red suit, with gifts in my Santa bag. I noticed the shock and surprise on their faces and the tears in their eyes when I presented them with gifts, coats, and a gift card from a local hardware store where they could buy the plumbing supplies needed. They asked several times about who gave these gifts; I told them it was individuals who love them. I left shouting, “HO HO HO, Merry Christmas!” As I drove out of sight, I heard them exclaim, “Tell whoever gave these gifts, ‘Thank you!’”