’Tis the season to be merry, and while life can become hectic for many of us this time of year, it is also a time to celebrate and take the time to appreciate what Christmas is all about.
There are boundless traditions across the world this time of the year, and the vast traditions continue in our own neighborhoods.
So in the spirit of the season, some Christmas enthusiasts have shared their traditions to reveal what they do to get into the spirit.
All over the UK and Europe, but particularly in Glasgow, Scotland, where my sister, Antonia, and I grew up, the Christmas markets would set up mid-November every year, lasting until the end of December. Food from all over the world, such as German sausage, mini Dutch pancakes, Jamaican rum, Spanish paella and Italian pizza are sold at these markets.
There are also stalls of handmade leather goods, arts and crafts, clothing, jewelry and many handmade goods. While people roam around to enjoy the multicultural shopping, the common tradition is to enjoy a hot mulled wine, mulled cider or German beer.
Antonia and her boyfriend, Alex, explained that while their holiday celebrations change every year, they have basic traditions each year also. Christmas Eve is spent with Alex’s parents. The house is jazzed up every year with decorations and the Scottish tradition of clementines and lemons displayed in cupcake stands as a festive flair.
“The main thing is getting up on the Christmas morning to open presents together,” Alex said. “Alison Scott, Alex’s mum, would always wrap one of her clementines in foil and put them in our stockings as old tradition from when celementines were scarce in the depression of the ’30s,” Antonia explained. “Then we usually go to one of Alison’s friends’ houses, who would host Christmas. “We  enjoy party treats, prossecco and the Scottish favorite —  sausage rolls with a hot toddy. I like to bring my homemade spinach and artichoke dip so they can get a taste of an American favorite,” she added. “After that it’s a jolly day. We have Christmas dinner and play games, and annual UK Christmas shows.”
On Christmas Eve in Huron, we will all congregate at our grandparents Keith and Marita Montgomery’s house. We make chili and oyster stew for dinner and gather around the fire to share stories and family time.
Christmas day we all share a meal, usually fillet of beef or prime rib. Whatever the meal is we always enjoy. But the most important part of the tradition is being together as a family. Many of us live far apart so to be together is special to us all.
Rhonda Kludt of Huron explained Christmas Eve is a family get-together around the fireplace.
“Our daughter and her husband make a traditional German meal of sausage and cheese buttons. We eat all kinds of unhealthy food and attend church together,” Kludt said. “Then we drive around and check out all the Christmas decorations and lights around Huron. A great deal of time is spent with the family watching Christmas movies. It really is a wonderful life.”
The true meaning of Christmas comes to Kludt from reading about all the people who want to do kind deeds.
“Our community is very good about helping those in need and making their life a little better,” Kludt said. “Those stories and a few classic Christmas movies put me in the spirit and are truly what the meaning of the season is all about. It also marks the end of another year and a time to reflect on what changes have occurred in our lives. It’s a time to remember those who are no longer with us, and to celebrate those who’ve entered our world.”

As Kludt was driving to medical appointments the night before Christmas a few years ago, a sign appeared to her that changed her way of thinking about Christmas.
“As I was driving in the darkness, I saw a billboard that read ‘The best things in life are not things.’ It changed the way I look at Christmas and caused me to realize how precious family and friends are and that having people I love with me for another year truly is the greatest gift,” Kludt shared. “Christmas brings out the goodness in people; it’s the one day everyone in the world seems to put aside grievances and treat each other with kindness and respect.”
Another wonderful experience for Kludt is the excitement in children.
“I like experiencing Christmas through the eyes of my grandson Leo,” Kludt explained. “Children have such a pure and simple way of seeing things.
Stacy Roberts of Huron shared her three main traditions.
The first is getting a Christmas tree: “It must be a real tree, I remember my grandparents always put their tree in a big bucket of some kind, I think it had rocks and bricks in it to keep the tree stable,” Roberts explained. “When I got married, my husband and I found a really sturdy cast iron stand for our tree, and we still have that stand 25 years later.”
The second tradition is making Norwegian Christmas cookies. “When I was growing up my mother’s family would get together at my grandparents, house and make cookies as a family,” she said.
“We always made about six kinds of cookies. The traditional Norwegian ones were called krumkake, sandbakkle and fattigman. We also make cherry thumbprint cookies, walnut spice kisses and Mexican wedding balls,” Roberts explained. “We would pack the cookies into large boxes on the dining room table and make boxes for everyone to take them home.”
As the years went on, the traditions changed a little for the Roberts.
“One year when there was work being done on my grandmother’s house, we moved the cookies to our house. The next year she was happy to hand the tradition over to us to host,” Roberts said.
“Over the next few years we started to invite friends to join us, and our small family tradition grew into a large all-day open house with dear friends and neighbors joining in,” she said. “Our small family tradition grew from seven people to as many as 35. After moving to South Dakota three years ago, we have continued with the family cookies and are inviting new friends into our home to share the tradition.”
The third tradition Roberts shared is each year a new special ornament would decorate the tree.
“I always was given at least one new ornament for the tree each year by my parents, but some years there were other ornaments from other family members or close friends,” she said. “My husband’s family had the  same tradition, so we have a wonderfully eclectic assortment of ornaments for our tree. It makes decorating the tree so special, as we remember who gave us the ornaments. Some of those people are not longer with us so we get to remember them as we decorate and listen to Christmas music.”
Lisa Wolf of Huron grew up with many traditions that she passed down to her children.
“We would first find the perfect Christmas tree. Next my dad came out with the saw to trim up the trunk so it would be straight in the tree stand,” Wolf explained. “Then of course came the decorating. All of us kids had handfulls of tinsel to put on the tree.
“Later on my parents bought an artificial tree and then that tradition became putting the tree up and no more tinsel,” she said. “Then came the baking of Christmas cookies and krumkaka, which is a Norwegian treat.”
Wolf would also attend a church program where they would receive a bag of peanuts in the shell, some hard candies and an apple.
“As we got older we participated in Christmas caroling with the youth group at our church, going to people’s homes,” Wolf said. “You don’t hear of that anymore.
“We also had a Christmas cantata that my dad directed for as long as I can remember,” Wolf said. “I find getting into the spirit of Christmas starts with church. What better place to find the true meaning of why we celebrate, how the birth of a baby could change so many lives.
“There is always a special message when you find that time in your life to enjoy the stillness of why we celebrate,” she added. “It’s easy to get wrapped up with shopping, finding the right presents and the baking. But really finding traditions that keep the spirit alive also play an important role.”
Glenda Maxted, the children’s librarian at Huron Public Library shared her traditions.
“I put up the decorations before Thanksgiving,” Maxted said.
“We have many Christmas traditions, my favorite tradition is singing ‘Silent Night’ at the Christmas Eve service,”  she added. “Christmas is important because of Christ, it is a celebration of a gift given to everyone.”
Whatever your traditions are, may all your Christmases be merry and bright.