What is that man in the photo thinking?
It doesn’t matter if it is dawn or dusk, if he is going to work or coming home, but let’s say it’s early December, when we have become accustomed to the environmental insults of another winter.
It appears as if the man, head down and in deliberate pace, could be downtrodden. But maybe he is thinking of something wonderful, looking forward to one of the traditions that help us all make it through the winter.
On the following pages you will read about several wintertime traditions. Some are familiar-dining by the Great Tree in the place known for one last season as Marshall Field’s; crafting a holiday letter to let others learn what kind of year you and yours have had; filling a kitchen with the warm aroma of baking cookies. Others are not, but we hope they might inspire you to try something new, such as volunteering or taking a holiday-themed train ride.
It is a package embellished by what our critics think are the winter’s cultural wonders, and photos so pretty and perfect that they deserve to be on Christmas or Kwanzaa or Chinese New Year cards.
No matter the depth of the snow or the bite of the wind, there is comfort in knowing something good is up ahead. So we like to imagine that the man trudging alone in the photo is happy, thinking about a gathering or activity that will provide a pleasant emotional warming station on his long trek toward spring.
— Rick Kogan
1. TRAIN FOR THE HOLIDAYS
ELAINE SILETS GOT HOOKED ON TRAINS IN THE 1940s, when she was just 3 and growing up on the North Shore. “At the time, dolls didn’t do anything and I was terribly bored with them,” she recalls. Luckily, her older brother took no interest in his Lionel Santa Fe Super Chief. And even though her fascination was somewhat unusual for a girl, her parents encouraged it and her Christmas wishes for additional trains and tracks were fulfilled.
“I was building layouts before layouts were built, ” she says. “I’d take over the entire first floor of the house, including under the dining room table, which, of course, annoyed everyone because they couldn’t vacuum.”
Today, as president of Huff & Puff Industries Ltd. in Barrington, Silets has spent the last 15 years designing and assembling elaborate model-train displays-some costing thousands of dollars-mostly during the holidays, for people who share her passion.
The connection between trains and Christmas goes back 175 years to 1830, when the first regularly scheduled trains began crossing the country, according to “All Aboard for Christmas” author Christopher Jennison. By 1900, the Lionel company began pushing model trains as the perfect Christmas gift. The Lionel Santa Fe Super Chief that Silets fondly remembers is still the most popular of all model trains.
Here are a couple of places to see terrific model-rail exhibits:
– A Great View and Santa, Too: It’s the 11th year for this event at the John Hancock Observatory showcasing the Hancock Holiday Mountain Railroad, a 12-train, 1,400-square-foot holiday railroad exhibit. Visitors also can visit Santa and receive a complimentary photo. 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Nov. 19-Dec. 23, Hancock Observatory, 875 N. Michigan Ave. $6-$9.50. 312-751-3681.
– Winter Flower and Train Show: Several model trains, including an old-fashioned steam engine, freight train and trolley, wind through a tiny village of famous Chicago buildings, neighborhood bungalows and poinsettias at this holiday favorite in the Lincoln Park Conservatory. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 10- Jan. 8, 2391 N. Stockton Drive. Free. 312-742-7736.
FOR THOSE WHO’D RATHER ride the rails for real, the Chicago area abounds with possibilities, from the CTA’s decorated holiday trains to various versions of “The Polar Express,” author Chris Van Allsburg’s story about a fantasy train trip to see Santa Claus at the North Pole. Depending on who’s re-creating the ride, passengers can experience characters in costume, hear readings of the story, visit and even ride with Santa, have cookies and hot chocolate, and much more. Reservations are needed for the round-trip “Polar Express” journeys.
– Polar Express: Villa Park station to Geneva: 5:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. Dec. 3. $7-$9. 630-834-8970.
– Polar Express: Lisle Metra station to Chicago Union Station: 9:45 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 4. $10. 630-769-1000.
– Polar Express: Fox River Valley Trolley, Blackhawk Station to Castlemuir Station: The Fox River trolley station is in the Jon Duerr Forest Preserve, just off Route 31 in St. Charles Township. Castlemuir Station is in South Elgin. Dec. 3 and Dec. 10. 5 p.m. $5-$6. 847-697-4676.
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– CTA Holiday Train: These decorated trains run on weekends from Nov. 19 to Dec. 18, except Dec. 3. The train includes a flatcar that carries Santa and his reindeer and runs on all CTA rail lines except the Yellow Line. For exact times and locations, call 312-836-7000. transitchicago.com.
— Christine Badowski
2. TIMELESS TRADITION
A NAME CHANGE LOOMS FOR MARSHALL FIELD’S, BUT THE GREAT TREE IS STANDING TALL
THE TREE IS 38 FEET TALL. ALWAYS HAS BEEN, GIVE OR TAKE. Add the tree topper-often the legendary Uncle Mistletoe but this year a spiraling crystal take on Christmas tree-meets-Eiffel Tower, designed by Andree Putman of Paris-and the Great Tree at Marshall Field’s stretches to 45 feet. But that’s it. It’s never been an inch taller.
“People come here as adults and have these memories of the tree rising up through the store, all the way to the top of the atrium,” says Amy Meadows, the store’s visual marketing manager. “Through a child’s eye, a two-story tree is the adult equivalent of a multi-story tree. But it’s always been in the Walnut Room on a platform, which, incidentally, is right over the store’s Tiffany dome. So we tread lightly.”
Decade after decade, holiday shoppers have patiently stood in velvet-roped lines for two hours or more to have lunch in the Walnut Room beneath the Great Tree at Marshall Field’s.
That tradition took on added significance this year with the store’s announcement that it will change its name to Macy’s in 2006, ending the Marshall Field’s Christmas shopping and Great Tree experience as we have known and loved it.
Take a good look around, friends. Look at the tree and the stately Walnut Room, and think about what they have meant to you in your life. Think about those green shopping bags with the timeless white signature, and the sound of Christmas music and shuffling feet. Think about shivering under one of those clocks.
The list of things that makes Marshall Field’s a Chicago icon is long, and the Great Tree, which almost made it to 100 (the first went up in 1907, so this is its 98th year), is high on that list. If it weren’t, Meadows and her staff would not spend three years planning a single tree, as they did with this year’s model, adorned in Swarovski crystal and subtle shades of blue.
Marshall Field’s has more or less promised, without getting into specifics, that the Walnut Room and the Great Tree will live on under the Macy’s banner.
So this seems the perfect time to reflect on the making of that tradition and how well it will hold up in the years to come. In other words, will you be lunching beneath the Macy’s Great Tree?
For Meadows, it has been business as usual since the announcement was made, with future trees being planned without pause.
“Regardless of the name on the door, we will continue the traditions that Chicagoans and visitors alike have enjoyed for generations,” she says.
Early last winter, during a party that Marshall Field’s threw in the Walnut Room for its preferred customers and their families, Marie Burke and Marge Quigley were giggling as they slid off Santa’s lap during their annual photograph.
“This starts our Christmas season,” Burke said. “We’ve been coming down here since we were tikes.” She turned to her sister, Quigley, for corroboration.
“I’ll admit I’ve probably been coming here 70 years,” Quigley said, “but I’m not going to tell you how old I am.”
Seated only steps from the Great Tree, the extended family of Burke and Quigley looked as comfortable as if they were in one of their own living rooms. Tables were pushed together and family members of all ages were everywhere you looked, loop-handled shopping bags planted on chairs and sprouting from the floor.
Suzanne Casey, now 57, saw the Great Tree for the first time when she was 4, and can’t remember missing a year since then.
“My mom, my aunt and my cousins would get on the train, Joliet to LaSalle Street Station,” she recalled last year over dinner in the Walnut Room with her extended family. “I had an aunt who was pretty aggressive, and we always sat right there [she pointed to a table next to the tree].”
Casey was presiding quietly at the head of a long table, looking out over her nieces and their families. “I was thinking earlier today when we were downstairs that it would be terrible if Marshall Field’s ever closed,” she said, “because it has such a tradition and means so much to Chicago.”
BUILDING THE TREE, much like building the tradition of a 153-year-old, larger-than-life department store, is a prodigious undertaking. Twenty people, including union carpenters and electricians, spend the better part of a workday erecting the tree. A winch with a capacity of 2,500 pounds lifts pieces into place-tree topper first, because the tree is built from the tip down, its lower branches reaching out 10 feet in every direction.
Once the tree is standing, several more people climb onto scaffolding for the trimming party, often gripping a section of the scaffolding’s framework with one hand and leaning in with an ornament in the other. It is a sight to behold, this vertical ballet, especially when you notice that on the ground there are also large men in construction helmets and Bears T-shirts walking around with glitter in their beards.
The tree has been artificial since new fire codes outlawed live trees in 1963, Meadows says, and the current model, replacing the original, is in its third year. It is stored in 25 giant plywood boxes on wheels on the vacant 12th floor, a warehouse-like space with huge unadorned windows allowing in the hazy downtown light of day. Seeing the tree there, its brown steel pipe of a trunk lying uncovered on the floor, is a bit like peeking behind the curtain of the Wizard of Oz. But even in that unremarkable space there is a trace of enchantment for those in the right frame of mind: A crate of branches marked “Orphans-Don’t Use 11-15-04” evokes the Island of Misfit Toys from “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
The branches that do get used are pre-trimmed with lights-some blinking, others steadily burning-and must be tested each year before they go onto the tree’s spine because, for the most part, once the tree goes up, it’s up (not that it can’t come down in an emergency, as it did one year when workers forgot to hoist Uncle Mistletoe to the top first). This year there are four kinds of Swarovski ornaments hanging on the tree: stars, snowflakes, balls and cascades. As usual, 15,000 lights cast a festal glow.
Last year’s tree paid tribute to the “Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years” exhibit at the Field Museum. Resplendent in shades of pink, it was created by White House tree designer Jim Marvin, whose inspiration was a 1962 version in the Kennedy White House, the color palate a tribute to Jacqueline Kennedy, who wore pink on her husband’s Inauguration Day.
“I think it’s stylish, and it’s about the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Marvin said last year in the Walnut Room as the tree went up, craning his neck to assess his work from base to tip. “And I’ve been in the business for 40 years.”
Workers stepped lively around him, wrapping boxes, adjusting bows and climbing up the four levels of scaffolding to wipe smudges off the shiny fuchsia ball ornaments. “As far as I know,” Marvin continued, “there are no rules, except for imaginary magic.”
How appropriate, and how sweetly sad that this year’s tree is more tranquil than last year’s-the perky pinks replaced by moody blues and sparkling ice reflecting all of our memories of Great Trees past. It is a blue Christmas, indeed.
After the Macy’s announcement, Marie Burke and Marge Quigley were upset. “We are a Field’s family from way back,” Burke said. “We’ll go back, but it is a bitter pill to swallow, that’s all I can say.”
Quigley had more to say.
“We’ll go this year to take one last look at Marshall Field’s,” she said. They will lunch one last time under the Field’s tree. As for the years to come, she said, “I’m going to continue to go, but it’s never going to be the same.”
From Nov. 19 through Dec. 30, the Walnut Room will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Marshall Field’s is at 111 N. State St. in Chicago.
— By Michael Austin. Michael Austin is a frequent contributor to the Magazine.
3. GO WITH THE SNOW
IF WINTER WEATHER HAS ONE PERK, IT’S SNOW. And we don’t mean the stuff you shovel from a parking space. We’re talking about the good snow, the kind that makes a snowman or gleams on the hills at sunrise. Chicago winters are known more for slushy streets than snow-globe charm, so a road trip is often the only way to take full advantage of the season.
One such refuge is about 80 miles from downtown Chicago, the well-appointed Grand Geneva Resort in Lake Geneva, Wis. (7036 Grand Geneva Way. 888-392-8000. grandgeneva.com) At this winter retreat, more than a dozen snow machines take over when Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate, churning out snow Monday through Friday. Enough snow, in fact, to cover 18 slopes for skiing and snowboarding. (The longest run is about 1/4 mile and elevation tops 1,000 feet.) “In the middle of the season, we have anywhere from a 24- to 48-inch base on the hill and probably 95 percent of it is manmade, unless we have a good year for snow,” says Hans Hauschild, director of snow sports at the Grand Geneva.
For further proof of the resort’s snow-making prowess, look no further than Lake Geneva’s annual Winterfest, Feb. 1-5. Now in its 11th year, this lively winter carnival hosts the U.S. National Snow Sculpting Championships (lakegenevawi.com), drawing the best snow artists from around the country and as far away as Alaska. The competition, which culminates in creations that typically weigh 3 tons and stand 10 feet tall, relies on the Grand Geneva’s snow machines. In fact, during the competition, organizers like Gary Silbar quip that they can “almost guarantee snow without playing God.” Silbar says the competition hasn’t wanted for snow in 10 years, despite the occasional days when temperatures are well above freezing.
OTHER MIDWEST SNOW DESTINATIONS:
– NUB’S NOB SKI AREA, Harbor Springs, Mich.
From 2001 to 2003, Ski magazine named Nub’s Nob its No. 1 Midwest ski and snowboard locale, lauding its 52 ski runs as well as trails for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The folks who own the mountain even have a patent on their snow-making device, the Nub’s Nob snow gun. 800-SKI-NUBS. nubsnob.com
— CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, Thompsonville, Mich.
Snow lovers often mention this family-owned resort in the same breath as Nub’s Nob Ski Area, but the big difference is Crystal’s accommodations. Guests can stay on the mountain and get the classic ski-resort ambience with plenty of restaurants, bars and other places to go aprs ski. 800-968-7686. crystalmountain.com
– DEVIL’S HEAD RESORT, Merrimac, Wis.
An easy day trip from Chicago, Devil’s Head still feels like a vacation. In fact, it has many of the same amenities as Midwest resorts much farther away: well-groomed ski runs, secluded trails and the accommodations of a fully loaded ski town, everything from a hotel and restaurants to nightlife for skiers who want to stay awhile. 800-472-6670. devilsheadresort.com
— Noah Isackson
4. BAKE A MEMORY
A CENTURIES-OLD, JAM-PACKED RECIPE DELIGHTS YEAR AFTER YEAR
Linzer Cookies
(From Bittersweet Pastry Shop, Chicago)
Makes 3 1/2 dozen
13 ounces (3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 1/4 cups flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 ounces toasted almonds, ground
Good quality fruit preserves
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)
1. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until fluffy. Add zest and extract. Combine flour and salt and, with beaters on low speed, add to the butter mixture in two batches. Do not overbeat. Add nuts until just blended in. Divide the dough into thirds, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove one portion of dough from the refrigerator and allow it to rest on the counter for 5-10 minutes. Roll out to a thickness of 1/8-inch and cut cookies with a 2-inch cookie cutter. With a small cookie cutter, cut out a center hole in half of the discs, which will be used as the tops of the Linzers. Transfer cookie bottoms and tops to separate sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Bake for 11-12 minutes (dough with the holes cut out may take less time). Cool. Repeat with remaining dough.
3. Place bottom cookie portions on a work surface; add 1 teaspoon preserves to each; place a cookie with a hole on top of each and lightly press down to distribute the preserves. Lightly dust the edges of each cookie with powdered sugar.
5. GIVE CREATIVELY
HOLIDAY TRADITIONS CAN START SIMPLY ENOUGH: A favorite robe becomes the annual uniform on Christmas morning; a casual football game turns into a yearly reunion for old friends. For some, volunteering is a winter ritual that began in the same, casual way.
About five years ago, Mike Finkler volunteered at a holiday gift drive and heard about other groups that needed help. All the while, Finkler and his wife, Diane, were thinking about their family’s holiday plans. “My wife and I come from families where everyone gets together on Christmas Eve, so we decided we were going to start a tradition of our own on Christmas,” Finkler says. “And we were just thinking of doing something a little different.”
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For the last four years, the Finklers have spent Christmas morning at the Friendship Village nursing home in Schaumburg. In the weeks before Christmas, Finkler shops for small presents and collects donations from friends and local businesses. Then the couple and their three daughters turn the basement of their Hoffman Estates home into an assembly line, making about 200 small gift bags. The family arrives at the nursing home around 10 a.m. on Christmas Day to pass out presents and visit with the residents. “When you volunteer, you can see the effect that you have on another person’s life,” Finkler says.
Thirty-five years ago, Elizabeth Wisnasky, of Tinley Park, held a holiday open house, asking her guests to bring a new toy that could be donated to a needy child. A lot of people took to the idea, and Wisnasky and her husband, Bill, have hosted an open house and toy drive every year since. “It just turned into this wonderful thing,” she says.
Last year, the Wisnaskys’ holiday party collected $1,000 and enough toys to fill a van and two cars. All of it was distributed to underprivileged children through Respond Now, an outreach group in Chicago Heights. Wisnasky can’t imagine a winter without it. “We should share what we have,” she says. “We should all be angels to each other.”
For more creative ways to give, call on an organization like the Community Resource Network (312-491-7820, chicagovolunteer.net), which keeps a database of local groups looking for all sorts of volunteers. Or try one of these:
– CHICAGO-CHILL
This nationwide program invites at-risk kids and children from under-served neighborhoods to try snowboarding: Chicago-area kids go to Raging Buffalo Snowboard Park in Algonquin. “A lot of these kids have had a tough time, and this gives them a chance to get outside and learn a new sport,” says spokeswoman Jenn Davis. “Our mission is to provide a vehicle for self-esteem.” The program needs a host of volunteers, including proficient snowboarders and non-boarders. 802-651-0380. burton.com/Chill
– MARWEN
Marwen serves about 1,900 children from parochial and Chicago Public Schools, providing free visual arts classes, college counseling and career planning programs. Marwen is looking for volunteers who work in creative fields: architects, graphic designers, artists, toy makers, furniture designers, interior designers, photographers and so on. The group hopes to build a list of such professionals who can be called on to talk to and mentor students. 312-944-2418. marwen.org
– SUPERSIBS!
The mission of this organization is to help children who have a sibling with cancer. “These children are the shadow survivors,” says national outreach director Sandi Ring. The group says about 10,000 children a year are in this difficult situation. SuperSibs! sends out care packages to remind the child that they haven’t been forgotten, as well as inspire them to be a supportive part of their sibling’s recovery. The group is in touch with 3,500 kids, and volunteers are needed to help with the outreach effort. 847-705-SIBS. supersibs.org -N.I.
6. SAMPLE THE UNSUNG HOLIDAYS
One way to extend the holiday spirit (and expand your shopping horizons) is to enjoy some of the “other” celebrations taking place this winter. So Merry Makar Sankranti To You!
– St. Lucia Day, Dec. 13
Celebrating: St. Lucia is the patron saint of light, and this is one of the most important holidays on the Swedish calendar. Coming on one of the shortest days of the year, its central theme is light; a seven-candle crown encircled with evergreens graces tables and the heads of young girls.
Shopping: Visit Stockholm Objects for a taste of contemporary Swedish life. The shop stocks Scandinavian home furnishings and fashions that can’t be found elsewhere in the area and that epitomize the sleek, understated aesthetic that rules in this part of the world. 26 W. Chicago, Hinsdale, 630-655-0966, stockholmobjects.com
– Epiphany, Jan. 6
Celebrating: The 12 days of Christmas end on this day, which marks the night the Three Kings arrived in Bethlehem after following a star they saw when Jesus was born. The kings presented the baby Jesus with gold, frankincense and myrrh. In Madrid, a celebration on this day includes a flamboyant procession centered around the Three Kings.
Shopping: Visit The Spice House for fresh, fine spices and the right implements for storing and using them. Splurge on a modern-day equivalent of gold by substituting saffron. 1512 N. Wells St., 312-274-0378 or 1941 Central St., Evanston, 847-328-3711.
– Kwanzaa, Dec. 26 to Jan. 1
Celebrating: The word means “fresh fruits of the harvest” in Kiswahili, and the focus is on African-American culture and its ties to the traditional African values of family, community, responsibility, commerce and self-improvement. Ritual objects include a Kinara (candleholder), Mkeka (placemat, preferably straw), Mazao (fruits and vegetables), Vibunzi/Muhindi (ears of corn, reflecting the children in the household), Kikombe cha umoja (communal unity cup), Mishumaa saba (seven candles) and Zawadi (enriching gifts).
Shopping: Chicago’s outdoor Christkindlmarket sells many Kwanzaa items, as well as meaningful gifts for family and friends. It’s held at Daley Plaza (Dearborn and Washington Streets) from Nov. 24 to Dec. 22.
– Makar Sankranti , Jan. 14
Celebrating: This auspicious day for Hindus falls at the beginning of the Indian solar calendar, the date when day and night are approximately equal. Celebration traditions vary across India but often include exchanging sweets and throwing a Haldi-Kumkoo party, where women gather and are given gifts of any utensil.
Shopping: Visit Kamdar Plaza on West Devon Avenue in Chicago for its array of ethnic foods, cookware and utensils. 2646 W. Devon Ave., 773-338-8100.
— Lisa Skolnik
7. DON’T FORGET TO WRITE
WE ASKED TRIBUNE ADVICE COLUMNIST AMY DICKINSON TO SHARE HER thoughts on those long, chipper holiday newsletters. Should we finally sit down and write one too? Here’s what Amy says:
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking that holiday letters are the cultural equivalent of the battery-powered dancing Santa. But a well-done holiday letter is not only a great way to keep in touch-it’s also a sort of toast to far-flung friends and family. By following a few guidelines, correspondents can create a meaningful holiday keepsake.
– 1. Set the tone: Don’t brag, and don’t dwell on bad news. Your letter should be a fairly neutral-to-optimistic account of the personal lives and major events of your family during the previous year.
– 2. Keep it personal: Real estate agents, take note-a holiday letter is the wrong place to drum up business or market your professional skills. Your letter should be sent to a select group of people who know you personally and you’re certain would like to hear from you.
– 3. Have some fun: Print your letter on the back of a collage of drawings done by your kids, or a color copy of a family snapshot. Ask for a special “quote” from your children for the letter. (Last year my daughter’s quote was: “Mom, I can’t believe you’re doing this. This is really lame.”)
– 4. Close your letter warmly, with a reminder of your blessings and your hopes for the year to come.
– 5. Always address and sign your letter personally, and write a line or two directed specifically to the recipient.
8. SING ALONG
Caroling has been a grand tradition for centuries.
In Chicago’s Beverly community, John and Mary Therese Cullnan and their 12 sons and daughters have an annual ritual-singing Christmas carols on Thanksgiving Day-that started more than 40 years ago. There’s been debate as to just how their tradition began, but it is always eagerly anticipated by the Cullnans, who now are 78 strong and span four generations. Here’s a description by Christine Escobar, one of John and Mary Therese Cullnan’s 19 granddaughters:
Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Cullnan’s home is an informal, pot-luck event that about two-dozen family members attend. Once Grandpa leads the saying of grace, it takes less than two hours for us to eat dinner, clean the dishes and light the fire in the fireplace for when the caroling begins.
An additional 45 relatives begin to pour in around 6:30. Once we exchange greetings, have drinks in hand and assemble on the floor, couches, benches, stairs or wherever there is an open spot, the singing begins.
It is fair to say that almost no one in the Cullnan family has much talent in the singing department. The songs are sung loudly and without accompaniment.
“Many of the four generations have strange voices,” my Grandpa honestly points out. For the first decade, the songs were improvised until the oldest in the family, Maureen Kelly, put together songbooks. The covers are the artistic creations of the “kids” at the time, who now have kids of their own. When they’re old enough, they will add their own covers.
People shout out songs and page numbers to determine what will be sung next, and every year the finale is “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” It is not unheard of for the newest member married into the family to be given a solo part, as sort of a “Welcome to the family” gesture. At the end, everyone chimes in for “. . . and a partridge in a pear tree.”
“The best part of caroling is that we’ve been blessed to share this tradition with our children and now with our grandchildren,” says Peggy Goddard, my mom and No. 4 of the 12 Cullnan siblings. “There’s something really special about having my two grandkids do something my own four kids did. The best part is, they can share it with us and with my parents.”
Grandma and Grandpa agree. “It makes us so proud to see the four generations come together year after year. It’s such a wonderful way to end every Thanksgiving Day.”
I concur. Starting a tradition is like giving a gift to future generations: It really doesn’t matter how it begins or what it looks like or, as in our family’s case, sounds like. What is important is that the singing of the Christmas carols at Thanksgiving is a constant, and no matter how large our family gets, it is something all can look forward to every year.
Some holiday sing-alongs:
– Do-It-Yourself Messiah: Join the chorus in this annual performance of Handel’s “Messiah.” 7 p.m. Dec. 20-21. Tickets required in advance. Civic Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive. 312-332-2244.
– Songs of Good Cheer: Proceeds from this holiday caroling party, hosted by Tribune columnists Eric Zorn and Mary Schmich, benefit the baiduhai Holiday Giving campaign. 4 p.m. Dec. 10, $12-$20; and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 10 and 7 p.m. Dec. 11, $20-$30. Old Town School of Folk Music, 4544 N. Lincoln Ave. 773-728-6000.
9. GET IN GEAR
For you newbies out there, get with the lingo of slope hounds. You may hit big air over the season’s newest equipment-high-performance and mad steez all the way.
BEYOND PLANK
Claimed as one of the lightest around, the Vapor all-terrrain snowboard is made of aerospace materials to enhance the ride. $899 at burton.com.
BOLD STANDOUT
Tecnica Diablo magnesium hot-form orange ski boot features an inner liner that is custom-fitted to your foot. The boots come with a heater that can dry the liner or warm it. $740 at the Viking Ski Shop, Chicago.
POW AGILITY
Volkl Unlimited AC 3 skis boast quick turns for carving and combine the soft-snow flotation of a fat ski. $990 at Viking Ski Shop, Chicago.
VISION AHEAD
Unisex high-definition goggles by Anon Optics, a product of Burton Snowboards, adjust to various face sizes. $69.95 at anonoptics.com.
NERDY COOL
BurtonTantrum Audex snowboard helmet by R.E.D. carries Motorola Bluetooth wireless technology, DJ-style headphones and iPod compatibility. $249.95 at redprotection.com.
NARROW MARGINS The new “Legacy” mid-wide freestyle snowboard by Never Summer fits up to a size11-plus foot. $480 at Windward Sports, Chicago.
10. LOVE A PARADE
PARADES ARE NOT JUST A SUMMERTIME ACTIVITY: They might be even more pleasant to watch in the winter, when the woolen marching band members and furry cartoon mascots actually look comfortable. So bundle up, tote hot cocoa in a Thermos and stake out your stretch of the sidewalk. Here are some of the bigger wintertime parades, along with tips to help you enjoy them even more:
– THE MAGNIFICENT MILE LIGHTS FESTIVAL Mickey Mouse leads the Michigan Avenue street-lighting parade that helps throw the holiday shopping season into high gear. John Curran, chairman of the 14th annual event, loves to walk the route and recognize all the people who’ve made it a tradition to stand on the same corner year after year. Curran’s tip for families is to start the day with lunch downtown, but a little away from the Mag Mile fray. “The Rainforest Cafe is a nice place to start, and then work your way toward the Mile,” he advises. In the afternoon, carolers, other live performers and a petting zoo are in Pioneer Court. The street-lighting procession begins at 6 p.m., heading south from Michigan and Chicago Avenues to the Chicago River. Fireworks over the river begin at 6:55 p.m.
Nov. 19. 312-409-5560. themagnificentmile.com
– 72ND ANNUAL STATE STREET THANKSGIVING PARADE Miss Piggy, Humpty Dumpty, Mother Goose and Big Bird will be among the new giant balloons to be featured at the parade, which also will have marching bands from 10 local high schools and half a dozen states, and floats and live performances by city theater groups. The parade begins at State Street and Congress Parkway and travels north on State to Randolph Street. ABC-Ch. 7 will broadcast the parade live starting at 9 a.m.
8:30 to 11 a.m. Nov. 24. 312-781-5681.
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– 28TH ANNUAL TOYS FOR TOTS MOTORCYCLE PARADE To get your motor running, join or cheer on the thousands of volunteer riders who’ll form a rumbling procession to deliver toys to the Marine Corps Reserve Center at Foster Avenue and Troy Street. The parade begins at Ryan Woods and goes north on Western Avenue to the Marine Corps Reserve Center. A slight hill at the intersection of Western and Foster Avenues is a great spot to catch the very long line of riders as they make the final turn. You can join the parade that morning if you have a bike and a toy (no stuffed animals). Lineup starts at 7 a.m., Dan Ryan Woods (83rd and Western); parade starts at 9:30 a.m.
Dec. 4. 773-866-8697. chicagolandtft.org
– CHINESE NEW YEAR PARADE: Welcome the Year of the Dog with a celebratory meal and then the parade, which features floats, marching bands and lion-dancing teams. The Chinatown Chamber of Commerce notes that their parades go much more quickly than most others in the city, lasting only about 30 minutes. So get there early and have dim sum (We like Seven Wives, 2230 S. Wentworth Ave.; and Phoenix, 2131 S. Archer Ave.). Then find your parade-watching spot along Wentworth Avenue, between Cermak and 24th Streets.
1 p.m. Jan. 29, 2006. 312-225-6198. chicagochinatown.org
-C.B.