In a season known for holiday traditions large and small, the last week brought what have become a few of my favorites.
First, we volunteered for a couple of hours at Feed My Starving Children in Aurora, just west of Fox Valley Mall. As we do every Thanksgiving eve, our family went with others from our neighborhood for two hours of packing meals for malnourished kids in impoverished countries. This was my fourth time doing it. It’s been more than that for the rest of my family and the family who organizes the effort each year.
In those two hours, the families in the room – including many others we didn’t know – packed 191 boxes of food to be shipped overseas. That translates to 41,256 meals, or one meal per day for 113 kids for an entire year. And that’s just what we did in our time slot.
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Each group is presented those stats at the end of their volunteer session, testament to the work they’ve just completed and good context to keep you firmly grounded heading into Thanksgiving feasts and holiday cheer in the weeks ahead.
The second holiday tradition came over the weekend when, like many families, we decorated our home for Christmas. This is the same routine each year: My wife identifies the boxes that need to be carried up from the basement while I do the annual switch of moving warm-weather items that need to be moved to the shed and vice versa.
Despite the unseasonal late-fall warm weather that seems to become more seasonal each year, the yard had not been fully winterized by Thanksgiving as the wiser neighbors among us had done. Those who took advantage of the 60- and 70-degree days to stow their patio furniture and hang their Christmas lights were well ahead of the game while the rest of us were out there doing the same in 40-degree temps this past weekend.
But, as I said, it’s all part of the tradition.
So when the work outside was done, the kids and I turned our attention to carrying those indoor decorations up from the basement as my wife made sure that “Christmas exploded” once again, the affectionate way we describe the seemingly instant transformation the house makes at this time each year.
And by Sunday afternoon, when the trees were decorated, the nutcrackers placed and the garland draped, it was time for one more holiday tradition before we returned to work and the kids went back to school Monday.
For many, the Little Friends Holiday Parade of Lights represents the true arrival of the Christmas season. For roughly the last half dozen years since it’s been held downtown, the parade — or more specifically the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus at the end of if — has signaled that Christmas is officially upon us, despite holiday displays that land in stores seemingly earlier and earlier each year. I swear I saw Christmas stuff out at one place in July.
Thousands of people from Naperville and beyond gather to line the downtown parade route. The mood is festive and the lights are bright. Groups and businesses alike — 57 of them this year — hand out candy, glow sticks and other goodies to the kids along the route. If the weather cooperates — as it did this year — temperatures are only mildly cold and the skies rain-free. Actual snow seems increasingly harder to expect on the first Sunday after Thanksgiving, though one can hope!
As I marched in the parade this year on behalf of Naperville Little League — a first both for myself and for the organization — it occurred to me that we were witnessing the end of a holiday tradition. Little Friends President/CEO Kristi Athas Landorf announced last week that the parade will move next year to a route north of Interstate 88, beginning and ending at Calamos Investments. And it will be held on a Saturday night rather than a Sunday. This after this year’s parade was almost canceled due to the complexity of logistical issues associated with holding the parade downtown.
Katie Wood, executive director of the Downtown Naperville Alliance, has acknowledged the void that the parade’s departure will create in that area and has vowed to have “something downtown next year that will take its place.”
I get that the logistical issues of operating the parade grew increasingly onerous for Little Friends, and I get the decision to simplify by moving the parade next year. I also get the tricky spot that leaves all parties in, having staged an event that seems to continue growing every year. And I appreciate Calamos’ generosity in offering to host the event. I’m sure they’ll do a fine job.
But for the estimated 6,000 to 8,000 folks who attended this year’s parade, it also marks the end of a treasured holiday weekend tradition nonetheless.
Next year, we’ll still have our hours of service at Feed My Starving Children the night before Thanksgiving, and we’ll still decorate the house inside and out in the days after. But beyond that, something will be missing.
Without the Holiday Parade of Lights downtown, that first Sunday after Thanksgiving will likely be a little darker indeed.
Rob Manker is a freelance writer who lives and parents in Naperville.
Twitter @RobManker