Christmas is one of the best holidays of the year; it is an iconic day celebrating the birth of Christ.
When I was young, Christmas morning was the long-awaited culmination of a boy’s hopes and dreams. I lived in the San Fernando Valley where we saw angels, mangers, tumble weed snowmen and Santa’s sleighs erected in front of City Hall, the library and many other public places.
My mom and dad always took us to Wilshire Avenue along the “miracle mile” in downtown Los Angeles where all the stores were alight with merry displays. Some had elaborate religious scenes complete with moving figures, huge Lionel train sets looping through miniature towns, and seemingly live reindeer pulling gift-laden sleighs through the winter sky.
Those were the good old days — no 24-hour news networks, no Internet to bombard us with more information than we could possibly process, and no cell phones. There were only a handful of black and white TV stations to entertain us.
I can still remember the first time I saw snow on Christmas — coming from Southern California and the only snow we saw was on our TV screen. One winter it snowed, but then it was quickly gone as the winter sun came up.
I was stationed with the U.S. Air Force at Rhein-Main Air Base, just outside of Frankfurt, Germany, and it snowed several inches of big fluffy flakes on “the night before Christmas.” It was an amazing sight to an 18-year-old far from home. I took a long walk in the pine forest surrounding our air base that morning, and then went to the mess hall for dinner.
The military always has a big feast on Thanksgiving and Christmas, especially overseas where the young men and women are so far from home. This was no different as we ate turkey, stuffing, gravy and lots of baked goods.
As I grew older, I remember “Christmas parties” where people gathered and exchanged small gifts, ate lots of food and shared some cheer. Church celebrations were always full of smiling and singing people who were all very happy with life and brimming with good cheer. There were Christmas plays in schools, and Jimmy Stewart always saved Christmas from the Grinch.
Yes, Christmas has always meant goodwill and happiness.
A few years ago, the displays in public places started disappearing. A handful of misguided people have ruled the day and are trying to totally exclude this joyous holiday from “official” public discussion. Christmas parties have now been replaced with the more politically correct “holiday gatherings.” school children take a “winter break,” we have “holiday parades” or a parade of lights, and mangers now only appear in our neighbors’ yards.
Our grandchildren are not allowed to sing or hum carols in many schools for fear they will somehow be tainted by the positive message of Christmas. And those Christmas skits and plays are mostly gone.
Here in Lompoc, there are some encouraging signs. Some brave shopkeepers have erected Christmas-themed displays in our storefronts. Most developers have done away with the large windows that used to house the colorful displays in their anchor stores because of “security reasons,” but some remain and many are decorated.
But Christmas lights and displays are a common sight in the yards of Lompoc. Hundreds of houses are lit up with icicles, Santas, reindeer and snowmen. The power lines must hum throughout the month of December as local residents erect even larger displays than the year before.
Thankfully the city still places illuminated Christmas trees on all the light poles on the main thoroughfares, and there are those Christmas trees all over town, which is really sentimental. And a couple of years ago, the City Council reinstated the Christmas Parade.
Lately I have noticed that Christmas carols are returning to the lineup on radio stations after a multiyear hiatus. Finally we are slowly getting back to the traditions I remember as a young man.
Some traditions shouldn’t be sacrificed to political correctness, and Christmas is one of those special times that should be left alone. Merry Christmas to all — are those sleigh bells I hear in the night sky?
Now, get ready for the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl game.
— Ron Fink, a Lompoc resident since 1975, is retired from the aerospace industry and has been active with Lompoc municipal government commissions and committee since 1992, including 12 years on the Lompoc Planning Commission. He is also a voting member of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association. Contact him at news@noozhawk.com. The opinions expressed are his own.
