Thanksgiving rolling into Christmas
Written by Glen Hughes on November 26th, 2008 3 Comments
I realize that its the day before Thanksgiving, most people have a short work day. Bartenders on the other hand have their busiest day of they year today. But I digress…
The day before Thanksgiving brings about Salem’s transformation into Christmas season. The Essex Street Pedestrian Walkway is strewn with lights, lamp poles have wreaths and this morning city employees started working on the Old Town Hall.
Olde Town Hall gets wreathed
The big wreath went up via a bucket and crane thingie type truck. Apparently the balmy 30 degree temperatures didn’t dissuade one Rhodes Scholar from wearing his shorts to work this morning.
Erecting Salems Christmas Tree
Seasonal festivities begin this Friday night at 6pm when Mayor Driscoll lights up the Christmas tree.
Editorial Rant:
I know some people refer to the above tree as a “holiday tree” but lets face it, other than Arbor Day what holiday has a tree as a symbol? It’s a Christmas tree people. You are not offending anyone by calling it what it is. Jews, atheists and pagans all acknowledge that the Christmas tree is a Christmas tree and are not offended by it. Each religion has it’s own unique symbol. You wouldn’t call a menorah a “multi branched holiday candelabrum”, would you? The Christmas tree currently happens to be a Christian symbol, having allegedly been adapted from the paganism along with the mistletoe and yule log (which you can watch for free in Salem from Comcast’s on demand menu). So I don’t want to hear anyone referring to it as anything but a Christmas Tree.
If you are looking to get a Christmas tree for your home you can head across the street from Old Town Hall to Artists Row where they will be selling trees and “Shanty Clause” (get it, Shanty as in the Lobster Shanty - pretty clever) will be making an appearance all weekend long.
If Shanty Clause doesn’t do it for you Santa Clause will be arriving in Salem at the Hawthorne Hotel on Friday at 5:30 pm. He makes his decent from the roof and meets up with the mayor before walking down Essex Street to the Christmas Tree lighting. If you miss him on Friday don’t worry because he will be at the Museum Place Mall from noon till 2pm every Saturday and Sunday until Christmas.
Tags: christmas · community · family · seasonal
Amen to the rant!
A reply to your rant…
The, “Christmas tree” was actually a Pagan tradition. We Pagans brought a tree into the house during the Winter as a reminder that spring will come again.
So, yes, there is another holiday that involves trees, and it’s called (well, at least one name for it is), “Yule.”
All that being said, as a Pagan, I really don’t give a s&it what it’s called…you guys can call it a bagel for all I care.
Ivy,
I see where your going with that and as I stated the tree did come from paganism but the current recognizable symbol for Yule is undoubtedly the Yule Log.
On the other hand I would love for someone to do bagel tree similar to a gumdrop tree but warm and delicious drizzled with cream cheese.