On the first weekend of December my true loves said to me "what we want is a real Christmas tree." And so it was, out with the mess-free fake tree, and in with the ‘please let there be one needle left on Christmas morning' real tree.
According to Kinsman Wade Dooley my kids weren't the only ones guilting their parents into buying a tree on Dec. 4, but apparently we are a minority. The Sackville Kinsmen and Sackville and Bedford Lions said it was a little slow, but they expect to triple or double their sales on the weekend of the 10th.
Although they weren't all out buying trees, Christmas was definitely in the air as Bedfordites and Sackvillians (I don't know if those are official names but that's what I call our residents) hit the ground running on the first weekend of the biggest most stressful and expensive month of the year, out shopping and soaking up the beautiful December sun. Speaking of running, the Fleet Diving Unit had a group of volunteers out on Sunday morning running up and down the street passing out boots looking for people to fill them with money in support of Christmas Daddies, being the generous people we are, most obliged. Surrounded by the runners, Santa was bringing up the rear sitting on a flatbed, I'm assuming not because he's lazy - although he does look like he could lay off the cookies and hit the gym - but that he was saving his energy for the big night.
While checking out the Lions lot in Bedford my oldest son Jakob did a double take when he noticed 16-year-old twins Brandon and Chris Wannamaker wrapping up Christmas trees. Unlike most of the younger kids, both boys said they weren't looking for anything particular under the tree this year; they were just enjoying the holiday season.
Everywhere we went it was the same old holiday questions "Can you believe Christmas is almost here?" and "Are you finished your Christmas shopping yet?" My answers? "No" and "Not even close." All I do know is that most shoppers - at least those with kids - will be spending most of their time in the electronics department of their favourite stores because from what I saw and heard, Santa better have high credit card limits and overdrafts because kids don't want easy bake ovens and Tonka trucks anymore. What kids want these days are iPods and X Boxes. As for me, I'm just hoping for some new socks, a $20 Walmart gift card and a little less coal in my stocking.
blhall@eastlink.ca
