Folks share Christmas traditions

Families across the county and throughout the world will get together this weekend to celebrate Christmas. Many Washingtonians are hosting parties right here in town. Richard Pierce will be visited by his three sons and 10 grandchildren on Christmas Eve.

    ?They?ll probably get to my house between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Friday morning,? said Pierce.

    Pierce?s oldest son, Richard Jr., lives near Wichita, Kan. When asked how long the drive is, Pierce said, ?It depends who?s driving.? He said it normally takes about eight hours. He said they?ll leave Kansas when his son gets off work and then drive through the night. Pierce said he plans to be awake when they arrive, but can?t promise he won?t doze off a few times.

    When his boys were young, Pierce put out refreshments for Santa.

    ?Back then, Santa liked Pepsi,? he said. ?He switched over to cream soda.?

    As a child, Pierce remembers asking Santa for toy farm implements and heavy machinery.

?I asked for a John Deere tractor or a dump truck,? he said. ?Getting one of those was a big deal.?

    Tasha Joynes celebrated Christmas several weeks early this year ? on the weekend of Thanksgiving. She gets together with her father?s side of the family at her grandmother?s house in What Cheer. They all gather around a giant table that sits 30 people.  

    ?We visit and play games,? said Joynes. ?We have the kids get out the presents with their Santa hats on.?

    In some years, Joynes?s family from Minnesota comes down to visit during the holidays.

    ?This Christmas, it will just be me and my boyfriend,? she said.

    Joynes said her best Christmas gift was an art set from her grandmother.

    ?It had pastels, colored pencils, markers and everything,? she said. ?I scrapbook and do all that stuff.?

    Joynes really gets into holiday music. During the Christmas season, Joynes changes the ring tones on her phone to Christmas songs.

    A few people in town have insight into how Christmas is celebrated in other countries. Gonul Akgul, who now resides in Washington, was born and raised in Germany and then later moved to Turkey. She speaks German, Turkish, Albanian and English. For beginning German students, ?Merry Christmas? in German is ?Frohe Weihnachten.?

    Akgul said she?ll spend Christmas at home with her husband.

    ?Our children were going to visit but they can?t because of the snow,? she said. ?My kids live in Peoria, Ill. Usually, they spend every holiday at my house, but it?s not going to happen this year. They came home for Thanksgiving, and we had a wonderful time then.?

    Akgul described what Christmas is like in Turkey:

For the full story, see the Dec. 23 edition of The Washington Evening Journal