Published in the December 7 – 20, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
Morgan Hill opened the doors to the winter festivities with its annual holiday parade held downtown the evening of Dec. 3. Residents lined the sidewalks as they watched the home-built floats and marching dancers entertain young and old alike in the annual rite to start our month-long celebration season. At the end, Santa Claus on the Magical Christmas Ship “sailed” along Monterey Road to the Community and Cultural Center to help Mayor Steve Tate light the holiday tree and officially begin Yuletide. It’s the modern interpretation of an ancient tradition of combating the cold and dark nights of approaching winter with feasts and festivals for families and friends.
The holidays in the South Valley are full of community celebrations beyond parades and tree lightings. We enjoy the pageantry of plays such as the “1940’s Radio Hour” performed at the Morgan Hill Community Playhouse by the South Valley Civic Theatre. And we enjoy holiday music performed by various groups including the Dec. 18 concert that will be performed by the South Valley Symphony at the Gavilan Community College Theater.
We are also a community that cares about the homeless and those who are at financial risk living among us. Throughout the region at stores and public venues, cardboard canisters have been placed to collect food and toys from generous residents for low-income families and individuals so they can enjoy a happier holiday season. The Edward Boss Prado Foundation is collecting clothing and toys to make sure all children have the delight of a merry Christmas.
These holiday celebrations are an important part of being human. We are social beings with an emotional and physical need to gather together and partake in traditions, ceremonies and rituals throughout the year to mark the passage of time or to spotlight some of the aspects of our values. New Year’s Eve celebrations mark the transition of one year to another — the stepping through a metaphorical door from one year to another, if you will (and in mythology, the Roman god Janus, for whom the month January is named, had two faces, one looking back at the past and one looking forward to the future). Martin Luther King Day Jan. 16 helps Americans to remember not just the man who helped lead the American people to increased justice and equality for all but the triumphs and tragedies of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s that broadened the civil liberties across our nation.
Feb. 14 marks Valentine’s Day to celebrate that aspect of the emotion of romantic love the vast majority of humans feel for some special person in their lives. Presidents’ Day, also in February, enables us to consider the impact of the leaders who have presided over our nation throughout its history — and especially George Washington and Abraham Lincoln who contributed much to American liberty and freedom.
St. Patrick’s Day March 17 is one of several ethnic holidays (including Cinco de Mayo and Columbus Day) which reminds us that America is a nation of immigrants who contribute to our collective heritage with their stories and traditions. Easter and Passover are spring-time religious holidays which serve as reminders during the year that we can come together in a celebration of freedom for our sacred selves. The Islamic celebration of Ramadan starts Saturday May 27 next year, and provides devote Muslim (and people of other faiths, too) with a month-long period of prayer, fasting, charity-giving and self-examination of their values and character. Memorial Day in May is a somber celebration held at cemeteries across America to honor the lives of the men and women who died in service while in the Armed Forces.
Mother’s Day in May and Father’s Day in June celebrate on their respective Sundays the people in our lives who serve as the foundation of family. July 4 is the day we Americans celebrate the values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness — the principles documented in America’s birth certificate, The Declaration of Independence. Labor Day in September is the time we can consider how vital the American values of hard work and dedicated employment are to building the national economy and upholding the high quality of life for many Americans.
Halloween the last day of October helps us have some fun dressing up in scary or comical costumes to face together the fears inherent in the human mind. Veterans Day Nov. 11 — the annual anniversary of the armistice that was signed to end World War I’s hostilities between the Allied nations and Germany in 1918 — provides us with the opportunity to thank all American veterans for their service in defending our nation. Thanksgiving Day is a time for many families to gather together around a bountiful dinner table and appreciate the many material and spiritual blessings we have received throughout the year. And Hanukkah and Christmas help us end the year with a reminder that in the darkest days of winter we can hold onto the promise of a light to lead us into a new year with hope and joy.
People across the centuries have loved the pageantry of annual rituals. And the holidays throughout the year bring Americans together and provide us with opportunities to celebrate the passage of time with friends and families.
