THE ROY CITY COUNCIL DIVULGES THEIR FAVORITE CHRISTMAS MOVIES, HOLIDAY TREATS, FAMILY TRADITIONS, AND MOVIE SNACKS.
BY HAILEY MINTON
Holiday films certainly have a place in our culture. When I went to Facebook to ask for your favorite Christmas movie quotes, I got more responses than I knew what to do with! Christmas Vacation, Elf, the Grinch and Home Alone were certainly the most popular. It’s funny how lines from these holiday movies jump into our heads even when it’s not the Christmas season. A few months ago when we put my four-month-month old daughter in her pink fuzzy bear suit, we couldn’t help but laugh at how cute and bulky she looked. Her appetite for her fists was as strong as ever, even though she no longer had access to her hands. It reminded us of Ralphie’s brother from A Christmas Story after he was all bundled up to go outside and said, “I can’t put my arms down!” Other times when I’m trying on clothes, I find myself reenacting Jim Carey’s Grinch. “Ooh…. Ahh… Hmmm….That’s it, I’m not going.” Our Mayor and City Council Members have shared a little about themselves, and divulged their favorite Christmas movies, holiday treats, movie snacks, and a few family traditions. Who knows, maybe you might be inspired to try something new this year!
Robert Dandoy
Mayor Robert Dandoy’s favorite holiday movie is “White Christmas” with Bing Crosby, because it really hits home for him.
“During my active-duty years serving in the Navy, there were a couple of times that I didn’t know if I’d be home for Christmas, or somewhere out to sea.” His six-to-eight-month deployments were a long time to be away from home and family. He connects personally to the challenge of balancing service to country with the desire to be with family during this holiday.
“White Christmas provides a glimpse of members serving in the military who are not able to be with loved ones, and how they rely on one other’s strength and memories of holidays past, to get them through. The movie also provides a better understanding of how life-long friendships are created during a climate of conflict. Sometimes during war, all you can count on are friends.” He loves how enjoyable the movie is, and the lesson that “there will always be better days ahead!”
The Mayor’s favorite movie snack is buttered popcorn!
Jan Burrell
Jan Burrell enjoys watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” during the holidays.
She loves it because it emphasizes the importance of relationships, and how they are established and strengthened. Her favorite snack while watching the movie has to be caramel corn! Any sort of gathering with her family is a tradition she enjoys the most; it doesn’t matter what they’re doing. As long as they’re all together, she’s happy!
Ann Jackson
Ann Jackson and her family are big movie watchers, so it makes it hard to narrow it down to just one. Her top three choices are “Christmas Vacation, Elf, and Christmas Story.”
“You can tell we are big fans of comedies… We always enjoy watching them with a big bucket of popcorn, some chocolate, and a Coke.”
Her family has a tradition of getting together Christmas Eve and playing games and exchanging white elephant gifts. “When my kids were little, my husband and I would never put their names on their presents, because they were always trying to figure out which gifts were theirs by shaking and sometimes unwrapping them. Since we have four kids, we used code names such as Beatles members, Simpson characters, and other famous foursomes. Every year our kids thought they had figured out who the gifts were for, but they were never right!”
Another favorite Christmas tradition of hers is making English toffee and caramels from her father’s recipes. “It’s something that all my family and friends look forward to receiving every holiday season.” She also gets a kick out of giving gifts to all her children and grandkids. “I always go overboard every year, even though I promise myself I will cut back.” For her, the greatest gift of all is having four wonderful children, eight precious grandkids, two sons-in-law, and a daughter-in-law to celebrate Christmas with. “I hope they all know how much I love them all year long, not just at Christmas.”
Joe Paul
Christmas wasn’t always a happy time for Joe Paul. For a long time, Christmas brought a resurgence of grief.
When he was eight years old, his mother died unexpectedly just a few days before Christmas. She was 42 at the time of her passing, and her death was caused by a blood clot. Her death took the whole family by surprise. Joe’s mother was buried on Christmas Eve, and on Christmas Day they opened the presents meant for her; they returned them the next day. Six months later, his father died on Father’s Day. “I think he just lost his will to live. I watched him go through hell for six months. They ruled [that he died of] natural causes at 49 years old.” After his father’s death, Joe was placed in the care of his second-oldest sister, who was 20 and single at the time. Anyone who has lost a loved one knows what it’s like living through the anniversary of their passing; imagine the weight of losing a mother and father that early in life ~ it was a difficult time for their family.
Joe’s children have helped him transform the grief that surrounds the holiday season into joy and hope. When children came into his life, he and his wife realized that they could start their own traditions. They have two daughters and two sons. Each Christmas Eve, they all write a letter to Jesus, telling Him what they have done that year, and what they hope to do the next year. They also buy and read a new Christmas book every year. Joe has a passion for guns, so he finds himself quoting “you’ll shoot your eye out,” from A Christmas Story. His kids seems to quote Mr. Narhwal from Elf, saying “Bye Buddy, I hope you find your dad,” whenever the situation allows. One year they received a popcorn-maker for Christmas, and now that’s Joe’s favorite movie snack.
Diane Wilson
Diane Wilson’s favorite movie is “It’s a Wonderful Life”; she said, “It reminds us that everything we do has an impact, and what better way to celebrate Christmas than to serve others?”
Her favorite movie snack is popcorn, of course, and her favorite holiday treat is eggnog. Not just any Eggnog, Gossner’s eggnog! She convinced me it’s worth the drive to Logan to get it. However after some investigation, I learned that Gossner’s Eggnog is much easier to purchase, than driving to Logan, as Saccos Produce receives their first delivery of Gossner’s Eggnog on Nov. 20. How awesome is that?! You don’t even need to leave Roy to purchase it!
Several years ago, Diane and her family planted 5,000 pine tree seedlings, so they could choose their own Christmas tree yearly. For the first two years, they chose the largest trees in the entire field, which at that time were only one to two feet tall! They dug them up so they could have a live Christmas tree, and planted them in their backyard the following spring. “They’re very tall now!” she said.
“Every Christmas Eve, we have a special dinner with all the family, and focus on the “true meaning of Christmas.” We choose and emphasize a special Christmas concept each year, and attach a reminder on our Christmas socks.” It might be a candy cane to represent the shepherds, or a star to represent the Star of Bethlehem. “It’s nice to look at our stockings and remember what each emblem represents.” They also incorporate service to others into their annual Christmas traditions, and finish the festivities on Christmas Eve with a reading of the Christmas story from Luke.
Bryon Saxton
Bryon Saxton’s favorite Christmas movie is Die Hard with Bruce Willis. If you’ve seen it, I don’t think we even need to mention the most well-known quote from that movie. You know what it is!
Kettlecorn is his favorite movie snack, and he loves their tradition of having dinner and stockings at Grandma’s house. And what do they enjoy eating there? Noodle Casserole and Pork Chops in Mushroom sauce. Sounds divine!
One thing is certain: the Roy City Council cares about the community they serve. If you have a concern, reach out, and participate in their meetings. I recently moved to Roy; watching city council meetings in other cities has taught me that it’s my civic duty to be aware of what’s happening in the city I live in, and let my voice be heard. If you have a comment ~ if you see something happening in the city that is going well, or if you see something that needs some attention, let them know. You can watch the meetings on YouTube (if you watch them after the fact, you can turn the speed up to x2 to make them sound like chipmunks!). Each of the council members care about you and the city as a whole. I firmly believe that it is at the local government level we can really make the biggest impact, and personally, I think Roy is in good hands.
Merry Christmas!
Click the links below for Council Christmas Favorite Recipes!