‘Tis the season to watch and learn from Charlie Brown
With the busy holiday season upon us and just nine days until Christmas, today’s column features a stocking-full of morsels.
O, Christmas tree
We traded in our fake Christmas trees for a real one this year, and the smell in the house after two weeks is festive – plus it masks the smells of teenage basketball players, so that’s a treat. It certainly is no “Charlie Brown tree.”
My family and I watched the classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas” last week, soaking in the cartoon’s message that we need to stop and remember at this time of year that the real meaning of Christmas is not commercialism – even though the show was originally sponsored by Coke and had references to the product in early showings.
When Linus stands alone on stage and quotes from Luke’s gospel about the meaning of the season, it gets me every time. Then Charlie Brown’s mean “friends” finally acknowledge that his feeble Christmas tree, which he thought he had killed, wasn’t so bad after all. In the words of Lucy, “Charlie Brown is a blockhead, but he did get a nice tree.”
The light fantastic
In other holiday news, if you haven’t made it over to Mesa Drive – in the Sunset area east of Hazel Hawkins Hospital – this holiday season, cruise by after 6 p.m. now through New Year’s Eve to see the most theatrical light show in San Benito County.
Once again, homes on the street are festooned with more than 70,000 lights coordinated with 29 songs that are streamed on FM 88.7. This allows gawkers to park in front of the homes and watch the amazing display from the warmth of their vehicle with the heater on.
Canned food donations are encouraged, though not required. All donations will benefit the Emmaus House.
A Christmas wish
Diana Magana, the San Benito High School junior who two years ago was the subject of the school’s Benefit Ball as the community rallied to raise thousands of dollars for her cancer treatments, found out recently that her battle with cancer is getting tougher, according to SBHS Resource Specialist Irma Cabrera-Albright.
Diana has proven to be a fighter in this battle, and others continue to back her up.
Julie Wiener-Neff from the local Relay For Life effort started a campaign to nominate Diana for one of Ellen’s Gifts on the “Ellen (Degeneres) Show” and she’s asking others to nominate the teen for the Make-a-Wish type gift.
Cabrera-Albright encourages people to check out the Relay for Life Hollister, CA Facebook page for more details.
Making a list, checking it twice
What’s in a name? Well, a top 100 ranking for my moniker, according to Babycenter.com. “Adam” came in No. 78 on the Top 100 baby names of the year for 2011, just ahead of Sebastian and behind Brody. Aiden was No. 1 for boys for the seventh year in a row and Sophia was the top choice for girls.
My sons, Michael (No. 16) and Andrew (No. 30), were represented on the list, as was my dad, Thomas (No. 67). My wife, Mary, did not make the list – showing just how unique she is. Our female cat, Chloe, had us all beat, coming in as the No. 7 choice for baby girls this year.
Adam Breen teaches newspaper and yearbook classes at San Benito High School and is a reporter for The Pinnacle. Email him at
ab****@pi**********.com
and follow him on Twitter @AdamPBreen.
