Goldendale Sentinel Editorial

No more candy can only mean one thing: the holidays are here!

A column by Rachel Cavanaugh
News Editor

     With the last of the Halloween candy eaten and all the election votes counted, it’s official: the holiday season has begun.
     If you haven’t noticed the red and green decor popping up around Goldendale and other Klickitat County towns, take a drive into Yakima, Spokane, or Vancouver, and you will see it in full force.
     Next week many of us celebrate Thanksgiving, with community events such as Dr. Ogden’s dinner at the Father’s House Fellowship in Goldendale or the Trout Lake Community Feast, held at the school.
     Signs of the switch are everywhere: In Goldendale, the Pink Saddle has entwined their fence with garland, while lights have begun trickling onto Main St.
     Girl and Boy Scouts are making the rounds, hawking their wreaths and holiday fudge, to raise money for their troops. Charity baskets line the county, each with a call for food, blankets, clothing, or toys.
     Soon, nativity scenes will be on display in Goldendale around Columbus St. and the Presby Museum will fill with lights. The town’s Candy Cane Lane parade will lead to the courthouse lawn where there will be a lighting of the Christmas tree, or Christmas “bush,” as some affectionately call it. (It’s getting taller every year.)
     In Glenwood, the school will put on a holiday program and food drive, and in Bickleton, the town will host a Christmas bazaar. It will also have a Christmas program, called It All Happened in the Country.
     Depending on what everyone celebrates, personal homes will fill with Christmas trees, menorahs, mangers, and holly, as extended families descend upon them, each placemat accommodating another niece, nephew, grandchild, sister, brother, cousin, aunt, uncle, or grandparent.
     Which is the best part, right?
     With all of the other stuff above, as well as the sometimes endless shopping lists, gift items, fruitcakes, and casseroles to prepare, it is easy to forget that spending time with one’s family is the whole point.
     As the weeks grow crazier with errands, appointments, and general holiday madness, let’s try our best to remember the reason we buy all those gifts, which is to show someone we care. And the point of making all those fruitcakes and casseroles? To sit down and eat them with someone we love.