In this festive episode of the Tri-State Time Machine, I sit down with Jason Arthur to reminisce about Christmas traditions in the Tri-State area. We discuss the cherished memories of past Christmases in Huntington, the evolution of holiday decorations, and the many festive activities available in the area today.

1. **Memories of Christmas Past:**

Jason shares his fond memories of growing up in Huntington, appreciating the old-fashioned Christmas lights and community traditions.

We both reflect on how the essence of Christmas shifts from gifts to creating lasting memories as one grows older.

2. **Community Christmas Decorations:**

Discussion about Huntington's beautiful Christmas lights at places like Pullman Square and the Civic Center.

Debate over Huntington's decorations versus Ashland's, emphasizing the community effort in Huntington to spread festive cheer.

3. **Local Events and Traditions:**

Recollection of past Christmas events like ice skating in Ritter Park and neighborhood light tours.

We discuss the significance of mall Santas and how the tradition has evolved with Santas now being more accessible.

4. **Current Festive Activities in Huntington:**

Highlighting the abundance of holiday events in the area, including Safety Town's free Santa event for kids in the West End.

Mention of charitable efforts by local organizations like Christ Temple and the Elks to support the community during the holidays.

5. **Special Places and Events:**

Heritage Farms Christmas Village, Candlelight Services at local churches, and the Huntington Symphony Orchestra's Sounds of the Season concert are recommended for getting into the holiday spirit.

Other notable events include the Turkey Trot, Huntington Dance Theatre's Nutcracker, and various Christmas shows and concerts.

6. **Community Spirit and Future Plans:**

Discussion on the importance of holiday light displays and how they bring joy to the community.

We express gratitude for the community's efforts to keep traditions alive and spread festive cheer.

Join us in 2025 for more exciting episodes of the Tri-State Time Machine. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

This episode is sponsored by Alex R. White, PLLC.

If you have a memory you would want me to talk more about, just send me an email at TSTM@mail.com. Or post a comment on the Tri-State Machine FB Group page.

Welcome to the Tri-State Time Machine.

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Whether you're a past resident or a current Tri-State resident, I think you're going to have fun with us.

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This is the Tri-State Time Machine brought to you by Alex R. White, PLLC, at suedistractedriver. Com. Each week, your host, Vanessa Hankins, and her guests share memories and stories about the past, the present, and the future of the tri-state area. That's West Virginia, Kentucky, and the Ohio areas. If you used to live here or you currently live here, you're going to catch yourself saying out loud, Wow, I remember that. Now, Now, here's Vanessa.

Hey, guys, and welcome to the Tri-State Time Machine. I'm your host, Vanessa, and we're here today with Jason Arthur. Jason, how are you? Good. Good morning. Good morning. It's very cold here in Huntington. It's supposed to get colder, so I am not looking forward to it, but it's a good thing for Christmas because Christmas is coming up in less than a week. That's what we're here to talk about today. We're talking about Christmas, past, future, and present. Jason, I'm not from Hunting, but you You are. I am. I'm sitting by the wayside today and just joining in the conversation. You're going to tell me a little bit about growing up in Huntington and the things that you loved, growing up traditions and things like that.

Yeah. There's a lot of memories, I think for any person out there, young or old, we always remember Christmas, not just due to the presents. Funny enough, I feel like it means so much when you're younger, the presents that you're going to get. But as you get older, you remember more of the memories. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Here in Huntington, I feel like even though we had old-fashioned lights and things like that, I almost like them better than all the nice displays we have now.

I agree. I agree with that. I like a traditional Christmas. I like an old-school traditional Christmas.

We have beautiful lights here. I mean, down down at the Civic Center, Pullman Square. Our people have done a great job with all the lights.

I get aggravated, and if you're one of these people, I'm sorry, at home, but people get aggravated that we don't have the park that Ashland has. But I'm like, But Ashton doesn't have what we have. We have lights throughout our whole community.

We do. Now, Central Cities, they're top much down there.

Central Cities are really nice. They are super nice. Then also, our park is working on it. Our park is doing good things. They have that huge tree in the Park in the Slay. They do the big Christmas tree lighting. They have Santa come out. Their Santa is phenomenal. They are working on getting our park up to par with Ashton Park, but I think we do better than Ashton. If you I have the naysayers, sorry, not sorry.

Yeah. Actually, they even used to have an ice skating rink, which I thought was really cool, but it hasn't been there for years. But I think Ritter Park is doing a great job. I remember that.

I do remember that skating rink. Kids love that. Is it not there anymore? No, it hasn't been there for years. Probably an insurance thing. Probably. Because I think about that all the time. Everyone's always like, You should have ice skating at Safety Town. I'm like, I don't know that our insurance is going to cover that. Yeah, you're just asking. Yeah, that's a liability waiting to happen. Blates and kids. Yes, exactly. Yeah.

But all the lights that we have now, you're exactly right. We don't have what Ashland has, but they definitely do not have what we have. Our city government and things like that and the people involved have done a good job of bringing in lights from all over. I heard a story about the lights at the fountain there at Pullman's Square came from overseas, and they ordered it, and it was all... And so we have a great display. Really? I didn't know that. Yeah. Huntington is doing a good job right now with this stuff. Listen, this will be way bigger than what Excellent's got, and it's going to be spread through the whole city, which I think is great.

I love even, and it's such a small detail, but I think it makes such a difference. I just recently traveled to South Carolina for some family stuff, so drove through a lot of really small towns and you don't realize what you have until you're in these other communities and see it. But our light posts, our light posts all have their own individual lighted decor, and we have flags. We have... And that stuff's year-round. That's not just at Christmas. I But I really take pride in what our community has to offer when it comes to decor and getting people in the season's spirit.

Yeah, we do a good job, even for veterans. Yes, absolutely. We've done such a good job here to recognize everybody from Black history to our veterans to Christmas. I mean, all these things are incorporated now. And funny enough, when I was younger, one of the light displays, I guess you would say, that always stood out to me was over at Incoaloy. They have that big tree. The huge tree. And Everybody recognizes that.

That's so funny that you say that because my sister's father, he worked there when we were younger, and all the employees would write their children's names on the bulbs that they put on the tree. That's awesome. He would always tell her, There's a bulb up there with your name on it. We always thought that was so cool. We're like, Tiffany's name's up there.

That's great. There's a lot of little fun memories like that. I think of even when we used to have Stone and Thomas down here, all things that they would do. Shopping was huge down in Huntington when I was little. That's the only thing that I would say that is different now as compared to then is that it just seemed a lot more like in the movies when I was growing up.

Everybody out shopping.

Now we have always the lights. Pullman Square is really the center of everything. I'm hoping with time and great efforts, which we're getting now, that we can spread this out, even now, like at 14th Street West with Central City doing such a good job.

Right. They really are. Lauren Kemp, I think. Lauren is doing phenomenal things down there. Even, like I said, I know it's so silly and it seems so small, but the light post down in Central City, those were done first. The ribbons placed in the storefronts and I mean, it just... And I take that way every day to work. So that's one of my favorite things to drive in is seeing those lights and seeing all the ribbons. It really does put you in the Christmas spirit.

It does. Absolutely. One of the things that I remember Remember, as a child, at Christmas Eve, my grandfather, my grandparents, raised me, obviously, when I was younger. My mom died at a young age. In order for my grandmother to wrap presents on Christmas Eve, he would take us to go look at Christmas lights.

You had to get out of the house.

We went to all the neighborhoods, where the great lights were, all that good stuff. We'd get hot chocolate at McDonald's before they closed, and then we would go and look at all these lights, and we'd go to Stanford Park and down all these places because there wasn't the lights that we have now. Right. Downtown was not little.

You had to go into these well-to-do neighborhoods for the people that could afford the lights. Absolutely. I remember when my son was little, and that's about the time I moved to Chesapeake or moved from Chesapeake into Hunting. You think I'm right here beside in Huntington, I would have more memories of Hunting, but I don't. We didn't cross the bridge. There was no reason to unless we went to the doctor. But I remember taking my son. Every year, that was one thing we did. We got hot chocolate and we went to Stanford Park. That was the one neighborhood that had the best light. You could drive around and get lost up there in the hills and see. I always loved that not everyone had the same faith up there. You might have a house that's got a dreadle that's huge decked out on the front of it, but then you might have Santa in the next yard. I always thought that was really cool. That really opened my eyes because we grew up very close-minded, I would say. That was my first experience to see all these different religions and things like that. I always I thought that was really cool.

Yeah. That's one thing that Huntington has always been really good at. We have always been very accepting of any religion. We are truly multicultural here. We really are. We are. Anybody that thinks different, they're not from here because we've got all these festivals, the Greek Fest, and this. Yes, we do. We are incorporated and we always back each other, and I love it. I mean, that's just what it's all about. I do, too.

I really do, too. Let's talk a little bit about mall Santas. Did you ever go to the mall when you were little to see Santa?

Yeah. I mean, we would even go, like I said to Stone and Thomas, Christmas and Easter was the big times. But we would go down here and we would always shop around. At that point, Stone and Thomas was really cool because it's not like a mall setting where it's all one level. It was levels. That was such a cool thing to me. They had a little cafe and there was all these things, but Santa would be in there. Then we had the Christmas parade and Santa would be on the float. On the float. Those are fun things. But we would go to the mall towards the latter part. Of course, that's changed a lot over time, too.

Yeah, it really has. That's something that I can speak to a little bit. That is the one time a year that we came into Honey was to go see Santa because back when... I'm approaching 40, so just to give a timeline. Back when I was a kid, you had to go just a handful places to see Santa. It's not like it is today. So the mall was the number one place. That guy worked his tail off all year long, growing that beard and getting his mustache and everything into gear. He wanted to look that part, and that was so important. But now in today's time, you can go five blocks and see three different Santas because every store, every retail shop, everybody is getting their own Santa these days, I feel like.

They are. They definitely are. I feel you're exactly right. They're everywhere now.

They really are. Every event you go to. Which makes it hard if you're a parent that has a kid that still believes because the conversations end up being, that's not the real Santa. That's someone pretending to be Santa because Santa's busy.

Kids will call anything out.

They have no filter at all. None at all.

They'll call it out. I remember one year, the Salvation Army, of course, we see them all over the place. They're ringing the bells. They're ringing the bells. They're doing a great job with what they do. But one year, they had a Santa that did it, and I thought that was the coolest thing.

Yes, I remember that. I do remember that. I remember them being outside of Walmart. I always thought that was great. I remember them being outside of Walmart, yeah. Which now they do the hats and they have the aprons and all that, which is still festive and it's cool. But yeah, it was really neat when they did Santa. I agree. Let's talk about some of the things that we have today in Hunting that are festive and holiday-ish.

Obviously, I feel like everybody's doing something now. Yeah, it's everywhere. I'm trying to keep up with all these events, to be honest with you.

I I don't know how you do it. You are everywhere. I am. I do not know how you do it.

I take this stuff very seriously. But even like with you all, you're doing a great job down there with yours. Thanks. I mean, with the trees. Santa's there, which, by the way, this Santa is actually real-looking. So if you want to take your kids to a great Santa, this is the one to go to.

Yeah, he's great. He's very realistic. His facial hair is all real. We got a lot of really great compliments from the kids and the parents about how great he was. So I I was very happy with that. He was a little cold. I felt bad for that because it got a little chilly, but he is great. I'm overwhelmed with the things, and I don't know how you're keeping up with them. I really don't, because we have a plethora. We have so many events that are going on because all of these retail places, all these organizations, everybody is doing something for the holidays so that there's really no excuse for your family to be left out. That's how the safety town thing came about. There was really nothing in the West End for the kids that lived in that area. The first year we did it was last year. I had kids lined up that walked from their houses without their parents to come see Santa in the West End, because a lot of people in the West End, and we love our community, and it is getting better, but you forget that sometimes there's still families that don't have vehicles.

There's still families that aren't mobile, and they can't take the bus with all the kids to get up to the mall and then pay the, God, what do we talk, $45, $50 for a pitcher with Santa. You have to pay for that experience. I saw a gap in the community that there needed to be an option for free Santa. Every child needs to be able to see Santa. That's how that event came about. I'm thankful that we got to do it for another year, and I hope that we continue to make that event happen yearly.

Yeah, I really enjoyed your all's event. The cookies, the hot chocolate, the Santa, you feel like you're in a small little village there in Safety Town.

We try to make it hallmark-ish. It's always what I tell everyone.

It's really neat. Gosh, we talk about from the past, the Christmas parade. We have even more than one parade now. We have the lights parade. There's all these things. But that gives our kids here and the people here an opportunity to not miss out. There's an organization for everybody, whether you're needing food, whether you're needing presents, whether you just want to see Santa. There's a lot of opportunity here. So Huntington's done really well with that.

Christ Temple, I was going to say, is doing some amazing things with gift giving. They go all year long, from my understanding of getting donations to... And I forget the number. Let me see if I can look that up. They have a crazy amount of giveaways or amount of children that they reach. And then I I mean, I can't find the actual number because it's in a video, and I don't want to watch video while we're recording. Sure. But they ended up having a good amount left over and done a free for all. Hey, and this was on Wednesday, anyone that is still in need, if you didn't get a chance to sign up or come by, we're open from now until... It was a big gap so that it worked for everybody. If you're getting off work late or something like that, come and pick out your kids and stuff. I think that's a beautiful thing. There were some naysayers on social media, and I hate to even bring that up and bring in the negativity, but someone talking about how they patted themselves on the back and how it seemed sleazy. I was like, Are you kidding me?

Because social media is the end all, be all now. If you're not on social media, you miss out on everything. They have to tooth their own horn in a way. They have to let people know that they're there, because if not, all of their efforts were for nothing. They don't want to have children's toys left over. They want them all to be under the tree, ready to bring them to the children on Christmas Day. I think it's amazing what they're doing. They're not the only church that does it, but where they are so big, they reach a lot more people. I think it's a beautiful thing. I'm proud of our community. Like you said, all the different organizations whether you need food, whether you need toys, whether you need support in any way, even if it's depression in the holiday season, we have an organization for that that's right there ready. I promise.

Yeah, absolutely. One good thing about I'm just sitting there crunching things together. I'm a part of a lot of charitable places as well. So like the Elks, for instance, we have Santa coming up this weekend. There's free breakfast. I mean, this is really special for kids.

We get away a lot of by Giovvanis, right? It is, yes.

It's right across from the stadium. They do a phenomenal job. So many hard workers.

Shout out to Scott Madden. We love Scott.

Absolutely. Good Westmoreland guy.

We love our Westmoreland people.

I was going to say the Elks are a lot of Westmoreland. But they do such a good job. Again, free breakfast, Santa. We give out toys and gift cards and things like that. That's just a small little token of a gift, but it's huge that our community is doing that. My church, even, I go to Masson, I have New Christian, again, in the West End. They do the Red Box and send overseas and do all these things, and then we're doing things in the community.

That's a beautiful project as well.

It's huge, yeah. If people would just realize what we have here, We really are.

We're so lucky. Like I said, just traveling this past week, it opened my eyes to all that. Sometimes it takes that. You forget because you see the same thing day in, day out. But I was so reminded about how lucky we are with the lights. I know I keep saying it, and I know that sounds so silly, something like lights, but I am so thankful that we have them. I'm so thankful that every time we leave the house, my daughter gets excited because she's seeing Santa or she's seeing a huge Christmas bulb that we can go under and take our picture in. That's something that I love about the ones at Mountain Health Arena. They are set up for photography moments. 100%. Yeah, so they're pretty cool.

I've seen a ton of really good pictures out of that that are really memorable. It's funny. At the beginning of this, we talked about presents. When you're a kid, that's all you think about. You've got to have the hottest gift. But when you look back at it, we're starting to get a little older now. You look back at the memories, and we're sitting there talking about lights. That has been the focus.

Yes, it really It has. It really has. Yeah, I think. And that's the epitome of it all. I think if our kids get those one or two things that they just can't live without, that's wonderful. We're happy for them. But I think what we, as we get older, are realizing that it's these memories that we're making. It's these trips that we take driving around the neighborhood. It's these tree lightings that we go to. It's these moments where we went and seen Santa, whether or not the kid believes that that's the real Santa or not. They've seen Santa. It doesn't matter. And That's what they remember. They don't remember that he didn't have the perfect facial hair, or maybe he didn't have the rumbly belly when he laughed. But they remember the moments that we're making with them, and I'm so thankful that we have all these opportunities. Again, talking about the opportunities, I had asked on Facebook, If you were to talk to someone from out of town and bring them here for anything holiday-related, what would it be? I got so many answers. I think the most beautiful one I got was from a really good friend of mine, and he said, I would take them to my grandma's house.

Absolutely. I think that's the number one answer we would all give. I would give it right now. We would take them to our grandma's house. That's the number one. But The other ones that I got was Heritage Farms Christmas Village. That one came up a whole lot. What Audi Perry and his family are doing out there, to say the very least, I think it's extravagant because there are hundreds of thousands of lights that these people put up. You get to go on the little train ride. There's a dancing Frosty, there's a dancing Rudolf. Have you been out there? Oh, yeah. Okay. They have them dancing on the stage while you're driving by, while you're waiting on the train to come. I just think it's so beautiful. I'm partial to my Santa, but if I had to vote for the best Santa close second, it would be the one out there at Heritage Farm. They really knock it out of the park with their Santa and Mrs..

They're true visionaries in our area.

It's unbelievable what they're doing out there. They really are. To talk a little bit about Christmas Future, they're bringing in the big tubing set up, which is going to be unheard of for our area.

It really is. It reminds you of some of the stuff they do even in Gatlinburg.

Yes, it really does. I feel like our tri-state area is becoming the new Gatlinburg.

I really do. I always tell everybody, and I know I try not to get political, but great leadership starts You're going to get great results out of great leadership. That's what we're seeing. You're seeing people with vision that are now starting to say, Hey, let's try this. Let's do this. Let's give it a go. It's just growing, unbelievable. The Perry farm out there, that's what it all started with. Mike and Henriela and the way they did things and just this little family farm. Now to think of all the things they've done.

Being collectors, being anti-collectors is how that started. I think it's wonderful.

It's huge. I tell you one of the most memorable things at that Christmas village, they do. There's all these little shops, and again, Santa's out there, all this stuff. But at the end, they do the little showing of the three wise men and Jesus and all that stuff, and Mary.

I think they play it at intervals of time. Intervals of time, it is. If you're there at different times, you can catch it every time.

It's so great because they have the spotlights out. It's dark, it's cold. It gets you in this whole moment, and then they walk with a donkey down the hill, and there's all these things going on.

It really is a beautiful moment.

It really makes you think about what really this is about. It's a pretty cool, neat thing that they've got going out there. I love it, too. I encourage everybody to give that a try if you can, but they're usually full.

Yeah, it's like they sell out so quick. They sell out so quick. I'm thankful that they do sell out because they do a lot of stuff for our community year round. The amount of school field trips to go out, love their family's hearts because they must have the patience of saints because they deal with these large groups all the time, especially with their ongoing, growing endeavors, and they just roll with it. They're so good to our community. They really are. Another one that I had, a big one, was Candlelight Services at churches. That was a really big one. A lot of my listeners know I'm not super religious, so you could probably speak to that a little more than I do, or I can, but a lot of people were very happy with their home churches, Candlelight Vigil. Absolutely. Is it Christmas Eve that that happens?

Christmas Eve, I know with my church down the Madison Avenue, We have always done. It's one of my most memorable times because when we would get done with looking at lights, all that stuff, we would go home and change, and we would go to the candlelight service. And what happens is you sing your very last song, and the candlelight, at least at my church, and you bring in the new Christmas Day that night. So I remember as a kid, it was hard to wait up that long. And I would be slam tired at the end of it. But such a memorable thing. All the lights are off. We're all in a big circle with the candles. We're singing the Christmas at the very end, and then everybody blows them out and all that good stuff. That's beautiful. Now it's Christmas Day. It's just a really neat thing. I think that's something that stands out. I've, of course, taken my daughter down and done these things, and she always talks about it, too. I'm just glad to be a part of it every year.

Absolutely. Another big one that everyone said, and I have not been to this personally, so I can't speak to how wonderful it is, but the Huntington's Sympathy... Jesus Christ, I cannot talk about today, Smpathy Orchestra, Sounds of the Season concert. I've always seen it advertised. I've never been, but that was a big one that people said that if we were doing something to get you in the holiday spirit in our community from an outsider, that they would take them to that. I thought that was pretty cool. Another big one, and I participated, goodness gracious, you guys. As soon as I get these braces off, I'm going to sound like a new person, I promise. I'm going to be able to talk normally. But a big one is the turkey trot. And it's turkey trot, so it doesn't sound like Christmas, but that is the kickoff to the season around here, is the big turkey trot. That's always wonderful because I've never seen so many people come out in the freezing cold to run that little, what is it, three miles or something? It's really short.

Yeah, I think three and a half miles.

You freeze to death to raise money to save the animals, and it's a beautiful cause, and we love it. But that was a really big one that everyone got. Another bigger one that everyone loved was a Hunting Dance Theater's Nutcracker. That is a seasonal thing that happens every year. I have been to it, and it's beautiful.

Those girls work really hard. They really do. It's unbelievable from all age groups.

They really do, yes. Then one of my personal favorites is the Good Time Christmas show that Michael Valentine puts on at City Hall. I think that's a really good one. We have a plethora of local celebrities with Tim Dave Lavender. There's so many people that participate in that. That was actually last night. We've missed it for the year if you didn't get to go to it, but it's a wonderful... Even during COVID, he went to the West Edge factory and did a one-man show since we weren't allowed to be around each other. It was wonderful, and it brought so much joy. Another big one that came up was Home for the Holidays with Landell Murphy. That one's been going on, I think, three or four years now. Hall, and that's also at the same theater above City Hall at the Foundry Theater. I think if you're at a loss for things to do, whether it's a date night, family night, whatever, there are so many things that you can just get on social media and find whatever to get into any given night. Yeah.

A lot of times when I'm looking at things going on, you go to Facebook, go to events, and there is stuff absolutely everywhere. There's no way you can make it to every event that's going on every weekend. Right. To even do so. Again, it goes to all religions, all everything. There's just so much going on, not including family Christmas parties and business Christmas parties and all that stuff. There is something for everybody. Santa's literally everywhere. There's plenty of food, plenty of gifts. There's stuff to do. Again, that just shows how great our area really is.

It really is. This is not in our... It's not in Huntington per se, but a really big one There are two really big ones that are in our area is Charleston's Light the Night. They have hundreds of thousands of lights. They knocked that out of the park. You can see it from the interstate. I've never actually been to it, but you can see it from the interstate, and it's wonderful. But then another one is Gallopless Nights. Oh, yeah. Everybody around here talks about that. Everybody around here talks about Gallopless Nights. I've been to it several times, and we like going on the opening night when they turn the big switch on. That's always our funnest night. That's where Safety Town stemmed from. I went to It, and I was like, We need this. We need this in Huntington. That's where it came from. But yeah, even though those are a short drive, sometimes that's nice because during that drive, you see all the Christmas lights in route. Yeah, definitely. I'm overwhelmed with thankfulness of what we have to offer here. I think in the future, it's just going to keep getting bigger and better. If you are looking for a place to get in the holiday spirit, I think Huntington, West Virginia is a place to do that.

I agree. I'll tell you, one of the things I know we talk about 14 Street West with their lights. We've got lights all spread through the city. Obviously, I'm a little partial, but Westmoreland, I would love to see something get down there, even if it's at our signage. I would, too. I'm going to really try to, within my term, try to see that Westmoreland get some lights down there somewhere.

That would be cool. We might have to partner on that. I think we will. I have a lot of lights, so I have a creative mind. One that we didn't talk about, which I just found out about this year, and I haven't drove by yet, my plan is actually drive by this weekend, is the West Virginia Whitehouse. Have you seen it? Mm-mm. It's at 2659 Third Avenue, and apparently, they go all out. They've got their own Facebook page, and it's just one house, a family that just goes to town for Christmas. So That was something that a lot of people had recommended. The gentleman's name who does it is Travis King, so that's another one to check out.

That is cool.

Yeah, I think it's... I read something online, and I might butcher this, I hope I don't, but it said When you decorate your home with Christmas lights and the Festival of Lights and things like that, you're not doing it for you. You're doing it for your community. Each individual person who puts up Christmas lights, thank Thank you. We love that you do it and keep doing it because you're bringing so much joy to everyone that passes by your house. I know I go all out for Halloween and a little bit for Christmas at my house, and the amount of people that stop me driving by and say thank you for that. I just want to send out a big thank you to everyone else that also does that because it does bring joy to people because some people you don't realize, we talked about it a little bit, but some people aren't mobile. Sometimes the only lights that children our elderly are the ones that they see getting off and on the bus and going to school.

Well, and even our elderly.

Yes.

I mean, our elderly, driving by is all they're going to get out of this. Unfortunately, a lot of our elderly are in a situation where sometimes their family that aren't always around anymore. But they can get in that car, take their time getting to it and all that good stuff, and they can just drive and enjoy all these memories and all this stuff. I think that means a lot to people. Again, it goes back to what we're saying, even myself as a child, we would go to these neighborhoods. That means a lot to people.

Yeah, it really does.

We need to keep doing that for others, if nothing else. Even if you feel like, Well, I don't want to put a tree up this year, and things aren't the same, well, it means something for somebody driving by.

I love that you said that because my son is in the middle of moving right before Christmas, and we just thought, Oh, my gosh, what a nightmare. The first thing that they did was take down their tree and put their tree up in their house. When I was helping him move stuff yesterday, I walked in, and everything is in way, but their Christmas tree is beautiful. He's 22. His girlfriend's moving in with him for the first time, and I just think it's beautiful that they already are setting up their own tradition of that was the first thing that was going to get done. Who cares that the kitchen table is covered in our clothes and kitchen utensils and everything else, but the tree's up. I think that's a beautiful thing. I think you're right. If you're feeling like, Oh, I just really don't feel like doing it this year, maybe give it a second thought. Absolutely. Keep doing it. Keep bringing that joy to your community for sure, and bring it into your home. Put up that tree. It may seem like a headache at first, but it's worth it always in the long run, I have found.

I say that as someone is the sole tree decorator in my family because everybody wants to help. Air quotes there. Everybody wants to help until it's time, and then everybody weans off and ends up on their cell phone sitting on the couch or something like that. So put up the tree, put up the lights, enjoy the season, and don't forget the reason for the season. Never forget that. Jason, we thank you for being here.

It's always a pleasure.

I love being here. Oh, yeah. We love having you on. I think you're like a top recording person at this point. Might as well become a regular. Yeah, that's right. All right. Well, we love you guys. We hope you have a happy holiday and a Merry Christmas, and we will see you in 2025. Merry Christmas, everybody.

Thanks for listening to the Tri-State Time Machine. Brought you by Alex R. White, P-L-L-C, @sudistractedriver. Com. If you have a memory you want Vanessa to talk more about, just send her an email at tstm@mail. Com or post a comment on the TryState Time Machine Facebook page. Did you like the episode? Be sure to share it with friends and family. It's the only way we can continue this fun work that we do. You can find a link in the show notes that you can use to share it. And be sure to let our sponsors know you like the podcast as Their contact information can be found in this episode's show notes.