Normal Community High School - Echoes Yearbook (Normal, IL)

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f' ssdffi l .4-.,a,, ,iw it ,ab xt. LVMSNF-1 AEPQLS. Wim: -'H V vi ' 'Wes . .L:Am,,x -- .11.g..L2 -,-, l it t , . , . . . V - . E I . . , , . ,,,, Q J Q ecking the halls with boughs Advisor Ramona Sanders. of holly is one way of showing According to Mrs. Sanders, stu- however tend to celebrate Christmas a little differently. holiday spirit. Most people, dents turned in their greetings the week before Christmas. Then Student Council members typed the messages and pre- Whether shared with friends or fam- pared to pass them out on the last day ily, traditions make the holiday spirit more enjoyable. before vacation. The greetings are a way for people Dance to tell others what they think about For NCHS students the holiday sea- them, said Mrs. Sanders. son began on Dec. 6, instead of the tra- I love the Christmas greeting ditional day after Thanksgiving. This was idea, agreed Askew, but I was disap- the date of the Christmas Dance held in pointed to see the one to the Varsity Arend's Gym. The theme of the dance Football Team from 'the marching band' was Snowflake Swirl, and decorative which put down their crowd participa- lights were strung around the gymnasi- tion. In reality that greeting was prob- um. According to Kerin Wilson 1121, lt 1the dance1 was fun, but there should ably written by two people. Despite complaints like this, Sams thought the Christmas greetings were have been more decorations. Those are worthwhile. the only things that made it different? She pointed out, lt's an old Christ- Terri Sams 1121 agreed, We should mas tradition. have a Christmas tree or someone dres- Friends sed up like Santa to make it more sea- sonal. Candygrams While the Christmas dance, candy- grams and greetings were school - sponsored activities, there were other For the past five years members of individual traditions as well. the Pom squad have spread holiday spirit on the last day of school before For example, both Wilson and Sams passed out cards to their friends. Christmas break. During eighth hour the lf they're really close friends then I girls donned red stocking caps and de- bought them gifts, too, Wilson added. livered candygrams, candy canes with a Sams and her friends celebrated message attached, to students. Candygrams were sold by Pom members for the cost of 51, and the money they earned was used to buy Christmas during their lunch period. On the last day we all brought cookies and had a little party at our lunch table. she explained. props and uniforms for the girls, accord- Apparently guys do things different- ing to Mrs. Ann Burnett, Pom squad sponsor. Mrs. Burnett felt Candygrams helped students feel the excitement of Christmastime. People look forward to it, she said. They say, 'Ohl Let's send one to this person! I received one, and I was very su- prised and pleased, said Todd Askew 1111. lt was a nice little gift from some- body unexpected. Christmas greetings Christmas greetings were again sponsored by Student Council to raise money for charity, said Student Council 26-Christmas Traditions ly. According to Mark Elble 1121, he and his friends, don't do that kind of stuff. I just got presents for my good friends, he said. That's all. Family For most people Christmas means spending time with relatives, either here or away. Christmas meant getting together with family here for Ty Thomas 1111. Thomas traditionally goes to his grand- parents on Christmas Day. On Christ- mas Eve, though, his family stays at home and then goes to midnight mass. Debbie Moews 1121 also has all of her relatives here. Moews and her family 1 0 -l,, P 'ift ll... l.eQ f - f. f-rw-far: J . , 1 P fi 'f. 1 - la , f , f I 'V-itIuni:-lf::gf5fRi?53Y,,:i':'ly'?Ff:,1f 'L j---:fl '1!i--il!-1f 5, 95Hef!iS3?2?S7l'iQ.i'..l.-li,.j'.. l IM-'--J:vf.f: 'iL JC 5Y'f5:5ifr5-:lZ:ff. 'JI LL z 'f..15..lb:Uifi: 1 f , : ' get together with her aunt and uncle on Christmas Eve. Then on Christmas Day they get together with her grandparents. Moews explained, Christmas is more special when you spend it with someone you care about. Visiting Relatives Christmas for some students meant having to travel to see relatives. Darren Sampson 1111 went to Beatrice, Nebras- ka, to his grandparents. It was their 50tr anniversary, so Sampson and his family gathered for a party. Sampson spent the rest of his vaca- tion helping out on his grandparents' farm. Although he said it was special to be around his relatives, he didn't like doing all his chores. There's nothing like feeding chick- ens on Christmas Day, he explained. Cultural Contrasts Hondura Mori 1111, an exchange student from Japan, went with Sampsor' to Nebraska. Mori said he liked Nebras- ka because of the many open fields he had never seen before. However, Mori said he got very homesick at Christmastime and ended up calling his family in Japan several times. Mori said Christmas here is much like Christmas in Japan. He said the only difference is that in his home coun- try families usually stay home on Christ- mas. Sharing Christmas Eric Kraft 1121 also left home for Christmas break to visit his relatives in Florida. His great aunt and uncle live in a retirement home there. Kraft said his family doesn't go there just for fun. His family goes mainly to see the people they know. Kraft and his family celebrated Christmas at home before they left for Florida, where they also had a second Christmas with their relatives. Kraft commented, lt's one thing to celebrate Christmas, but the true mean- ing is to share it with others. -Mary Lovell 11 Denise Webb 11

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Q- Tech week and long hours are all part of mak- ing a play successful, Practicing here are Darin Bloomquist 1121, Johan Ljungberg 1121, Ashleigh Feek 1121, Donna Shaffer 1101, Lisa Peters 1101, Sara Walsh 1121, Jerry McCauley 1121 and David McReynolds 11 11. 1Donna Shaffer 1101 plays the part of Nina, a young daughter of a wealth y landowner, who is in love with an older man. 4-David Mcl-'Reynolds 1111 greets Donna Shaffer 1101, while Sarah Walsh 1121 tentatively observes. Fall Play-25

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-gKim Bawulski f 101 and her family spend the holiday vacation snowmobiling in Minocqua, Wisconsin. c:0n Christmas morning, Kerin Wilson 1122 and her cousin Todd Oglesby of Decatur open gifts with the rest of their family. Christmas Traditions-27