It seems like quite a jump from my last post about fishing right to the holidays. Despite my plans we didn’t get to go fishing again, it got cold too fast, so we winterized the boat for the season. Well, there’s always next year (boy, I sound like a Cleveland sports fan!) So instead of fishing last weekend we put up some of the holiday decorations at the hardware store. We have already had some holiday shoppers in, buying stocking stuffers for their list, but theoretically you’re not supposed to start until after Thanksgiving.
We are going over to my Mom’s for Thanksgiving dinner, my sister and her family are coming into town and my sister said that she wants to make a traditional Lamppert family turkey dinner for the rest of us. My mom is a great cook, so now that she’s passed the baton to the younger generation, my sister has quite a tradition to live up to. I just hope that she can get the mashed potatoes to the correct wet-cement consistency that is required to create a crater in the center to hold your gravy (if they’re too runny, the dike can burst, letting all your gravy out on the plate), and that she doesn’t forget the creamed pearl onions.
The store will be closed on Thanksgiving day (as all stores should be!), but we will reopen Friday in time for our Extreme Black Friday Holiday Sale, (anything that is extreme is by definition better than anything that is not extreme) where we will celebrate the beginning of the shopping season by opening at 8:00 am, our usual time, and offering our normal large selection of merchandise at our regular great prices. If you get the impression that I dislike the holidays, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I hate that the commercial interests have turned them into a giant shopping contest. Presents are great, but do you really need to go out shopping on Thanksgiving day to get a huge flat screen TV or some other big ticket item that isn’t going to be a Christmas gift anyway? Plus I hate the fact that they are starting the Christmas season before Thanksgiving, or even Halloween for that matter. Let’s get one holiday out of the way before starting the next.
That being said, we do have holiday lights here at the store to decorate your home and tree, along with lots of great gift and stocking stuffer ideas. We also will be a collection spot for the food drive for the less fortunate that is being held by the Burton Chamber of Commerce Country Hearth Committee. So if you are coming by the store please bring a non-perishable food item to share with someone whose holidays may not be quite as festive as yours. After all, that’s what the holidays are all about, right?