“Somewhere In My Memory”

Vikes Share Their Holiday Traditions

Taylor Richard, Angela Simmons, and Chloe Price • December 16, 2024

Taylor Richard opens gifts on Christmas Day, 2014. (Richard Photo)

Angela Simmons walks beneath the Christmas Tree, 2014. (Simmons Photo)

Chloe Price decorates a gingerbread house, 2014. (Price Photo)

Junior Delaney Quinn says being surrounded by loved ones puts her in the Christmas spirit. “On Christmas Eve, I have all of my family come over and we split up [and] go to two movies,” she said, “and then we get back and we have Chinese food.”

During the cold winter months, the warmth of the Christmas season brings people like the Quinn family together in the midst of chaos and stress before the new year.

As the holiday season quickly approaches, traditions are beginning as well. Whether it’s parties, church on Christmas Eve, watching movies, or special meals, they all bring the joy of the holidays to many families. Triton staff member Cheryl Wotton shares her strict schedule: “We begin decorating the day after Thanksgiving…we get our Christmas tree the following Sunday,” she said. “Christmas morning we always have an egg bake. When the kids wake up, we do stockings, take a break, and resume our gift opening.”

With only a month before the festivities begin, the Triton Voice got an insight into some holiday traditions. It seems like a common theme for families to come together to celebrate the December holidays, and student Abby Richard said her family is no different. “We have Chinese food every Christmas Eve [after church]. In the morning we open our stockings first and then we open our gifts. We go to my Aunt’s house for Christmas dinner.”

In a Yahoo article by Madeline Buiano, researchers conducted a survey that concluded that 73% of people bond more with their loved ones over the joy-filled season than at any other time. Special Ed Teacher, Kurt Riese says his traditions are pretty common. “I always have Chinese food on Christmas Eve,” he said. “I do too,” student Maecy Gay-Killeen added. “We do the stockings, we always serve roast beef at Christmas dinner,” Riese said. But some people might not find this tradition at all.
Junior Elinor Leahy tells us, “I go over to my aunt’s house, I decorate gingerbread cookies…” she said, “I have a fake tree downstairs and a real one upstairs, that’s what we always do.” Christmas time is an exciting time for most. Driving around to get a closer look at the season’s joys is just one of those exciting events for the Leahys, “We always drive around and look at Christmas Lights with a hot chocolate [on] Christmas Eve,” she said.

There are over 4,000 religions worldwide and celebrations look different for almost everyone. We asked history teacher Mrs. Lisa Herzl, who celebrates Hanukkah, what she does during the eight-day festival. “On the first night, we get together with our family and have Hanukkah dinner. Hanukkah foods are fried in oil [the Hanukkah story],” she said. “We just do gifts on the first night when we are all together. In different forms and religions, everyone can enjoy the happiness of the season with their family and friends along with some magic throughout.

About the Contributors

Taylor Richard, Staff Writer & Social Media Editor

Hi! My Name is Taylor Richard, and I am a junior at Triton High School. Outside of school I work at an ice cream shop and play tennis. I also do tons of community service on the weekends and volunteer at my church. My favorite things to do are to travel and go to the beach. I have an older brother and twin sister who I do almost everything with. I don’t think I would carry out a career in Journalism but I do like taking the class. I had heard from older friends of mine that this class was fun and kept them busy, which was something I liked. My favorite part of being in this class is being able to create articles on almost anything I want that interests me and others. It is really cool to see the impact that some articles can have on my peers as well. My goal for this year in journalism is to improve my writing and give people things that they would enjoy in the newspaper. I think that being a journalist for the school newspaper is very important. Surely, it’s not as important as those who write articles about much bigger and better things, but it is equally important in getting students involved and excited about what happens beyond the classroom. Educating them on the importance of knowing what happens around us every day is crucial too. I hope to go to college in the South once I graduate High School and become a Radiology or Ultrasound Technician! You can reach me at @[email protected]

Angela Simmons, Staff Writer & Social Media Editor

Hey, My name is Angela Simmons and I’m a junior at Triton High School! I’m an active person in the Triton community and outside of the Triton community. See now, I don't do a fall sport with Triton. It's just that nothing appeals to me, but I do run indoor track and I run on the streets of my town to keep myself in shape for my season. My older sister is nothing like me; she doesn't do any sports but now that she is in her first year at CU Boulder she is climbing a lot to keep herself in shape. I also have a much older brother who I don't know very well since we’re only related by my dad. I am very close with my family. Even my extended family. We love to have our traditions of, cookie baking, going to Millinocket, Maine, Sunday River, and my favorite:e we try to go on a crazy blowout trip all together; last time it was Italy. I recently traveled with my best friend Lily D’Andrea. We do everything together. I've known her for about 14 years now and we’ve been pretty much inseparable since. We love to adventure and find new things to do together. But right next to Lily is my boyfriend, Cruz. He's probably my next best friend. We have been together since the middle of summer, and we’ve also been pretty much inseparable since then too. He and I try and find new things together we have so many memories even though we have been together for four months now. That pretty much sums up my life. Journalism is so different from anything I've done in school. I don't think I would take this up for a career, but I do find it fascinating how this writing style works. I do find a lot of joy in interviewing friends on some funny but also not-so-funny topics. I think writing for the school newspaper is important because the school will read it and find out more information about the school itself and what the students love or dislike about our school. I think that media is important for our community because let's be real we would not know anything about what's going on or maybe we would but it would be really difficult. I haven't decided on my career yet. But over the summer and the last couple of months in my sophomore year, I figured out that I find the female and male reproductive system pretty interesting. So I asked my dad who is a doctor what I could do that involves the reproductive systems. So an OB/GYN would be so interesting, which, yes, that is known to be kind of a difficult job. But I think it would fit me so well. I don't have anything else I think is interesting about me. Although I do love to ski and care for my horses. You can reach me at [email protected]

Chloe Price, Staff Writer & Copy Editor

My name is Chloe Price, I am a junior at Triton High School. Some things I enjoy doing outside of my journalism class are going shopping with my friends, doing track, going to the beach, and cozying by the fireplace during Christmas time. I have one older sister and a pet dog. Although I do enjoy living with my family, I am excited to move out and get my dream house, which is a house on the lake. As quarter two started, I realized that although journalism is fun, I don’t think I will pursue it in the future. However, I enjoy going around and interviewing people, creating new ideas for next week's article, and the thrill and excitement that comes with it all. It is important to not only myself but to other people as well. Writing something can change someone’s day, not because they could be having a hard day or anything, but to help them look forward to something each week. Journalism can show you to jump outside the box, and try new things. You can create new friends in the process, but can also help you improve your writing in many ways. Although journalism won't be the job I will do in the future, I do still enjoy it. I have a few jobs in mind that I would love to do. Some being real estate, interior design, or cosmetology. My mom is a hairdresser, so I grew up in that environment of learning to cut hair, being around people, and more. Real estate and interior design both have something in common, one being that they both have to do with houses, but another being having to interact with people. I still have a little while to figure out what I choose to do but that’ll be a decision I make when the time comes.

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