What towns are you going to visit for the Christmas season? Tunkhannock should be nice! (Bethlehem: for sale, buying)

[memoriesbre]

This will be our first Christmas in Tunkhannock. The town is wonderful and I bet it will look so festive for Christmas. Any other good ideas on where to visit for a Christmas feel?

[FightinPhils]

Dickson City retail area....great for observing how people have perverted Christmas into the season of greed! People trampling each other for sale items, people honking horns and flipping people off in traffic, etc etc. Tis the season!

I think I'll do my shopping on the internet and QVC, all the while remembering the true reason for the season.

[memoriesbre]

Originally Posted by conorsdad

Dickson City retail area....great for observing how people have perverted Christmas into the season of greed! People trampling each other for sale items, people honking horns and flipping people off in traffic, etc etc. Tis the season!

I think I'll do my shopping on the internet and QVC, all the while remembering the true reason for the season.

yep, if we just take a step back and remember what Christmas means. Spread the word about family and friends. It's not about gifts.. it's about being with the ones you love. Maybe we should just stop buying so much stuff and just stroll through the small towns for the spirit of Christmas.
We need to realize what is happening to us here in this great big world. People need to remember that buying someone's love with tons of gifts at this time of year isn't the true meaning of Christmas. Kids want only the expensive sneakers and have to beat out their friends at school with all the fancy designer clothes. The kids are not understanding what it is like to just get one gift, they get dozens of gifts and still don't appreciate it.
ADULTS wake UP!!!! Close your eyes and try to remember Christmas when you were small. Most of us were just happy to be with our family at the table laughing and having fun. Now why can't we make that happen again?
Try it this year, you might start a trend.
Oh conorsdad, just stop and think how wonderful it would be!~ You could be the first to spread the cheer and I will help ya

[WasPA]

If you have a free day, be sure to drive down to Jim Thorpe for awhile, then on to Bethlehem, both unusually festive places at Christmas, lights, music atmosphere in spades. Be sure to indulge in some delectable pastries, etc., at that old world Viennese patisserie in downtown Bethlehem....before heading back up the TPKE northward...

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by memoriesbre

yep, if we just take a step back and remember what Christmas means. Spread the word about family and friends. It's not about gifts.. it's about being with the ones you love. Maybe we should just stop buying so much stuff and just stroll through the small towns for the spirit of Christmas.
We need to realize what is happening to us here in this great big world. People need to remember that buying someone's love with tons of gifts at this time of year isn't the true meaning of Christmas. Kids want only the expensive sneakers and have to beat out their friends at school with all the fancy designer clothes. The kids are not understanding what it is like to just get one gift, they get dozens of gifts and still don't appreciate it.
ADULTS wake UP!!!! Close your eyes and try to remember Christmas when you were small. Most of us were just happy to be with our family at the table laughing and having fun. Now why can't we make that happen again?
Try it this year, you might start a trend.
Oh conorsdad, just stop and think how wonderful it would be!~ You could be the first to spread the cheer and I will help ya

I agree 100%. Of course there is gift giving in our house, but we try not to let it get out of hand, and stress to our son that while Christmas presents and Santa Claus are nice, they are not the reason for Christmas (we teach him that Santa comes because its Jesus' birthday). I won't get into a big religious sermon on here, but we are Catholic, so we like our faith (as well as family) to be the central part of the holiday, as the birth of Christ is the reason for Christmas.

[memoriesbre]

I hear it's a wonderful town. Maybe we could head down there to spend the day.

Conorsdad, I am glad that you are teaching your son the true meaning of Christmas. We get lost in all the hustle and bustle and sometimes forget what it means. Good for you!

[Dawne]

Berwick has a nice drive-through display in December.

I'm going to go out on a limb here, but let's remember that Christmas is about Christ. It's about God fulfilling his Old Testament promise to his people to send them a savior, Immanuel, God with us. That savior was Jesus, and his embodiment of God's love for us gives us eternal life in heaven. So the "spirit of Christmas" (which people make all warm and fuzzy and about loving each other and peace on earth and giving and receiving gifts - none of which are bad but aren't really the point) is actually the manifestation in human form of our creator's love for his creation, the ultimate sacrifice which removes the need for all other sacrifices, and the greatest gift of all.

[Summering]

Originally Posted by memoriesbre

yep, if we just take a step back and remember what Christmas means. Spread the word about family and friends. It's not about gifts.. it's about being with the ones you love. Maybe we should just stop buying so much stuff and just stroll through the small towns for the spirit of Christmas.
We need to realize what is happening to us here in this great big world. People need to remember that buying someone's love with tons of gifts at this time of year isn't the true meaning of Christmas. Kids want only the expensive sneakers and have to beat out their friends at school with all the fancy designer clothes. The kids are not understanding what it is like to just get one gift, they get dozens of gifts and still don't appreciate it.
ADULTS wake UP!!!! Close your eyes and try to remember Christmas when you were small. Most of us were just happy to be with our family at the table laughing and having fun. Now why can't we make that happen again?
Try it this year, you might start a trend.
Oh conorsdad, just stop and think how wonderful it would be!~ You could be the first to spread the cheer and I will help ya

Well I kinda was happy the day I awoke to a "walking" doll. I remember the day exactly. Also, I remember the day I got what I did beg for a "recorder to sing in"......was I spoiled. No........I knew my parents worked very, very hard.
But......part of my memories is the thrill of Christmas morning.
Part is having my parents take me to Radio City Music Hall.
Part of memories is also the songs, the tree shopping, or going to a tree farm later on as years went by. Part of memories is the things that were cooked, the lights, the contests held by the town. Church, all decked out with festive ness........the Christmas songs they sung.......the bugles......the kids doing the manger scene. Me being an Angel.........(LOL)
I don't fully agree with everyone here......except I do know that kids are getting a bit greedy. But, for our time ,were we?
I happen to love the hussle and busyness of the stores, even Macy's!
I feel like.....its festive, fun, full of songs and happy people.......
In Macy's I think I will wind up in " The Miracle of Christmas" or long ago movie........( big wishin' for sure)
There is something magic about Christmas............
Would Jesus approve? ..........Only if your happy in the right way.
I don't give a gift, wanting in return. I give a gift because the person means a great deal to me. I do it all year long..............Its just at Christmas I wrap better...... ( Oh help me, I have to win the wrapping contest every year...)

[Summering]

And a wonderful thing to do this December is
Go on the 8th to downtown Stroudsburg........to the Night of Art, Song and Spirit.
You can go in all the churches. I start on the left side of town.
All the ministers greet you........they don't ask where you attend!
There is singing, and a short service. Then on to about 6 or 7 churches that have the church opened just for YOU.
St Johns usually has the Bell Choir......and the bells are wonderful.
Stop along the street at the small stores, listen to the street music.
Enjoy the night.......It is very, very, moving.
December 8th 4PM to 8PM

[I LOVE PA!]

I really want to get back to the TRUE meaning of Christmas this year. It's a shame that the Catholic Church I attend has nothing to get involved in. I will be scaling back on Christmas presents, and really trying to schedule some visits to towns like Tunkhannock, Downtown Stroudsburg, and hopefully Jim Thorpe. I have never been to any of these towns. I think a nice stroll through Honesdale one night would be nice too.

Lake Ariel has a sight that is beautiful to see on Christmas Eve. They collect gallon milk jugs and on Christmas Eve, they are placed along many roads as luminaries, pretty much the main path of anyone going to church in Lake Ariel. It is downright beautiful! If I don't go to church on Christmas Eve, I still make sure I go out in the evening to see the luminaries.

I also am planning my first cookie exchange party with some ladies, most who I hardly know but want to get to know.