Like most families, my family has a pile of holiday traditions. Many of them have been handed down through the generations, like creating salt-dough ornaments, making cut-out Christmas cookies and my grandmother’s butterkuchen recipe, walking barefoot in the snow, and of course, decorating a fresh-cut Christmas tree every year with so many decorations that it’s hard to see the branches.
Over the years, as the kids have grown and moved on to celebrate the holidays with their own families, some of those traditions have fallen by the wayside. Salt-dough ornaments are a thing of the past, and there are fewer cut-out cookies. And in a nod to our advancing years, my husband and I finally invested in an artificial tree instead of cutting one down.
At least one tradition has held firm however — driving around and checking out Christmas light displays. I still like to do that the week before Christmas Day, especially in the village, where the light displays are enhanced by each neighborhood’s charm. The little white lights are nice, but I especially like the more traditional look of the old-fashioned, colored bulbs, which seem to be experiencing a renaissance.
So, kids or not, I’m going to take a drive out and about sometime later this week to check out some Christmas lights. Do you know of any particularly nice displays I should look up? Anything unusual or especially creative? Let me know by commenting below, or send me an email at missyblog@gmail.com, and I’ll share your suggestions with all my readers. Take a photo if you can!
And yes, I will definitely be doing some barefoot snow walks this year. That tradition will never die.
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(posted 12/6/2025)
webster on the web 
just saw kids going down….friends with grandkids were allowed to park in our driveway….no fee….😃
One nice thing about having the sunset at 4:35 PM is that we can drive around, see some great light displays, have a nice dinner out, see more lights, and still be home by 8PM. And, as an added benefit, if the sun keeps tossing out huge amounts of energy unexpectedly, we might just be treated to a rare (at this latitude) aurora borealis ( aka Northern Lights) display – fingers crossed. We are just past the peak solar activity for this most recent eleven year cycle.
See https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-viewline-tonight-and-tomorrow-night-experimental for forecasts.
When we find some nice house displays, Missy, we will note the address & email you some photos. Thanks for posting this!
PS – in a previous blog you posted photos of skeletons on Klem Road, dressed for Halloween. They have now changed into their Christmas holiday attire.
Despite all the opportunities, I STILL never got to see the Northern Lights recently. Thanks in advance for sending along some suggestions. And I’ve seen the Rockette skeletons! Blogged about them, actually. 🙂 The homeowner is a friend of mine.
Our display is getting some extra attention thanks to a Webster guy (Joey Bonnachi) who captured it beautifully in a photograph. But hereâs a video we took the second night they were lit.
…because awareness was never enough.
Holly McGregor Anderson (she/her)
National Breast Cancer Coalition
Board of Directors
New York State Field Coordinator & Team Leader
(585) 615-6339 hollymcgregoranderson@gmail.com
Hi Holly, I’m not sure the video came through the comment, Perhaps you can email it to me at missyblog@gmail.com.