Whitby Fre Press WednesdayiNovember 23, 1994, Pa 7 Christmas - already Some appeared the day after Halloween. Those don't count, except as abberations. But many popped out of the shrubbery this weekend. Christmas decorations, we're talking about. The outdoor types. In. Your. Neighborhood. We've come to expect the first signs of Christmas to dominate commercial areas throughout November. A sober, earnest, honest woman of my acquaintance, who is right now in our kitchen brewng tea, believes that everyone else in the world has completed Christmas shopping. She actually believes that. But that's not our point here. Downtown lampposts sprout Christmas im- mediately after Halloween because that is how Christmas lights grow. One year, I swear, some Holiday growth appeared in some downtowns and in some mals right after Thanksgiving (Canadian). But October, we all know, is too early for even commercial Christmas figments. At least wait until after Halloween. So most do. Fitfully, impatiently, but they do. Now see, that shouldn't be too surprising. Commer- cial enterprises make money 'from Christmas. If it weren't for Peace, On Earth, Good Will Toward Men, (and Women, too) and all the Commercial Glitz that accompanies it, a lot of businesses would be out of. So business is business. Which means Christmas in November. And even, I suppose, sick though the thought be, some people shop then, too. Not-people of my gender persuasion, no sir. Tain't manly. However, it surprises, no, shocks me, when non- commercial signs of Christmas erupt into an other- wise stable neighborhood. Next door to me, a plastic Santa went up last weekend. Each night for the next month he'll glow until midnight. Beside him, two evergreens hiccough in after-party song. Nearby, tiny bubble lights adorn a leaf-shorn twig of a tree. One can only pity a deciduous tree put to harness over mid-winter Solstice. Further down the street one finds: more Santas, eavestrough lights (no imagination), flood lights (all colors), manger scenes (mangy), elves hanging from downspouts. Rudolph sprawled on a front lawn, almost sober. Icons of the age. But while commercial Christmas decor is at least understandable, this neighborhood violation is not. I mean, these people do not have to do this stuff. Nobody makes them. No one presses cold gun barrels to their temples. No one holds the family hostage. The best face one can put on the whole situation? Celebration of the weather. That said, we still know it is not true. It is a cataclysmicmovement, nothing less. Each year, with- out fail, Christmas arrives earlier. Santa Claus parades contribute. Notice how that works? Once upon a time, Toronto's infamous parade happened weeks and weeks before Christnas. But all Ontario knew that wasn't real; that was commercial and advertising interests trying to set the stage. Now, ha! Many communities beat Toronto by a week. And has been pointed out here, now residential neighborhoods horn in on the pre-season season. Why? Because the "weather's nice, gotta make use of it." This from my other next door neighbor. The one who usually waits until December, coupla weeks before Christmas, to do anything. It's more than weather. It's a movement. Tain't right. Christmas decorations must not go up before the outdoor ambient temperature drops four notches below arthritic tolerance. Until fingers fall off bare hands in four point seven minutes. Heck, what's the fun of putting stuff up in bright sunshine, balmy October-like days. Where's the chal- lenge? Anybody can hang those little plastic light casngs from the eaves when it's so warm the cord is plyable. Ha! Try it when it's minus ten, the winds at north-north-east and flakes are flying. Those flood- light supports? Anybody can spike those into summer fallow. Try it when the garden soil is hard as a rock. , That's what Christmas is all about. Gl o BROOKLIN MEMORIAL ARENA, WINCHESTER ROAD, 1949 Brooklin's first arena was built as a war memorial, of parts of buildings from the defence plant at Ajax. Construction began in October 1948 and it was opened early in 1949. The arena was condemned as unsafe in 1972 and replaced by today's Luther Vipond Memorial Arena. .whltby Archives photo 10 YEARS AGO from the Wednesday, November 21, 1984 edition of the WHITBY FREE PRESS • Mayor Bob Attersley and Durham Region Chairman Gary Herrema officially opened the Fallingbrook residential community north of Rossland Road on Nov. 14. • Lorne and Aileen Crawford were presented with an award of merit for their work on the Brooklin Spring Fair. • The Graydon Goodfellow bouse at Athol and Trent Streets, built in 1914, is for sale for $199,000. • Mayor Bob Attersley bas received a thank-you letter in Japanese from the mayors who visited Whitby earlier this year. 35 YEARS AGO from the Thursday, November 19, 1959 edition of the WHITBY WEEKLY NEWS • The official opening of Kathleen Rowe Memorial School will be beld on Dec. 18. • The Windsor Bulldogs will play the Whitby Dunlops Senior A hockey team at the Whitby Arena on Nov. 21. • The Town of Whitby wants warning signals at the Hopkins Street CPR crossing, following a collision between a train and a truck. • A plebiscite on whether to approve $150,000 in debentures to enlarge the Whitby Arena will be held on municipal election day. 125 YEARS AGO from the Thursda November 18 1869 edition of the WfTBY CHRONICLE • Five or six miles of the new Port Whitby and Port Perry Railway have been cleared and graded. • The Pickering and Whitby St. Andrew's Society will hold a special program of music and songs at the Mechamcs' Hall on Nov. 30. • The schooner Belle, owned by James McAllan, brought a cargo of 100 tons of coal into Port Whitby. • T.H. McMillan, who is retiring from business, is selling off $20,000 worth of goods from his store on Brock Street. i'ifII i.l ý a- Ili