It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Our town will be having our annual Christmas parade this morning followed tonight by the 14th Annual Hospice Light up a Life celebration this evening; both of which signal to me that Christmas time is here. I take a particular sense of pride in both since I played a part in reviving one tradition and creating the other while on a volunteer city commission.

I was on the commission with a great lady, and local businesswoman named Roxanne, who had lost her daughter to cancer previously and I wanted to do it in memory of my mother, so we were both motivated to start up a tree lighting in town and Hospice of Santa Barbara was already doing a ceremony in Santa Barbara - it was a perfect fit. They were very open to extending their ceremony to Carpinteria as they were touching so many folks down here with their services. We have a huge Redwood tree, it has to be close to 40 to 50 feet tall, on our main street that had evidently been used as an unofficial town Christmas tree in the past, so we had our location. It was very easy to work with the generous property owner to allow the necessary electrical upgrades to be made with the city's cooperation. There is a well restored Victorian cottage on the property who sells various crafts and seasonal gifts, so the atmosphere is perfect and very "Christmassy."

The first year of the event it was basically a word of mouth attendance; it's now to the point that we are spilling out into the street. The City helps out each year by stringing probably two dozen 50 foot strings of lights with a boom truck. Hospice has star ornaments available for purchase either at the event or prior to at http://www.hospiceofsantabarbara.org/. They serve homemade cookies and cider and have turned it into a funding-raising vehicle, while maintaining the sentiment and home town feel - this group of dedicated, sensitive people are consummate professionals and volunteers who offer a tremendous service to people in the toughest of times and I have nothing but positive things to say about them.

For the first many years of the event I was master of ceremonies, then in 2001 I had to stop after my first surgery and handed it off to the capable hands of Catherine Ramok, a good and long time friend of mine who is a local media personality, so she lends vocal class as well as the fact that she is a board member of Hospice now; she was also touched by cancer when she lost her father some years back. Again, those of us who are challenged by or have been affected by the loss of a loved one can CHOOSE to curl up in a ball or roll up our sleeves against this disease in its many forms. Unfortunately, I'd guess that 100% of the attendees of the event have a vested interest in being there; just the act of being there is important as it demonstrates the kind of solidarity necessary to one day defeat the disease.

So today will be filled with emotion. It's a truly small-town parade this morning, and a truly big-hearted and emotional event this evening. It reminds me of why I love living in Carpinteria, as if I needed a reminder. Only one thing would make it better . . . "Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"