Iconic movies, fish feasts, Santa visits: holiday traditions new and old
PJs, Charlie Brown, stockings hung by the chimney and lots of food.
We asked 11 Spokane leaders and business owners how they celebrate Christmas, here’s what they told us:
Meg Stohlmann
The director of Spokane Symphony Chorale, Meg Stohlmann, enjoys going to see holiday light shows with her partner – something they started doing when they lived in North Carolina.
This year, she took her mother to see the light display in Manito Park. Since she is new to Spokane, this was her first time experiencing the Manito Holiday Lights, which is a free half-mile drive-thru or walking course through the park put on by the Friends of Manito in mid-December.
Besides that, she likes watching movies or making snacks like Chex mix.
“Not the most exciting traditions,” she says, but it’s all about spending time with friends and family.
“Home Alone” is at the top of her Christmas movie list and she always puts on “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” while decorating her tree.
“What better way to get into the mood?” she said.
But it’s not all leisure. Stohlmann, who is also director of choral and vocal studies at Gonzaga University, was busy this month with holiday concerts. This year she directed the Candlelight Christmas Concert at Gonzaga and Holiday Pops with the Spokane Symphony. And on New Year’s Eve, she will lead the chorale in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Fox Theater .
– James Hanlon
Chris Bovey
Vintage Print artist and soon-to-be Garland Theater co-owner Chris Bovey’s Christmas is centered around the Christmas tree they cut down each year in Medical Lake and a special Christmas Eve dinner.
“We chop down our neighbor’s tree that used to be a tree farm,” Bovey said. “The farm was called Sun West. It’s been closed for a few years. That tradition goes back about 20 years. The cool thing is that my sons, who are 18 and 16, want to carry on the tradition. I know that’s so for my older son. The nice thing is that I don’t have to drag them along to the tree farm. They want to do it and it’s a great family tradition.”
Once the tree is decorated the Boveys prepare for a massive dinner the night before Christmas. “The whole extended family looks forward to celebrating together since we have this big seafood dinner that goes back as long as I can remember,” Bovey said. “It started with my grandpa, Walter Bare, who owned Empire Fish Company.”
The Bovey dinner is not a traditional seven fishes meal. “It’s a mix of fish,” Bovey said. “It started when my grandpa would bring over leftovers. We all love it. I’m very much looking forward to the Cajun salmon this year.”
– Ed Condran
Anton Watson
Gonzaga basketball star Anton Watson isn’t looking for giant, beautifully wrapped presents under the tree on Christmas evening. He’s more excited about what might be in his stocking.
“I don’t even care about the presents, but I love stockings. As I started to get older, stockings are huge for me. I love stockings,” he said. “This Christmas I’m looking forward to being with the fam. Time with your family is limited, especially when you play basketball, so it is huge any time I get an opportunity to be with my family.”
On Christmas he visits with family at his grandmas’ houses.
“My favorite Christmas memory is waking up in the morning and smelling a good breakfast,” he said.
– Liam Bradford
Lisa Brown
Spokane’s incoming mayor, Lisa Brown, who officially starts her job leading the city in the new year, has a steadfast Christmas tradition that many across the country would recognize: “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
“I’ve been watching that with my son since he was little, and now I also watch it with my grandson,” Brown said. “It just has always been moving to me, ever since I watched it as a child. Of course, in those days you could only see it on TV and had to tune in to the right channel at the right time, so I think the scarcity was part of the appeal.”
Her holiday conventions stretch into the week following Christmas with an annual snow shoeing adventure with friends on Mount Spokane on New Year’s Day.
– Emry Dinman
Nicole Derose
New Dolly’s Café owners Nicole Derose and Luae Benlitifah are hoping to start a new tradition of their own this holiday season. After purchasing the café in early 2022 the pair decided they wanted to maintain and upgrade Dolly’s to keep it running for generations.
“On an annual basis we’ll be able to have Santa there and be able to take some pictures with the kiddos and offer free pancakes for the kids that come in with their families,” Derose said.
The owners planned to kick off this new event Saturday, hoping it would bring the community together for some fun right before Christmas. However, the two owners haven’t forgotten to get together for some family traditions as well this year.
“Ever since I was little, I always did matching pajamas with my family” while watching “A Christmas Story,” Derose said.
Derose has carried on this tradition from her childhood with her family, each year hosting a new theme of fun pajamas, including full plaid and others with the printed faces of their pet dogs.
– Jase Picanso
Lisa Gardner
The Spokane chapter of the NAACP’s new president, Lisa Gardner, also current spokesperson for the Spokane City Council, celebrates her holiday season by escaping the gray, cold Spokane December.
“My tradition is I get out of town,” Gardner said, calling from Los Angeles. “I like to go to warmer climates.”
Gardner flies south for the winter. She’s been to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
In her warm oases, Gardner likes to soak up the sun and visit family and friends who live in the area.
– Elena Perry
Jen Menzer
“This year has been so bonkers,” said Jen Menzer, owner of Boo Radley’s in downtown Spokane.
Due to the busy holiday season and Boo Radley’s being a hot spot for stocking stuffers, Menzer has found herself not having much time for holiday traditions at home.
“We have a tree and it has no decorations on it yet, that’s kind of sad, she said late last week. We’re way behind and I still have a lot of Christmas shopping left to do,” Menzer said.
However, Menzer has been able to get involved in the holiday season at Boo Radley’s as the busyness continues in the days leading up to Christmas.
“We do silly things like have dress up days, play the (holiday) music, try to be silly – those are our traditions,” Menzer said.
– Jase Picanso
Nadine Woodward
With the kids grown up and busy with their careers, Christmas-time in Mayor Nadine Woodward’s household is an opportunity to bring family back together.
“I really enjoy and cherish the time we get to spend together,” Woodward said in a written statement. “It’s the one time of year we can slow down and step away from the daily demands we all have in our lives.”
To maximize the time they get to bond, the Woodward family plan a family trip every year that includes activities and food adventures, rather than give individual gifts.
“And when the trip is done, I get to relive the memories we shared all year,” she added.
– Emry Dinman
Rick Clark
Some traditions are shared by families. Founder and Executive Director of Giving Back Packs Spokane Rick Clark is all about matching pajamas.
“The Clark family tradition is that we buy all of our children new pajamas and slippers each year for Christmas,” Clark said. “They must wear them to open presents at our house. When they were little it was cute and fun. Now that they’re adults it’s epic.”
– Ed Condran
Dori Peck
Executive Director of SpokAnimal Dori Peck is always on call for the holiday season.
“We have animals here all the time, so we have to work every day. So, we just try to take turns giving each other time to be home with our families,” Peck said.
Every year the shelter hosts a foster event leading up to Christmas called Home for the Howlidays. During this event people can bring pets home to get to know them while also giving them time away from the shelter. People that participate in this foster event receive a discount on the price for adoption as well.
“Everybody when they adopt also gets a big stocking full of goodies to go home when they adopt their dog or their cat,” Peck said.
This holiday season has been positively busy for the crew as the shelter continues on track to hit a new record of 4,700 adoptions.
Peck still finds time to spend with her family during the holidays as she looks forward to traditions like Christmas dinner and light viewing with hot chocolate.
“We love to go look at all the Christmas lights. That’s one of my favorite things. It doesn’t cost much but we all get to be together, so that’s fun,” Peck said.
– Jase Picanso
Betsy Wilkerson
Wilkerson, who was elected earlier this year to lead the Spokane City Council, also owns and manages an adult family home for people with disabilities called Moore’s Assisted Living. Since she took over that business from her mom in 1991, she has started every Christmas opening presents with those living at the group home.
By noon, she returns home to finish making a large Christmas dinner for about two dozens friends and family.
“I do all the cooking: three different meats, every side and dessert imaginable,” she said.
After dinner, they gather ’round and exchange small gifts – often baked goods and gag gifts. Wilkerson still has one from a decade ago, a little wind-up monkey that plays the tambourine.
“It’s stupid, but he makes me laugh,” Wilkerson said.
For her part, Wilkerson tends to give her family gifts of service, such as cleaning her daughter’s house and watching her son’s dog.
“There are about five generations of us here, and so it’s the time of year where we’re all intently baking something and running around dropping stuff off,” she said. “It’s a time of reconnecting with absolutely no expectations. That’s what I like about Christmas.”
– Emry Dinman