? Animal controller sits beside gorillas of the mist
Newlands resident ?Fairy Nuff? gets in the spirit and performs at Lower Hutt?s Kids' Chronicles show
Despite religious denominations or race, the end of the year is a celebratory time when families and communities revel in their own twist on the festive season. Maungaraki Community Association president Rick Mooney says cooking up a BBQ is a mainstay of their Christmas celebrations. ?My wife always decorates the house from November ? we have a Kiwi Christmas, pretty laid back really. ?If we have time I like to go for a round of golf with my son in the afternoon,? says Mr Mooney. The BBQ has replaced the traditional roast meal due to the weather and ?lots of ham and salad? is served. Mr Mooney?s brother-in-law always makes a giant fruit salad. ?We only occasionally go to church, we used to get the kids up and read them the Christmas story, they weren?t keen on that before the presents,? he laughs. Long serving Petone stalwart Barbara Branch has given up the turkey for roasted chickens and cauliflower with ?lots of white sauce?. ?I put on Christmas carols, which drives the kids nuts, and we like pulling the Christmas crackers and the silly jokes that bust out of them. ?I used to keep the old onion bags, the colourful ones, and [for the kids] would put an orange in the bottom, and little wrapped presents and peppermint,? says Mrs Branch. Family members sitting around reading books is a memory of her childhood that continues today. Ngaio School librarian Bernice Williams says on Christmas Eve her three teenagers traditionally sing carols with ?distorted volume and lyrics?. They have a ?traditional? meal and reading books features prominently. ?We always have a candy cane in the Christmas pillow, an orange at the toe, and seasonal berries for the Christmas cake and pudding.? Mrs Williams recalls the ?eternal car rides? from her youth and six pence pieces appearing in the pudding. When 5c coins were introduced her grandmother had to wrap them in foil so not to spoil the dessert with leached chemicals. Newlands New Players Theatre Company patron Marie Thomson, also know as fairy-nuff, denied her children present-time until mid-day, but placated them with Santa Socks stuffed with oranges and chocolate. ?My husband and I don?t go for getting up at sparrows fart and having the children yahooing all through the house,? says Mrs Thomson. Buying decorations for the ?floor to ceiling? Christmas tree is a life-long obsession that sees more added on each year. ?I?ve just picked up one or two from a Johnsonville Shop and a few from a Hamilton Shop. ?It?s absolutely chock-a-block, but I must admit some of the older, plainer decorations get moved on,? she says. As a child, fairy-nuff remembers her grandmother?s ?silver charms? in the pudding that, for use the following year, were traded for cash. She says, ?Perhaps we better have [the tradition] again this year?. ?Naturally one has to keep Santa alive and well, so I go and entertain as Mrs Santa in Lower Hutt.? Her work at Kids' Chronicles might be ?the start of a new tradition?.
