An atheist in charge of Christmas?
Read Time:5 Minute, 38 Second
Many of you have probably been wondering where I have been, why I haven’t been posting or even commenting on MMA or Facebook.
I believe in supporting worthy entities that get no public funding, which is why I became a contributor to MMA in the first place. I felt like I was making the world, or at least the net, a better place by writing about atheism, buttholes, outrages against women, and by posting pretty pictures. It takes a long while for me to properly do a researched, non-aggregated post with completely original writing. Krell is twice as fast at it, mostly because he has already got the knowledge floating around and doesn’t need to research it (other than to provide extra links for the curious). Plus he doesn’t have the same distractions.
I don’t have ADD…Look- a chicken!
Philanthropists, when looking for likely causes to support will often make “matching” donations. This encourages others to give, people who might not have donated but for the fact that their gift might be doubled. The public giving (e.g. the collection plate at church) to non-profits can be influenced by peer pressure. It is hard to say “no” when everyone else has been saying “yes”, or putting money in the plate. Obviously I don’t go to church, but I do want to contribute something to my local community.
As I have no real money right now, and can’t seem to find a job in this economy- let alone a job that is during school hours- all I have to donate is time. As I have no “elders” left to speak of, I look for and enjoy the company of senior citizens. (Which might also explain my association with the editors here at MMA!) As a lover of architecture, Victoriana, and history, there was no better fit for me than amongst the seniors at the Historical Society.
Though hideous, this concrete totem pole was visited by over 10k international visitors last year.
This is no lazy group of bingo playing seniors either. Though the Historical Society receives no state or federal funds or grants, they have managed to save from destruction, maintain, and restore the old library (now a museum), the Will Rogers Hotel, the Totem Pole park, and the Belvidere Mansion. My friend Ginnie, in her late 70’s, single handedly repainted the entire concrete totem pole last summer. Another lady, Kathy, has run either the gift shop or the tea room in the Belvidere for the last 14 years. Neither has ever taken a paycheck for all their labor.
Many members volunteer their time and money to keep the place open and available to rent for weddings and events. Granted, some are opinionated birthers, but there is one (thankfully the one who I work most closely with) who loves me like a child of her own for no reason I could discern. She finally admitted it was because I reminded her so much of her best friend she had left behind in Florida- an outspoken crazy atheist like me.
Built in 1902, Victorian Belvidere Mansion is two blocks from my house- an easy walk.
During the year the Belvidere’s tea room draws visitors in, and offers catering for the events held there. There is also a gift shop which brings in the bulk of the profits. This June I became the (volunteer) buyer for the gift shop, putting to use my marketing and artistic skills, and dragging the operation into the computer age. (If nothing else, this will look fantastic on a resume- certainly a lot better than “20 years of housewifery”)
You can see the fall home tour poster by the fireplace- another fundraiser I was heavily involved in
The Belvidere’s biggest source of revenue is the Christmas fundraiser, a gift show that starts the first weekend of November and continues through the end of the year. The entire mansion is decorated with gifts and trees, all available to purchase. All summer I worked on gathering the inventory to put out for the sale. Starting a couple weeks before Halloween, I began to organize and put out the Christmas decor there to be ready for the November 3rd opening.
Some of the products in the gift shop– notably purchased without “going to market”
The newly decorated main mantel- note the cardinals “flying” thanks to Krell’s ingenious electromagnet-on-a-stick used to apply them to the tin ceiling
When I was a little kid, my holiday-hating father (a product of a Catholic mother, Catholic schools, and an atheist curmudgeonly father) got into Christmas anyhow because of the increased opportunity to give weird, capricious gifts. My mother, an artist, quickly grew tired of the holiday trappings and began delegating the decorations and cookie prep to me. I took over fully at 8 years old. One of my best memories of childhood is going to a Christmas themed gift shop (which notably, had trees up all year long) and marveling at the gorgeous decor. I’d go every week and spend my allowance on tiny porcelain animals until I had quite a collection.
I got lots of practice decorating my own Victorian house
Soon I started putting up other people’s trees. My friend’s parents, my grandparents, my kids’ school- I just love the decorating aspect of the holidays, plain and simple.
Now I have a tree in every room (sometimes two) a garland on every window and door, multiple wreaths and tabletop decorations- it takes me a couple of weeks to get it all fixed up, and maybe two days to tear down. We have an open house every December, so people can come enjoy the themed decor and get inspired. I’m taking a break from decorating “The Peacock Tree” to write this post. Tomorrow I’ll run the register at the gift shop. It’s for a good cause, and allows me some actual social face-time with people in person.
Birds are popular decor choices, though not every one uses real ones like us…
There may be irony in the fact that the biggest fundraiser of the year depends on Christians for clients, yet hinges on the creative control of an atheist. Did it influence my purchasing or decorating choices? Nope. By being unbiased toward the holiday, except as an opportunity to decorate and buy gifts for kids, I am ideally suited for the job. The only reason we aren’t selling a nativity scene is that I couldn’t find a good price point- and there are plenty of them “not for sale” on display. I bought beaded cross and angel ornaments because they sell well. Birds sell best of all, and who better to choose those than Mother Hen?
all photos by Morgan or David Williams
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0
Morgan makes my Goddess list. Volunteerism is a cherished calling, that not so many folks ever reach for any more. I admire your lifestyle! I am still a member to the Boston Historical Society though they wonder at why I am as I’ve gone home to S. FL. I love learning how, who, place, period product… all of it and the respect and friendship with our elders is sacred.
I think you might think my Christmas tradition a bit crazy…. since I was 13 the big Christmas tradition in our house was the ‘boat parade’. Shinning bright work, cleaning teak, stringing nautical lights stem to stern, anchoring the motion Santa and his raindeer on the cabin top… when I was 20 and my mom was captian-less (the divorce became final) I was qualified and so I took the helm for the nine more years. The last boat parade I was ‘in’ or participated in was ’99. I miss it all awful and feel kinda bittersweet to drink cold beer from the seawall and watch it go by… but ya know, to everything, turn… turn…turn. The pictures of your tree I’ve seen in your FB pics. I’ve been admiring them. Like your garden. You do what you do with care, skill and creative talent MH. Kudos! What a beautiful home you keep and fill. 🙂 I’m a fan.
I agree with Gwen you are the best….Krell, are you listening?? 🙂
The Title should read Goddess in Charge!!
Oh c’mon, it’s bad enough I have to fan her every night with the giant fig leaf while feeding her hand picked grapes just before the foot massage with the imported Sicilian triple virgin olive oil.
Can’t I just stick with “Goddess of the Geezer”?
One word answer girl to the rescue. Nope, hope this helps.
MH you have been really missed. I have not been posting much either but I have missed yours. Krell is right, you are a serious decorator and not too shabby with a camera either. Beautiful.
Yours sounds like the house we always go out driving to see. I’m very grateful for that simple entertainment!
If I could do outdoor decorations they way I wanted to, it would be different. The scale is just too large to throw some lights around the porch. It needs spectacular, and we have neither the funds or the outlets to do it.
For us it’s both inside and out, hubby loves all the lights and stuff. Mom had a collection of Christmas things, she had been buying since the 60s and just kept adding to it, so it’s mine now and it reminds me of her, so I keep putting them out and adding my own things. Like this year, our living room tree will be white and gold baubles, with feathers, birds and fanciful old things, all white and gold. The family room is the kids tree, stuff that the ‘rents collected when I was small for my very own tree, that has the colored lights and stuff on it. Kitchen is just going to be a small topiary tree this year, with and jewel toned ornaments.
The woman would have put Chevy Chase to shame, with all the stuff she did at the holidays decor wise. Me, I would be happy with a Charlie Brown tree, but my cousins like the lights at Christmas in our house and now my nephews and niece like to come over and turn on the lights to start the holidays. I do it for hubby and will probably keep doing it, when we have our own yet to be borns show up from the cabbage patch.
There’s a neighborhood over the bridge from us, that the whole place gets together and they decorate for people to drive around or walk around. They collect donations for the cancer society every single year, and have Santa on hand to give out candy canes to kids who happen by. Since we’re behind a gate, behind a gate we don’t get very many people driving by to see what we have done, I like it that way. I’ve done an open house only twice since the ‘rents passed, didn’t like strangers traipsing through the house( I don’t trust people) so I won’t do that again.
There’s a neighborhood in Pasadena and another over near Anaheim where everybody really outdoes each other in Xmas decorating, the Anaheim neighborhood even blocks off the streets. Wonderful places to take my kids, to trip on the lights. Yeah Chevy Chase-ish. We just put up a pinche string of lights but it’s the thought that counts I guess.
That is like the one I am talking about. It’s right there in Fremont, off of Fremont Blvd at the north end, and all the surrounding streets and cul de sacs. It’s a really nice walk through when it is all lit up.
That sounds wonderful! I am trying to accumulate my new decorative passion- bottle brush trees and those little German glitter houses! I’ve done a shake up of all the tree themes this year. Even trying some of those LED lights on the big tree, but they are pretty “Vegas-y” for my liking.
Something else MH and I have in common, loving the old geezers. Well yeah and the decorations at the holidays. I cheat though and don’t do it all myself. What, oh yeah like I am not helping the economy, with employing people to put em up, take em down and then there is the PG&E bill. Don’t judge me :)))
Speaking as the other not-as-old-as-Mike geezer, welcome back and I hope the gentile ladies of the Historical Society appreciate you as much as we do.
You are right about the time it takes to pull together a non-aggregated post, original writing takes (me) time and I look forward to the day when we have about 50 writers posting and I can post once or twice a week with something meatier and hopefully be as interesting as yours is today. But aggregating fills a hole and like a quality newspaper all the good stuff is inside. That’s what you guys do.
Believe me, I’m not exaggerating one bit when I say that Mother Hen has SERIOUS artistic decorating skills and talent.
The amount of work and time that she volunteered for the Belvidere Mansion is amazing. The second you walk in, it really gives an incredible experience. Worthy of a magazine cover.
The same goes for what she does at our home. She’s a natural at it. Plus it’s all her labor. My lone task is plug in the Christmas lights, cuss if they don’t work, and throw them away. (oh, and shoot any possums if they come around)
“…enjoy the company of senior citizens”…I was wondering why she was keeping me around. I’m putting on some sans -a-belt pants and pulling them up way high tonight, baby!
Very nice post, Mother of the Krell Born.
Wondered where you were MH, welcome back.
MH I wondered where you were and missed you. When we lived in LA and the girls were little I took them to the house of “Lucky” Baldwin who was some kind of robber baron.His home was the “Fantasy Island” backdrop the first season before they built a replica at universal studios.They gave a guided tour once a year Xmas Day and it was decorated similar to your pics.You and Krell would love it.
Man! He was indeed “lucky”. I remember that house! (I guess this means admitting to watching Fantasy Island as a kid).
The nice thing about the mansion is that it’s non-profit, and something anyone can tour all year long for free. I doubt the original owners of it would have let strangers go traipsing through it though.
And honestly, when decorating extravagantly, no one did it better than the Victorians. Having a period house makes it all the more fun, and appropriate.
I figured you were busy with your annual Victorian Christmas explosion. Krell and Mother Hen will not let you into their house during the holidays unless you are wearing a stove pipe hat or bonnet, and a cape. I wear a monocle for extra effect and complain loudly about the poor.
“When I was a little kid, my holiday-hating father … got into Christmas anyhow because of the increased opportunity to give weird, capricious gifts.”
I like his thinking!
Morgan writes:
“As I have no “elders” left to speak of, I look for and enjoy the company of senior citizens. (Which might also explain my association with the editors here at MMA!)”
ROFLMAO!!!!! Excellent and great post by the way 🙂 We missed you.
Glad you geezers liked it.
I’ll be getting back on the wagon here. The worst of this is over with and I’m halfway done with my own house, which deserves its own post when complete.
Lol! I don’t know if the other geezer has seen it yet but speaking for myself I like it 🙂
Another good one, mother.