Holiday hobbies and traditions help make Christmas-time even more special

Gabriela Dulworth, Web Manager

The holiday season is a special time for most people, with family returning and Christmas joy all around, but having activities especially reserved for Christmas time makes it that much more special.

These traditions and hobbies come in many different forms, from baking with family to ice skating, to caroling. For Olivia Frye ‘22, Christmas caroling is a yearly tradition she was sad to miss this year.

“I started caroling my sophomore year with some of my friends from the choir,” Frye said. “We really like to sing and we wanted to use that to spread happiness around Christmas.”

She and her friends do this independently of South’s choir, and according to Frye, they enjoy driving around Grosse Pointe to find spots to sing.

“We drive around to restaurants near us,” Frye said. “Everyone is really nice at the hostess desk, we just ask them if we can carol, and almost always they will say yes.”

The holidays mean cold weather to Gavin Ulp ‘22, who waits for the water to freeze and then spends as much time as he can on the rink with friends or family.

“Ice skating is special, and that makes it fun,” Ulp said. “You have to wait for the weather to be perfect and for the water to freeze. The waiting makes it that much more fun when the time finally comes.”

The patience pays off, according to Ulp. For him, not only is ice skating a way to have fun with friends or have a little healthy competition with his dad, but it’s also a great way to relieve any stress.

“You can just skate around the circle and you don’t have to think about anything,” Ulp said. “You don’t have to focus on anything but skating and making sure you don’t fall.”

Holiday fun comes in the form of baking when it comes to Kennedy Boll ‘22, who makes sugar cookies and lady cake with her mom.

“We make cookies for Thanksgiving and then keep making them until around New Year’s Eve,” Boll said. “Baking is a fun bonding experience for me and my mom. It brings me a lot of happiness.”

According to Boll, baking during the holidays is something she has been doing her whole life and has made her have a special perspective on the Christmas season.

“Baking with my family makes the holidays more special,” Boll said. “It’s our own special thing to do as a family, we get to talk about stuff and have fun with each other while we bake.”