Christmas Magic begins with you.

Are you creating the life you want? Are you creating your holiday dreams? Are you creating the community of your visions?
This time of year there are many grumbles. "Christmas is too commercialized." "Walmart is too crowded and lines are long." "People are grumpy."
Meanwhile, others are creating Christmas magic. Their holiday traditions revolve around adventures and experiences. They are creating life, dreams and visions. They are creating happy times by choice.
For them, no commercialization can overshadow the heart of Christmas. "Happy Holidays" simply means "lets be happy" this time of year. Checking off a shopping list at Walmart is not their primary goal. And a grumpy person can't steal their joy.
We live in a magical area and Christmas here is as close to a Norman Rockwell painting as you can find anywhere. Just before Thanksgiving, as I was driving through Franklin, the big tree was being lifted into place in front of our wonderful court house. As I look left and right traveling on Liberty street, store owners were busily decorating their windows. Franklin's annual light up night with the parade and fireworks was days away. As we neared that day, I began to see people preparing floats for the parade. The weather was mild and spirits were high.
The day arrived and my heart sank. It was rainy. In years past, hours before the parade people began lining the streets and floats were in place early as participants made last minute adjustments. This year with only several hours to go, there seemed to be empty spots where floats were in line years past. The streets were fairly empty.
Suddenly, even with a light drizzle, an hour before the parade, our store filled with people listening to our friend Deanna sing Christmas songs, the floats rolled into place, and the streets filled with people and umbrellas. The parade ran over an hour long and the fireworks with music were spectacular as usual. If the numbers were down, no one seemed to notice. And the rain could not dampen the spirit of gathering for this treasured family tradition launching the holiday season.
Soon after, the giant tree went up at Oil City's new park. And this weekend the ever popular Christmas Past celebrations will mark another favorite local tradition with craft shows all around town, music, a bon fire by the canon and you won't want to miss the Christmas Tree display at the Museum of Art, Science and Industry!
Meanwhile, in Titusville's Burgess Park, the fire department continues the local tradition of decorating the entire park. Gather up loved ones and take a drive. You won't regret it.
If we want all these things to continue and we want our community's to grow and thrive, all we need to do is show up! Stop in the local shops and find a treasure. Join in with a caroling group or create one of your own.
Pick up the Derrick's Good Times and find an event that lifts your spirit.
Check out the Chamber Calendars':
http://www.venangochamber.org/calendar/
https://www.franklinareachamber.org/events/calendar/
Create the life you want! Create holiday dreams! Create your community!
Christmas magic begins in your heart.