page 8 THE PROWLER Dec. 6, 2012

What’s your holiday style?Tiera Joseph ’14Staff Writer

Between eating copious amounts of turkey and building gingerbread houses lies a period of time called the holiday season. It is as diverse as the students who celebrate it. Junior Christina Gustavsson and her family celebrate Christ-mas with a Swedish twist. When it comes time for dinner on Christmas Eve, the Gustavssons are known for their lingonberries, caviar, and of course, Swedish meatballs. “We eat a lot of little meals that combine into one big one,”

Gustavsson said. To top it all off, the Gustavs-sons enjoy gin-gerbread cookies along with other Swedish cookies

for a light dessert. As a part of their family traditions, they open all of their presents on Christmas Eve before the tomkäs, evil elves who steal presents, can get ahold of them. Christina said that one of the more unique traditions her fam-ily participates in, is the Lucia celebration at Old Swedes Church

in Del. Every year a girl is selected to symbolize the story of St. Lucia, who was murdered by her husband for devoting her life to Christianity and serving others. The Lucia, who carries a silver tray full of sweets to share, wears a candle-lit crown on her head and a red sash around her waist.Junior Irene Valli, one of the

35 percent of Americans who still purchases a live Christmas tree, does every-thing with family included.

“Everyone helps out with the cooking and putting up decora-tions, even my cousins from Indiana” Valli said. Once the entire family is under one roof, it’s a priority to go out and pick the tallest tree for the whole family to decorate and transform into a holiday season eye catcher. Two weeks prior to Christmas the tree is decorated and up for display.

There’s nothing like being home for Christmas for senior Kayla Reives. “My brother and

I stay home baking sugar cookies and watching Olive the Other Reindeer,” Reives said. As the diversity among students continues, so do their traditions. Junior Brian Manuel gets the best of both worlds by celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah. This tradition started when his

mother, who is of Jewish decent, and his father, who is Christian, decided to allow their children to choose their own heritage and

religion. During the eight days of Hanuk-kah, the Manuels eat one Jewish meal consisting of latkas, stuffed cabbage, and other Jewish foods from recipes passed down from their grandmother. Hanukkah for sophomore Johanna Goldblatt is all about eating gelts, gold-wrapped, chocolate-covered coins, and playing dreidel games with her two younger sisters. The Gold-blatts exchange presents that increase in extravagance with each day. Lighting the menorah is an honorable tradition for every member of the Goldblatt family to participate in,” Goldblatt said.

Junior Christina Gustavsson and her family celebrate their Swedish heritage in the selection of the Lucia. Michelle Gustavsson/Special

‘Our Town’:Great story, little appeal

George Gibbs, played by David Watson (left), gets a pep-talk about marriage from his future father-in-law, Mr. Webb, played by Chase Thomaston, the moring of his nuptuals. Vicky DeJoy/Special

Antonio Santiago ’14Staff Writer

By the end of Thornton Wild-er’s play “Our Town”, Camille Edwards, who played the part of Emily Webb, evoked deep emo-tions from the audience. Camille’s character dies in childbirth and is given the op-portunity to go back home one more time to spend a day with her family. Only the sounds of sniffles broke the silence in the auditorium. The Advanced Drama II class performed Wilder’s classic play, directed by Drama teacher David Spearman. “Our Town” is set in New Hampshire in the early years of the 20th century and depicts the lives of average Americans. Spearman’s brilliant execution was enhanced with an outstand-ing cast and an impressive set, while still maintaining Thorn-ton’s trademark of simplicity by using minimal scenery and no props.

Although the play’s less-than-extravagant plot and slower pace may not have appealed to all, which might explain the low turnout for the play’s three-night run Oct. 11-13, the cast’s talent and obvious passion for acting brought the story to life. Junior David Watson played George Gibbs, Emily’s neighbor and love interest growing up. He seemed at ease on the stage and held his own with fellow veteran actor Chase Thomaston, who played the role of Emily’s father, Mr. Charles Webb. Watson and Thomaston had the audience smiling as Thomaston’s character gave marriage advice to his soon-to-be son-in-law. Special guest performer Michael Houghtaling, father of senior Claire Houghtaling, deliv-ered an outstanding performance as the narrator put the audience members in a trance with his spectacular storytelling skills. The final act of the play capti-vated the audience because of its emotionally touching storyline

and the popularly held opinion that Americans take the most or-dinary of situations for granted, which they don’t realize until it’s it’s too late, or not at all.

Overall, “Our Town” was fantastic, and those who came to see it know it. However, the next time the Drama Department chooses a play, they may want

to pick something a little livelier to attract students and keep them interested during the show.

Junior Brian Manuel admires the festive decorations on the Starr Tree in the ro-tunda while he wears a Yamaka in respect for Jewish tradition . Tiera Joseph/Staff

Gustavsson

Valli

Reives

Manuel