In the midst of the Christmas craze and end of the year celebrations, Thanksgiving is commonly sent to the back burner. This year, Santa Claus once again aims to steal the air from beneath the turkey's wings with reindeer, presents and endless bubble lights.
"I don't think Thanksgiving is completely forgotten," said Michelle DeCarlo, a senior English major. "It's still a big holiday without a doubt, but Christmas just overpowers it by a long shot."
Some students feel consumerism is at the root of Christmas' overpowering feel.
"I think Christmas is more promoted and more widely decorated because it's a much bigger consumer holiday," said Jessica Stewart, a sophomore music education major. "A lot more people decorate for Christmas because it's a much larger holiday than Thanksgiving or Halloween."
A big reason people don't decorate for Thanksgiving is laziness, according to Stewart. After decorating for Halloween, people do not want to take all the decorations down in order to put up Turkey Day ornaments. This is primarily because the process will be repeated soon after for the Christmas holiday.
"People can just take down their Halloween decorations and go straight to Christmas, skipping the extra work for Thanksgiving," Stewart said.
Marc Canfield, a senior history education major, believes that Thanksgiving doesn't offer much in the area of decorations. Christmas has Santa Claus, reindeer, lights and trees. Thanksgiving, on the other hand, only offers delicious delicacies.
"I don't think I would ever put up a bunch of pilgrims in my front lawn to decorate for Thanksgiving," Canfield said. "Thanksgiving really isn't much of a holiday to decorate for. I don't really know anybody who does."
DeCarlo feels that Christmas is driven by decorations because the holiday entails a major point of interest: getting gifts.
"On Thanksgiving, family comes over and all that ever happens is eating a lot of food and catching up with family members," DeCarlo said. "Christmas, on the other hand, is my favorite holiday. I love waking up and opening presents and I don't think I could ever get sick of it."
According to Canfield, another reason Thanksgiving is pushed aside is the amount of shopping that takes place in order to beat the holiday rush. Many retailers begin advertising Christmas sales well before Thanksgiving; therefore the holiday is somewhat lost in the buzz of shopping.
Ryan Ross, a junior geology major, thinks that Christmas is an annoying holiday despite its overwhelming appeal, due to the recurrence of the same songs year after year. To Ross, repetition has turned to irritation.
"I have gotten really sick of Christmas music over the years," Ross said. "I can't believe radio stations are playing it already. All the songs are the same but just performed by different artists."
Aside from the repetitive and bothersome Christmas jingles, the barrage of cheesy decorations can be an eyesore, according to Ross. The amount of houses and businesses that all have the exact same ornamentations is ridiculous and unnecessary.
"I'm not one to decorate for special occasions," Ross said. "My mom puts up some stupid Christmas decorations and a tree, but other than that we don't get too carried away at our house."
Ross feels that newer decorations, representing snow globes, are a waste of money and should never be put up on lawns under any circumstances.
"What really gets to me is seeing all those stupid bubbles in front yards that have Frosty or Santa in them with fake snow blowing around," he said. "I can't believe people actually waste money on that stuff."
Stewart feels that Christmas decorations should never see the light of day until two weeks before Christmas. For many who like their holidays to be quiet, anything before the first day of December is way too early.
"I think some of the decorations are really pretty, but seeing them in mid-November is kind of silly," Stewart said. "We love to decorate at our house. We put up a tree, lights and a nativity set in the front yard; but we at least wait until December."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
