holidays

By Ron O’Clair

My earliest recollections of Christmas are happy ones. As a child, anticipating the coming of Santa Claus was a wonderful thing. Like most children, I truly believed there was a Santa Claus and wrote my letters to Santa asking for any number of the toys that were popular that particular year. Of course, I asked for a lot more than I received, believing in my heart that I was worthy due to my having been a good boy during the year.

It was an age of innocence that gradually changed over the years into a realization that my parents, relations and friends were the true source of the gifts that I had received that Christmas. Perhaps the best gift of all was getting to spend time together as a family celebrating the holiday season.

I say that because there were two Christmas’s that I did not get to spend at home while growing up during the time I actually still believed in Santa Claus. One Christmas was spent here in the city on Caro Street with foster parents while my mother was hospitalized and my father could not care for the younger children, myself, and my brother Donald who is two years older than me. I remember that I got a motorized Fire engine that year with working lights and siren, ladders, and all of the various firefighting equipment. That gift came from the social worker who was handling our case. It may have come from the T&G Santa through the social worker, but I seem to remember that the social worker was involved in the giving of the gift. It helped to take my mind off the heartache of missing my parents that year.

Another Christmas, the very next one I believe came when my brother Donald and I were again separated from our parents. My father had driven the two of us up to Maine to live with my father’s sister, my Aunt Edna and her children. Other than the usual clothes, the only gift that I can remember for sure that year was a bubble bath dispenser shaped like an animal that had a long neck on the plastic bottle, but it was not a giraffe, I think it was a cat. What I really wanted that Christmas was for my parents to be together and come for me to take me home to Massachusetts. Click to continue »

By Sue Moynagh

I really don’t have a particular Christmas story that stands out in my memory. Rather it is the anticipation of Christmas that I remember well; the sights, smells and sounds that surround the time before Christmas that made and makes even now, the holiday special to me.

Christmas season began right after Thanksgiving for those of us who grew up in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s. As we waited for the first snowfall (at least the children did), we began to prepare for the big day ahead. Children scouted the toy sections of stores and eagerly viewed television commercials for gift ideas. Lists were carefully drawn up and given to parents. Visions of sleds, ice skates, Barbie dolls and all the latest games and toys filled our heads and hopes. There were no computer games back then, but we had dolls that walked, talked, grew hair, cried and peed! There were little ovens that actually baked! Boys had airplane and ship models, cap guns, erector sets, electric trains and GI Joes. I loved the paint- by- number sets, clay and mosaic kits and imagined myself a budding artist. Imagination was a must to have fun.

Shopping for loved ones was an endeavor that required planning as well. Will mom like this perfume? Hope so, I bought the biggest bottle I could find! What do you get for the nun who taught at school? Usually handkerchiefs and hand lotion. Many schools had Christmas gift swaps where you picked a name and got something for that person. I never knew what to get. My tastes were radically different from my class mates. The fun was in the hunt for the best gift at the cheapest price.

School was bustling with activity in preparation for Christmas. I attended St. Casimir Catholic parochial school on Waverly Street. At least once a week, we had a period during which we made a variety of art projects with the holiday theme. Snowflakes were cut out to decorate the windows, Nativity scenes were made with cut- outs from old greeting cards, pie plates and whipped- up Ivory Snow, and trees were made from peppermint candy and Styrofoam cones. We sang Christmas songs, of course, and as a special treat, we went to the Church hall to watch movies and load up on sweets. Most important of all, we learned the spiritual meaning of Christmas. The Catholic sisters made sure we heard the story of Christ’s birth, and often a Nativity scene was put up in class to remind us what this day was truly about. Of course, we were counting the days until school vacation. Over a week off!

Most families found their way downtown for their shopping and fun. Downtown was a radically different world at Christmas season. Picture throngs of people walking from store to store. Stores had window displays that drew admirers and made shopping a part of the festivities. The city was ablaze with colored lights. Click to continue »

Public Information:

Worcester Public Schools 2011 – 2012 School Year and Days Off/Holidays
STUDENTS REPORT FOR SCHOOL AS FOLLOWS:

PRE-SCHOOLS
PRE-SCHOOL STUDENTS will report on September 6, 2011, as stated in the individual notification letter sent to parents.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS will begin school on September 6, 2011. The Worcester Public Schools will be screening Kindergarten children by appointment on August 31st, September 1st and September 2nd. If your child does not have an appointment for screening, contact the school your child is registered at after August 22nd.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
STARTING DATE: August 31, 2011 – Grades 1-6
(all students)

MIDDLE SCHOOLS
STARTING DATE: August 31, 2011 – Grades 7 &8
(all students)

HIGH SCHOOLS
STARTING DATE: August 31, 2011 – Grades 9-12 (all students) Click to continue »