PHS students going near and far for holidays

by Amanda Schrutt

Many people have plans of spending the holidays somewhere other than here around Pittsford in their own homes. Some families plan on visiting relatives in other towns, some may visit close friends to share the holiday cheerfulness, and many may even be going south to spend their Christmas in the sun.

Holiday travel is a very popular event in our small town due to the fact that most of the families in our community have relatives in other areas. Some may be just around the corner, and some across the country. Wherever those family members are, we tend to visit them from time to time. That time is usually around the holiday seasons. I’ve looked around to see where some of the students around our school plan on spending their holidays, whether it is with family and friends in the snowy Michigan weather or down South in the sun with all of the benefits of Christmas without the freezing temperatures.

“I go to Georgia to visit my sister,” says PHS senior Brooke Kimling. “Most of the time we drive, but we have flown before. It is a lot different spending Christmas there than it is here. It’s a lot warmer and there is no snow. I kind of feel out of place being in another state, but it’s not so bad because my family is all together.” Going to other states to spend time with family is very common, but I asked Brooke if she could go anywhere for Christmas where would it be, she told me, “Being with my sister in Georgia is fun, but if I had the choice to go anywhere, I would choose the Bahamas because it sounds cool!”

Another common thing to do is to stay around our hometowns and visit close relatives for the holidays. Sophomore Tiffany Waldfogel is going to spend some time with her loved ones near Jackson. “I mainly visit my family around Hanover-Horton for the holidays. It’s close and I usually don’t go anywhere far away during Christmas time since most of my family is from around here,” said Tiffany. However, Tiffany may dream of far-away locations for future Christmases, if she could. “I would spend the holidays in Rome. I would bring all of my friends with me and we would have a lot of fun,” said Tiffany.

Some people take in all that the holiday has to offer, just like PHS sophomore Brandon Williams who told me that he visits both of his grandparents in Hudson for the holiday season. “I go there to open presents and eat a lot of good food,” says Brandon. “I usually stay around here to visit my close family, but one time I went to Illinois to visit my Grandpa’s cousins for Christmas, and that was alright.” Brandon would much rather hunt in a wintry location if he could, though. “I would go to Alaska for Christmas, so that I could hunt. I would bring my dad and my grandpa with me, so that they could hunt with me too,” explained Brandon

Hopefully you have a great holiday season this year, whether you plan on traveling or staying close to home. Enjoy the holiday cheer and have fun visiting your relatives and friends whether they are here in Pittsford or really far away. Traveling during the holidays can be really fun, and who knows, maybe you’ll be able to go to the place of your dreams this Christmas!