Happiness is a brand new doll for Abby Brotherton (Brenda Barger/DavidsonNews.net)

Just a few more days until Dec. 25! Hope all our readers have finished shopping and are ready to read this column before “settling down for a long winter’s nap.” Today Around Davidson takes a moment to gaze at our new downtown signage, and also brings you stories of two very special Christmas dolls – one belonging to Abby Brotherton (7) and one to Jan Chartier, a resident of The Pines at Davidson.

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Where have the days gone? It is already the middle of December and judging from the “special sale” flyers and catalogs in our mailboxes, one would think we ought to just now start shopping. Bah! Humbug! Around Davidson would rather report on happy holiday news from our residents who are celebrating new arrivals, new assignments or reaching out to others during Christmas. Read the full story

You can even take a 3-hour class to learn the Rockette routines!

Bucket lists. Remember the movie with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson? They made a list of things they wanted to do before they died. Regardless of your age, a bucket list is a marvelous means to plan for future adventures. You might want to include something as simple as planting a garden or learning to split wood or as exotic as exploring Easter Island or hiking Kilimanjaro.

Bucket lists for the Bargers? How about the Radio City Christmas Show in New York City. With permission to take a few days away from this column and tickets in our pockets, the Big Apple took us in. Read the full story

Thousands packed Main Street Friday night (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)

What a wonderful way to showcase our town! Christmas in Davidsonhad a marvelous run this year with perfect weather for strolling, shopping, eating, visiting and even voting for your favorite decorated Christmas tree.

Three nights of the sights and sounds of Christmas in Davidson meant talking to lots of visitors, asking about their impression of our annual event and of course, reminding them to look for their faces on DavidsonNews.net. Some photos may run in the website’s “scrapbook of scenes,” but a few deserve special Around Davidson mention. And no holiday season reporting is complete without a mention of the Evergreen Court lights at The Pines.

[See below for a gallery of Brenda's photos as well as those by DavidsonNews.net's other photographers and friends.] Read the full story

Festive banners and beautiful baskets signal Christmas in Davidson

December first is here! It is time to drag the Christmas sweaters out of the closet and dress up for the holidays. What an exciting time of year. Christmas in Davidson begins today with perfect cold, crisp evenings to visit with friends, do a little holiday shopping and just rejoice in small town traditions. Kudos as always to the Davidson Garden Club for their festive Christmas baskets full of bright greenery. Dozens of these fresh baskets decorate our downtown buildings and make us thankful for the hard working club members who create them.

Around Davidson visits today with birthday gal, Robyn Oldham, as well as Matt Nelson and Pamela Love who are engaged. In addition we have information about Ten Thousand Villages which you can visit during Christmas in Davidson and a few Noteworthy Notes. Read the full story

Working up an appetite for turkey in a creative way is Matthew Shaw.

For all residents of Davidson who stayed in town and welcomed family and friends to their Thanksgiving table, what a wonderful holiday it was! The Wednesday traffic was a nightmare but with a little patience, out-of-state cars finally rolled into town and the celebrations began. The weather was picture perfect causing a few to request turkey on the picnic tables out under the trees. How spoiled we are!

Now our focus changes to Christmas in Davidson and other area holiday events. Today Around Davidson has notes about a few of these and also news of a new book you might want to give for a holiday gift. In addition we include a “Connie Beach trip report” of her adventure in Holbox. Read the full story

Looking at this picture, you can hear Leland laugh! (Bill Giduz/DavidsonNews.net)

Thanksgiving. As O Henry once said: “There is one day that is ours. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American.” Yes, it is truly American and a wonderful chance to gather with family and friends to count our blessings.

Today Around Davidson focuses on one resident of Davidson we are blessed and thankful to have in our midst: Leland Madison Park. We have some notes from Leland and a few remarks about the award he received from the Town of Davidson. Read the full story

Just read the food ads that are stuffed in your mailbox this week and you know that Thanksgiving is approaching. Turkey? Ham? And all the sides are just waiting to fill your grocery cart. Tuesday we found a quote from Erma Bombeck on consuming our Thanksgiving dinner in 12 minutes during halftime in a football game. Today’s humor comes from Johnny Carson: “Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often.” We hope that each of our readers has a wonderful holiday – with happy memories for all.

Today Around Davidson congratulates Andrew Scales and Lenore Turner on their engagement and Heather and Ryan Kompanik on the birth of Caroline. In addition we have news of Boy Scout Troop 58’s merit badge work and a reminder about a special occasion for Leland Park. Read the full story

Fun to serve! Fun to eat! It's a no-fuss Thanksgiving Turkey!

Next week we celebrate Thanksgiving and hope that you have your turkey decorations in order because you will find nothing but Christmas in the stores. Hardly is there time to even think Halloween when ornaments, wrapping paper and artificial trees greet you at the door of every store. But Thanksgiving means family, fellowship and food. The late Erma Bombeck said it well: Thanksgiving dinners take 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes. Half-times take 12 minutes. This is not coincidence. (Football fans listen up!!)

So since many of us will eat our way through the holidays, beginning right now … today Around Davidson has a few notes about food as well as news of a notable brunch last weekend when Didi Wayland was honored at Davidson College. We also mention Robert Whitton’s Saturday service. Read the full story

What would fall be without apples and cider? (Thanks to Alice Stillwell of the Pines' staff for the arrangement)

Election Day is over and now we can get on with regular activities such as the celebration of Veteran’s Day tomorrow. Meanwhile we are enjoying beautiful Indian summer weather with just a hint of frost on windshields in the morning. What a perfect time to travel to the North Carolina mountains and get apples and cider.

This week Around Davidson visited a group at The Pines making their own apple cider. We also checked in with Boo Hess whose college roommate visited Davidson for the first time. In addition we all congratulate Ashley Pickerel and A.J. Thomas who married last month. Read the full story