Southern Christmas is Different

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  • Опубликовано: 25 ноя 2024

Комментарии • 844

  • @johnathonpowell2946
    @johnathonpowell2946 11 месяцев назад +249

    As a small church pastor who had the "live animal debate" this year, and who is watching this video while eating the fruit from my son's band fundraiser... this is eerily accurate...

    • @roserollins9800
      @roserollins9800 11 месяцев назад +6

      Here in South Carolina I walked myself to the flea market and got oranges and apples to pass out to my neighbors

    • @rexbeavers6746
      @rexbeavers6746 11 месяцев назад +4

      Haha too funny! All you’re missing is Santa on a fire truck

    • @christinegelabert1651
      @christinegelabert1651 11 месяцев назад +13

      ​@@rexbeavers6746I'VE had Santa come to MY HOUSE on the fire truck to specifically deliver one of my presents as a kid! YUP! I'm a firehouse kid! All us firehouse kids, our firefighter Dads have an annual party AT the firehouse like the weekend before Christmas. Your parents pick something off your list or something else that's appropriate but generic for a girl of your age. That way when you sit with Santa you always get something that's is it what you want or relatable to you yk? Well one year I couldn't go to the party, AND I was little like around 5 OR 6 years old. I can't remember what I have but I think it was swollen glands. So of course their Santa is one of the fellow firefighters and he gets outta the suit and joins the party. Oh no no no! AS my Dad told me later as an adult they had to "PRACTICALLY POUR HIM INTO THE TRUCK" to get this done. 😂 My Dad told him to get himself right back INTO that suit cuz NO WAY was his daughter going to miss out on seeing Santa Claus. NOPE! He was refusing him on the whole idea of just bringing home my present because he said I was sick and very upset about missing the party.😢 Soooo...down the block comes the fire truck with Santa Claus on it to my house! I DON'T mean quietly either~he had them with the lights going AND the horns blasting. He wanted ALL the neighbors to know and see Santa Claus show up! I was shocked and heard I could barely speak. I was almost catatonic and was stuttering Santa.. s s s Santa y y you're here... Y y you're came to see m m me? He said of course I did! I heard you were sick and couldn't come to the party so I just wanted to give you the gift I have for you! Then he hugged me and I was crying soooo hard because I was just so happy! He said well I have to because I have to get back to the party and lots to do. He got back in the truck and they took off. By that time a whole bunch of the neighbors and the kids had come outside. They'd seen AND heard the truck and of course were worried someone was in trouble. I WAS like the most popular kid on my block the next day because Santa came to my house AND in the daytime AND everybody saw him there! SEE??? I TOLD YOU ALL THAT HE IS REAL! Sooo... THAT is why whenever I hear about Santa Claus on a firetruck I get excited for other kids to see that! It TRULY is one of my favorite memories of my childhood. It still brings tears to me eyes to think back about to how much my Daddy loved me especially since he's passed on 9 years ago. I'm adopted and 1 of 3 kids. My 2 brothers are my parents natural kids. Yes I am the youngest AND the baby~you know I AM a Daddy's girl! This is one of my favorite holiday memories and one of my favorite childhood memories because it reminds me how much my Daddy loved me so much. It remind me of how how special he was. Also his much he made sure to show me how he was going to make the best out of the holidays for me and not leave me out of anything. I CAN'T think of many Daddy's out there who will hand deliver Santa Claus to their daughters but he did! It's OVER 50 years now~I turned 59 in October. I still absolutely love this memory of US AND MY very own firetruck Santa Claus.
      😉🎅💜🥰🎄🚒😎 #NYGenXBIKERLady #DaddysGirlFOREVER #EastMeadowFD #EngineCompany2 #HomeOfTHEBOYS #WW2ArmyAirCorpsMPsKid

    • @heathermichael3987
      @heathermichael3987 10 месяцев назад +1

      I’m from the north , like the North north , is someone gave me fruit I would be offended and if their were like animals in our church , it would be the drama of the next 100 years.

  • @zzydny
    @zzydny 11 месяцев назад +208

    Our little town is one of those places where there are "parade throws"--in other words, the parade riders throw goodies to you. Well, the weather was really BAD--cold and rainy--during one Christmas season so there was absolutely nobody watching on the parade route. Since I was tending a friend's store (no customers in that weather) that was on the parade route so I went outside to see Santa go by (yes, on a fire truck). And since I was the ONLY person out there, everyone riding on the parade threw everything at me. I was absolutely pelted with candy, leftover Mardi Gras beads, Christmas ornaments, and who knows what else. As I recall, Santa hit me with a small stuffed animal. I filled a whole paper sack with that stuff. It was the best Christmas parade ever.....even if I was the only one watching. Nice to know I wasn't on the naughty list. Not to sure about that cranky Santa, though.

    • @peachykeen7634
      @peachykeen7634 11 месяцев назад +10

      I’m DYING 😂 OMG hilarious

    • @profaneangel2556
      @profaneangel2556 11 месяцев назад +10

      Awesome!
      I came from a parade throws town too. No parade is worth going to if they aren't throwing beads and moon pies. I couldn't understand the macy"s parade hoopla. They weren't throwing random items from dollar tree.

    • @zzydny
      @zzydny 11 месяцев назад +7

      @@profaneangel2556An old friend of my mother's went to the Macy's parade back in the 70's but she had never been to a parade outside of NOLA before. She was jumping up and down hollering "Throw me something, Mister!" for a good few minutes before she realized that no one else was doing that and that there was nothing to catch. She was really embarrassed. 🤣

    • @oneofmany7051
      @oneofmany7051 11 месяцев назад +8

      We started going to a Christmas parade in a neighboring County (in Tennessee) in 2021 that is the first Saturday in December. For the last 3 years we have gone, it has always rained at some point either before or during the parade and all the candy lands on a wet road or in puddles of dirty water (yum). In 2021, a lot of the candy we collected from the parade was the clearance candy from the previous Valentines Day and Halloween. Of course, that didn't stop my kids from eating it as long as it didn't land directly in a puddle.😅 And it was that very time that I knew this parade would become a new family tradition. 😊

    • @SusanHarrell530
      @SusanHarrell530 11 месяцев назад +1

      ​@@peachykeen7634That's taking the Lord's name in vain.

  • @EthanHyland
    @EthanHyland 11 месяцев назад +486

    OMG. I went with Mom and my little sister to Chick-fil-A a few days ago and Santa came in on a firetruck. I am glad that the people at Chick-fil-A arranged that.

    • @donjackson5522
      @donjackson5522 11 месяцев назад +18

      Shouldn’t Chick-fil-A have Jesus on that truck?

    • @EthanHyland
      @EthanHyland 11 месяцев назад +7

      @@donjackson5522 True.

    • @imghoti
      @imghoti 11 месяцев назад +21

      Maybe Jesus was Santa's co-pilot!
      Jesus, take the reins!

    • @frzstat
      @frzstat 11 месяцев назад +22

      @@donjackson5522 Jesus is on the Rescue Truck - 'cause you know, Jesus Saves!

    • @papajiggly
      @papajiggly 11 месяцев назад +13

      @@donjackson5522 Clearly Santa had Jesus take the wheel.

  • @kmstins
    @kmstins 11 месяцев назад +36

    Santa on a fire truck was a northern thing too. One year when I was a kid and stuck inside with a case of tonsillitis, Santa saw me looking out of our living room window. That kind gentleman climbed down off the truck and came to our front door to give me some candy. I still cherish such a fond memory. 🥰🚒🎅🍬🤗🤍

    • @ChibiPanda8888
      @ChibiPanda8888 11 месяцев назад +1

      Aww that's an awesome memory.

  • @rhondagentry2170
    @rhondagentry2170 11 месяцев назад +10

    I am 62 years old. I lived in an upstairs room over my grandpa's general store in the NC foothills during my preschool years. Santa riding on a red fire truck would come thru my rural small town giving paper bags of treats to children. Our town was not big enough for a parade, but there was a fire truck. Santa even came into my upstairs apt. room to see me and my sisters one year when it was too cold to meet him outside. 🎅🎄🚒

  • @subagon
    @subagon 11 месяцев назад +57

    Sixty years ago when I was a little boy, I got to ride on the fire truck with Santa.

    • @cindy844
      @cindy844 11 месяцев назад +3

      ❤❤❤

  • @christineh14
    @christineh14 11 месяцев назад +213

    At our town’s Christmas parade a couple of weeks ago we had the Grinch riding on the Animal Control truck. I guess they finally got him. Also a local pest control company had someone dressed in a cockroach costume riding on one of their trucks. Nothing says Christmas in the South like cockroaches.

    • @asdisskagen6487
      @asdisskagen6487 11 месяцев назад +31

      Sad, but true. "Palmetto" bugs my ass; those are cockroaches that fly.

    • @ursaltydog
      @ursaltydog 11 месяцев назад

      Have they made their way to Tennessee? Are they like a big ole beetle? I've had to air lift those hummers outta my kitchen where they've come in to die... @@asdisskagen6487

    • @LabCat
      @LabCat 11 месяцев назад +21

      @@asdisskagen6487 Palmetto bugs are the closest thing I ever want to get to Australian wildlife.

    • @asdisskagen6487
      @asdisskagen6487 11 месяцев назад +9

      @@LabCat SAME 😂

    • @sandracheeks1811
      @sandracheeks1811 11 месяцев назад +17

      I laughed out loud at the mental image of the Grinch on the animal control truck 😂

  • @lewiemcneely9143
    @lewiemcneely9143 11 месяцев назад +8

    I was a Santa Claus chauffeur on a fire truck years ago. I got a picture of me on his lap too and I was 6'2" hillbilly Nam vet! God Bless Your Hearts!

  • @kd1841
    @kd1841 11 месяцев назад +383

    I love the last line “It’s kinda like the North Pole, but we shoot the deer”. You helped me smile and laugh today! 🦌❤😂 Merry Christmas Matt!!

    • @pamelar5868
      @pamelar5868 11 месяцев назад +2

      😂😂😂😂❤

    • @emeraldtidesoutdoors
      @emeraldtidesoutdoors 11 месяцев назад +4

      The ending was perfect!

    • @ericpaul4575
      @ericpaul4575 11 месяцев назад +4

      What do you think all the elves and Santa eat. Got to keep the reindeer population under control.

  • @talklikeahick2u877
    @talklikeahick2u877 11 месяцев назад +90

    The oranges got me. I’m old and remember back when I was little there was always fruit in my stocking. Fruit, socks, underwear, and candy that had mysteriously been on the dining table the day before😂

    • @lagoya
      @lagoya 11 месяцев назад +1

      Lol

    • @bethshadid2087
      @bethshadid2087 11 месяцев назад +7

      At least your socks were in the stocking...mid to late 70s we used our clean socks as the stocking and couple years my parents used clean longjohn pants as theirs 😂😂😂

    • @talklikeahick2u877
      @talklikeahick2u877 11 месяцев назад +8

      @@bethshadid2087 Dad’s socks were our stockings haha

    • @eggsman63
      @eggsman63 11 месяцев назад +5

      That skit literally made me remember the year where my grandfather brought three bags of oranges to a white elephant gift exchange. OMG that was amazing

    • @wendyduncan9084
      @wendyduncan9084 11 месяцев назад +5

      Oranges, peppermint stick, brand new pair of socks, silver dollar. That was the gift from my great grandparents every year. One year my daddy explained that those were extravagant gifts when my Mamaw and Papaw were young. 💚 Good memories.

  • @markintexas3030
    @markintexas3030 11 месяцев назад +137

    As a Texan, I’ve greatly enjoyed any number of Christmas tamales over the years, but I have to say, Christmas shrimp and grits does sound pretty awesome.

    • @zchris87v80
      @zchris87v80 11 месяцев назад +1

      Love to see a christmas tamales recipe. I only do cast iron steak and watch die hard on Christmas day (shrimp and grits is in my arsenal, just never done it on Christmas)

    • @mattkuhn6634
      @mattkuhn6634 11 месяцев назад +11

      I'm from Texas too, but my relatives are from Louisiana, so I get tamales and jambalaya. It's a win-win!

    • @mattkuhn6634
      @mattkuhn6634 11 месяцев назад +10

      ​@@zchris87v80 They're just normal tamales, it's not a special christmas recipe. Essentially everyone's abuelita gets half the entire family together to make tamales, and the leftovers are greatly appreciated by us gringos.

    • @TrixRN
      @TrixRN 11 месяцев назад +4

      @@mattkuhn6634 Tamales & gumbo here.😁

    • @davidhoffman1278
      @davidhoffman1278 11 месяцев назад

      No tamales.
      Turkey, cheese, and baked bean burritos with "stuffing".

  • @NoPowerintheVerse
    @NoPowerintheVerse 11 месяцев назад +281

    Oh my goodness you killed me with the small church arguing about the cost of the new carpet. For 7 years, my dad tried to talk the church into getting a shed, and the number of times they argued about the price was insane. To date, they still don’t have that shed.😂

    • @StormtrooperPrincess
      @StormtrooperPrincess 11 месяцев назад +21

      I am on our church council, and our current $ discussion is updating the kitchen. Hoo, boy, do some of them have grandiose ideas about what we need...

    • @dagneytaggart7707
      @dagneytaggart7707 11 месяцев назад +21

      ​@@StormtrooperPrincessToo much HGTV. People start believing the fantasy.

    • @beckyowens2586
      @beckyowens2586 11 месяцев назад +17

      @@StormtrooperPrincess I just want a hood for the stove. Had a brother bring a "smokeless" flat top to make sliders. His sliders are, in fact, amazing, but the kitchen looked like Batman did a smoke bomb vanish by the time we got done.

    • @StormtrooperPrincess
      @StormtrooperPrincess 11 месяцев назад +15

      @@beckyowens2586 We NEED an updated fire suppression system, and a more modern stove & oven. People are talking about adding walk-in refrigerators and freezers. They'll "be cheaper than getting a standalone freezer" says the man who doesn't cook ever.

    • @gunsgalore7571
      @gunsgalore7571 11 месяцев назад +11

      Church drama is crazy. I live in east-central Texas and I'm a Catholic, and the way the Catholic churches work around here is there's a Polish church, a German church, a Mexican church, and a Czech church. If you're not one of those, you're automatically Baptist, except for me. I've been going to the Polish church for about 15 years and my opinion still isn't squat on anything at all.

  • @dee-taylor
    @dee-taylor 11 месяцев назад +34

    Every Christmas my family and I gather around the basement door for the tornado warning. We've decorated the door very nicely. It's a very festive way to run for your life.

    • @TheOReport1994
      @TheOReport1994 11 месяцев назад +2

      I remember my family having to wake up my great aunt, (originally from Alabama, who was visiting), to a Christmas eve tornado watch in central Texas. When we woke her up, she humoured us, but I don't think she really believed us until she could see the horizontal rain passing by our windows and see the radar, even though she was half deaf and half blind at that point. The sirens were blaring from straight winds and everything!
      I remember it feeling weird to be standing next to the Christmas tree, but be looking at the tv, to see tornadoes on the radar at the same time. Texas. **sigh**
      Since her passing, I always remember my great aunt at Christmas, and the time when a tornado almost got us all! (Though honestly, if a tornado had gotten us that night, it would probably have taken out my entire family, but magically swerve around my great aunt, leaving her behind as a most talkative, observant witness for the news. . . . she'd tell EVERYBODY about it, probably have her own hour long news special about it.🙃

    • @bieuxyongson
      @bieuxyongson 10 месяцев назад

      😂😂😂

  • @LabCat
    @LabCat 11 месяцев назад +101

    Matt, don't forget the mixed nuts still in the shell. I'm not sure if it was just a '70s - 80s thing, but one of my ingrained Christmas memories is emptying my stocking... to find walnuts, Hershey kisses, and fruit. And if I was lucky, a Matchbox car (because Hot Wheels were the work of the devil).

    • @timmholl9238
      @timmholl9238 11 месяцев назад

      Wife inherited a crystal hors d'oeuvre dish for the mixed nuts still in the shell after my mother-in-law passed away. I had no idea that's what the dish was for when it was first brought out in December.

    • @Darapsa
      @Darapsa 11 месяцев назад +1

      Why are Hot Wheels the work of the devil? I never heard that before.

    • @LittleRockVol
      @LittleRockVol 11 месяцев назад

      Hot wheels can lead to hot chicks, and you know... IDK, just guessing here ​@@Darapsa

    • @Darapsa
      @Darapsa 11 месяцев назад

      Please, please tell me why Hot Wheels are evil. I could not find anything anywhere about this. My family always preferred Hot Wheels because matchbox never won any races we held and HW had way better designs.

    • @OkRennie11
      @OkRennie11 11 месяцев назад +1

      An apple, an orange, a handful of mixed nuts, and hard candy (both wrapped and hard ribbon candy)

  • @donaldrice1867
    @donaldrice1867 11 месяцев назад +8

    One of the towns around me mixes it up. Instead of riding in the fire truck, he is in a bass boat on a trailer.

  • @vickyschieman2694
    @vickyschieman2694 11 месяцев назад +53

    Suddenly I'm feeling proud of my small Northern town that had Santa arrive in town sitting in a sleigh...which was atop a flat bed being pulled by an oversize pickup truck.

    • @frzstat
      @frzstat 11 месяцев назад +3

      🦌🦌🦌🦌🎅 awesome!

    • @donjackson5522
      @donjackson5522 11 месяцев назад +4

      🦌🦌🦌🦌🛻

    • @kmarch6630
      @kmarch6630 11 месяцев назад

      Happy to hear rednecks are everywhere. I'm sure everybody loved it though, just like Southern rednecks do.

    • @bobbyanderson8647
      @bobbyanderson8647 11 месяцев назад +2

      U damn near south

    • @Giles29
      @Giles29 11 месяцев назад +1

      The very first time I went to see Santa in my small town in the Missouri Ozarks, he came in on a fire truck. Unfortunately, I was a sensitive kid and it scared the bejesus out of me - so much in fact that I feared Santa for years after that.

  • @aidentg05
    @aidentg05 11 месяцев назад +38

    Will never experience a white Christmas but have indeed experienced a tornado warning 😂

    • @random2829
      @random2829 11 месяцев назад

      The closest we had to a white Christmas was that big hail storm! We just pretended it was "snow". 😀

    • @cindy844
      @cindy844 11 месяцев назад +1

      If you live 'just north enough,' you can get either one

    • @asdisskagen6487
      @asdisskagen6487 11 месяцев назад +3

      In southwestern VA, we have been blessed with "Thundersnow" which is exactly what it sounds like; a snowstorm accompanied by thunder. 😳

    • @cindy844
      @cindy844 11 месяцев назад

      @@asdisskagen6487 I'm probably right below you, geographically

    • @aidentg05
      @aidentg05 11 месяцев назад +3

      @@cindy844 middle GA so I haven’t experienced snow since around 2011. I don’t count sleet or ice which we get every 3 years or so.

  • @32fps
    @32fps 11 месяцев назад +65

    Hey now, you *can* get a Christmas miracle every once in awhile. When I lived in Biloxi, MS it snowed on Christmas Eve. Even stuck to the ground overnight. It was so magical, I still remember running out into the street with my brother at night dancing around in it... My mom was deployed to the middle east at the time, I was so sad she missed it, but I also took it as a sign she'd come home safely.
    Granted this was over twenty years ago now... So, probably unlikely to happen again. But ya never know :)

    • @NicoleK8
      @NicoleK8 11 месяцев назад +4

      I was likely in the area when that happened! Did the gulf freeze a bit too? I have a distinct memory of the beach birds slipping and sliding over the ice, extremely confused about why they couldn't get into the water!

    • @robertlampkin9954
      @robertlampkin9954 11 месяцев назад +3

      My parents, sister, and niece lived in Gulfport then. I went down from North Mississippi and was the envy of all my friends (really they were kind of peeved), because I had a White Christmas, and they didn't 😅

    • @32fps
      @32fps 11 месяцев назад

      @@NicoleK8 I can't remember if the Gulf froze - we lived on the Air Force base so maybe the back bay did? But those were all high ranking officers' houses that were along the waterfront, I think my mom was only a Captain at that point so sadly I don't remember anything like that. But that's absolutely hilarious, I wish I'd seen it! 😆

    • @32fps
      @32fps 11 месяцев назад

      @@robertlampkin9954 haha I love that! I just still remember this happening because we'd moved from Ohio to Mississippi and I was just getting used to the idea of "this place doesn't get snow" when, of all days, it snowed on Christmas Eve. It was just so... Magical ☺️ lucky you got to experience it too! I never realized it didn't happen up north; the irony, ammiright? Lol

    • @jp00423mk
      @jp00423mk 11 месяцев назад

      I remember that!

  • @lorenstribling6096
    @lorenstribling6096 11 месяцев назад +5

    I remember as a child when my hometown (pop. 500) got its first Christmas decorations. A larger town just up the road bought new decorations and gave the old ones to us. We were all AMAZED.

    • @TheOReport1994
      @TheOReport1994 11 месяцев назад

      Bless their hearts! Unless the decorations were ugly, but then I suppose the thought still counts. 🤪

  • @chauvettes
    @chauvettes 11 месяцев назад +19

    For the record, my family and I were living in Galveston in 2002 when as to my wondering eyes should appear, 6 inches of snow on Christmas Eve into Christmas Day. Better was that it lasted about 3 days and one of our neighbors made a full-size northern-type snowman!

  • @benjie128
    @benjie128 11 месяцев назад +18

    One of the local animal shelters had gracious donator pay for all adoption fees waived, and offered for a $100 donation, that special kitten or puppy could be delievered by santa and an elf on christmas eve

    • @asdisskagen6487
      @asdisskagen6487 11 месяцев назад +5

      Awww. Hopefully, those pets get a good forever home.

  • @lizgreer6888
    @lizgreer6888 11 месяцев назад +2

    I live in Massachusetts and Santa came to the town tree lighting ceremony on a fire truck. No parades here though, just huge trees with an absurd amount of lights and ornaments.

  • @kdfleming2
    @kdfleming2 11 месяцев назад +15

    We have 19 lighted reindeer. When my husband is through decorating, I worry a plane is going to think we’re part of the landing strip. 🎉 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and yours.

  • @PixieYelsraek
    @PixieYelsraek 11 месяцев назад +7

    We have Santa on fire trucks here in NJ too. Pretty sure that's an everywhere thing... Well, except the places where it's Santa on a boat.

  • @kle2videoproductions
    @kle2videoproductions 11 месяцев назад +5

    I grew up a Southern Baptist, a business meeting meant somebody was getting fired.

  • @Joshudan64
    @Joshudan64 11 месяцев назад +63

    Santa Claus on a firetruck is also a big deal in small Northeastern towns. As a kid I thought it was because that was the closest thing to a sleigh they could get, until I found out (at least in my town) it was to keep kids and drunk parents from rushing Santa.

    • @fmbray_
      @fmbray_ 11 месяцев назад +4

      Santa is a hot target in December. Gotta keep him out of harm's way.

    • @CSIPiper
      @CSIPiper 11 месяцев назад +3

      THAT’S WHYYYYyyyy??? 🤦🏻‍♀️ I thought the same thing about the sled 🛷 🚒 I’m questioning my entire reality rn. What else have I been wrong about all these years??

    • @wmbookworm96
      @wmbookworm96 11 месяцев назад +4

      In my town the fire dept. are the ones who do the parade. Like it’s the Fire Dept. Christmas Parade and Santa is played by a guy who used to be the fire chief, so that’s why Santa is on a fire truck where I live 😅

    • @CSIPiper
      @CSIPiper 11 месяцев назад +1

      @@wmbookworm96 it’s not a real Christmas parade without a drunk Santa 🎅🏻 #traditions

    • @Giles29
      @Giles29 11 месяцев назад +1

      @@CSIPiper I've never seen our Santa drunk, but he sure does ride the fire truck.

  • @scimasterJ
    @scimasterJ 11 месяцев назад +5

    I actually had to do a double-take on that Christmas parade image just to see if it was my hometown Main Street. Then I remembered that's what ALL small towns in the South look like.

  • @PastorK4Noles
    @PastorK4Noles 11 месяцев назад +54

    Haha, I'm a youth pastor at a small church, and Matt, you hit the nail on the head with that. My daughter and her husband live in Dahlonega, and we make sure to come down to see the lights there. Merry Christmas and God blessings to you and your family!

    • @jcheatham
      @jcheatham 11 месяцев назад +5

      We live in Dahlonega and do Christmas big! Also, we had a white Christmas in 2020 up here in the north Georgia mountains - pretty crazy.

    • @theinvisibleswordsman1196
      @theinvisibleswordsman1196 11 месяцев назад +1

      Love that both of you can spell that town's name! See, Southern literacy is a thing. Just a different thing.

    • @PastorK4Noles
      @PastorK4Noles 11 месяцев назад +1

      @jcheatham we're in Blairsville, and yes, we had an amazing white Christmas in 2020.

  • @random2829
    @random2829 11 месяцев назад +20

    A Christmas Navel or Satsuma was ALWAYS a treat! Nothing like shucking a sack of oysters on Christmas Eve. 😀

  • @Janet-in-the-attic
    @Janet-in-the-attic 11 месяцев назад +72

    OMG! Santa driving down the road on a random Saturday is so on point! We would hear the firetruck horn and jump up to run outside to the dirt road and wave and shout and have Santa (and sometimes Mrs. Claus) on the firetruck pelt us with candy. I thought it was just some weird thing that only happened here. When I'd tell people "in town" about it they would just stare.

    • @TheOReport1994
      @TheOReport1994 11 месяцев назад

      "When I'd tell people "in town" about it they would just stare."
      Don't worry about it, they weren't on the right list, so they never saw Santa. 😉

  • @mommatanya1
    @mommatanya1 11 месяцев назад +2

    Oh! You nailed it. Especially the broken city light display. We have electric light candy canes with 50% of the lights burned out.

  • @DougBolden
    @DougBolden 11 месяцев назад +4

    I appreciate this hard-hitting documentary style format. "Yeah, yeah, that checks out."

  • @standdownrobots_ihaveoldglory
    @standdownrobots_ihaveoldglory 10 месяцев назад +2

    Montana has most of that AND beautiful snowy Christmases, if you like all the kinds of people, please come live here, we need people...

  • @littleshu1
    @littleshu1 11 месяцев назад +54

    Wonderful! Instead of Fire Truck Santa, we here in Grangeville, Idaho have "Back of the Parade Float" Santa who travels around town with a PA system that offers Christmas carols as he rides along on many of our chilly Idaho nights. Our neighbor kids never miss getting outside to see him roll by! Thanks for sharing your Southern Christmas fun with us! It is indeed the "Spirit of the Season."

    • @zenobiaw831
      @zenobiaw831 11 месяцев назад +3

      I like the lake santa, on the other side of lake CDL. 😊

  • @VisionMusicWorks
    @VisionMusicWorks 11 месяцев назад +6

    I was in high school in the late 80s…and we were selling oranges even back then in the marching band in Georgia! Every. Year! 😄
    🍊🍊🍊

  • @ericepperson8409
    @ericepperson8409 11 месяцев назад +2

    In Katy, TX the Fire Department would drive around Neighborhoods with Santa on the Fire truck. You had to check Face Book to find out when they would come through your neighborhood. The first year I thought the whole neighborhood was burning down.

    • @angelao6711
      @angelao6711 11 месяцев назад

      Same here in Round Rock.

  • @AB2B
    @AB2B 11 месяцев назад +25

    I met Santa *and* Mrs. Claus at the local Food Depot a few days ago. They were all dolled up in their finest North Pole wear, sitting on the bench at the front door, hanging out and chatting with whoever stopped to say hello. I didn't see the firetruck bring them, and I'm guessing the fire truck showed up to get them after I left.

    • @mommy2libras
      @mommy2libras 11 месяцев назад +3

      Was it really them or was it that one couple in your town that looks so much like Mr and Mrs Clause that they just dress like that all the time (even if for 9 months it's khaki shorts and some manner of Christmassy looking Hawaiian style shirt) and around December they just start hanging out in public all the time because everyone pays attention to them? Cause we have those here too. Though I'm in the Florida panhandle so you're just as likely to see them at the beach, white hair glowing and matching green thongs.

    • @donjackson5522
      @donjackson5522 11 месяцев назад

      With visions of Santa in a thong now stuck in my head.

  • @detranewhouse5341
    @detranewhouse5341 11 месяцев назад +3

    Aww he gave us a shout out - Grapevine, TX!

  • @Mazzus21
    @Mazzus21 11 месяцев назад +7

    As a New Jersey native, it always kills me a little when there's no real snow down here (GA) during December. I miss it so much. But, based on how Georgia has handled slight sprinklings in the past, the entire state would enter DefCon5 if we got any real snow.
    Also, thank you everyone for supporting your local marching bands and our fundraisers. We, too, wish we didn't have to do stuff like this to raise funds for our programs but alas...

  • @kimmcnatt6301
    @kimmcnatt6301 11 месяцев назад +30

    We had the fire truck with Santa stop by our house last night! 😂
    Love living in the South! Merry Christmas 🎄

  • @MrGruffteddybear
    @MrGruffteddybear 11 месяцев назад +15

    I can relate to most of these. Especially the apples and oranges in my stocking. I grew up in Oklahoma raised by transplanted Yankees from New York. 😂

  • @jesusperez3672
    @jesusperez3672 11 месяцев назад +2

    As a Texan. We rarely get snow, but we do celebrate Christmas Eve and celebrate till 4 in the morning. We’re making Mexican tamales in Texas with my fam bc we do a lot.

  • @mysongs740
    @mysongs740 11 месяцев назад +9

    My daughter was in the marching band and sold the citrus fruit. I have to say, I love the Florida Indian River fruit. 😂

  • @helenel4126
    @helenel4126 11 месяцев назад +19

    Oh my gosh - I laughed from start to finish. The Christmas Parade. The live animals - or not. The ambrosia. The schools our church kids attend haven't done oranges in awhile (too healthy?) they push popcorn (years ago, my daughter's school pushed cookie dough, that had more chemicals than a Pfizer pharma factory).

  • @Orangeyoshis
    @Orangeyoshis 11 месяцев назад +12

    My mom always got the oranges and other treats from whatever church Christmas play we attended and put them in our stockings. She somehow managed to do with without us realizing where it came from lol.

  • @simplyvalen
    @simplyvalen 11 месяцев назад +10

    This is too accurate, especially the Santa on a firetruck and treating Christmas as a Thanksgiving sequel.

  • @mattnason4762
    @mattnason4762 11 месяцев назад +9

    Some towns down here really know how to do it right; they don't actually take down the Christmas decorations. Ever. They just light 'em up right after Thanksgiving.

    • @asdisskagen6487
      @asdisskagen6487 11 месяцев назад +2

      I have lived in several festive neighborhoods where most (if not all) neighbors leave their lights up year 'round and just turn them on for various holidays. 😂

    • @CaminoTurtle
      @CaminoTurtle 11 месяцев назад

      My favorite tree that stayed up all year was in Fairhope, Alabama where they just took the Christmas ornaments off in January and put on Mardi Gras beads with purple, green, and gold ornaments. Then eggs for Easter and red/white/blue patriotic for May through September. It was so festive and fun.

  • @hoperemsen6335
    @hoperemsen6335 11 месяцев назад +1

    So very accurate! My husband is a retired 1st Responder. As a child our daughter got to ride in our small town Christmas parade on the fire truck with Santa. She also rode several years in various convertibles because she was a winner or runner-up in several beauty pageants such as the "Little Pine Seedling" with Miss Pine pageant winner - yep that's a thing - "Little Miss" Lincoln Co to the Miss LC, etc. , In small towns lil girls for these contests are at a premium. But not a toddlers/tiaras sitch & it was all for charity so...
    Also, it was so warm inour part of Georgia (2hrs from Dahlonega) we ran the a/c. Last year, it was 15°. You must be mentally and wardrobe prepared to wear either shorts & sandals or boots and scarves...maybe within 24 hrs. Merry Christmas from Georgia!

  • @bygodfreeman
    @bygodfreeman 11 месяцев назад +7

    The oranges thing hits pretty hard, even for us northern mid-west folks.

  • @russrollins9978
    @russrollins9978 11 месяцев назад +8

    I feel lucky. In my family, Ambrosia was made with whipped cream, not mayonnaise.

    • @asdisskagen6487
      @asdisskagen6487 11 месяцев назад +1

      I'm glad you said something; I was beginning to get paranoid that I've been making ambrosia wrong my whole life. 😂

    • @indigobunting5041
      @indigobunting5041 11 месяцев назад

      The few times I had ambrosia it was made with whipped cream. For a long time I didn't know some people made it with mayo. Never tasted it that way, sounds strange to me.

    • @debgordon6542
      @debgordon6542 11 месяцев назад

      Its not bad but it actually calls for Miracle Whip. I'd rather have the whipped cream

  • @armandfleming2371
    @armandfleming2371 11 месяцев назад +5

    This is so true! Santa is popping into random local shops in my town (south Alabama), and he's already had his fire truck ride in the Christmas parade.

  • @Janet-in-the-attic
    @Janet-in-the-attic 11 месяцев назад +13

    This is so perfect I had to share here in South Carolina. Thank you Matt!

  • @jeffkadlec8264
    @jeffkadlec8264 11 месяцев назад +28

    I moved from the North a year ago, and I LOVE Alabama!!
    And this is so accurate!!! Every small town has a parade. It's crazy!!

    • @tracisnow4897
      @tracisnow4897 11 месяцев назад +6

      Welcome to Alabama!

    • @jeffkadlec8264
      @jeffkadlec8264 11 месяцев назад +2

      @@tracisnow4897 Thank you. It's everything we wanted, and more!!

    • @LynyrdSkynyrd.4Ever
      @LynyrdSkynyrd.4Ever 11 месяцев назад +9

      Please don't ruin Alabama by voting here the way people up north usually vote. 🤢

    • @jamescooley5744
      @jamescooley5744 11 месяцев назад +3

      Or California.

    • @9983sp
      @9983sp 11 месяцев назад +1

      Where at in Alabama, Roll Tide or War Eagle?

  • @teamfet3248
    @teamfet3248 11 месяцев назад +8

    In Texas the tamales will be wrapped in corn husks. If you want tamales wrapped in banana leaves like what is depicted in the video, you have to go to Mclard’s BBQ joint in Hot Springs Arkansas. Merry Christmas 🎄

  • @wendysmith2905
    @wendysmith2905 11 месяцев назад +8

    Every Christmas season, we would wait all day listening for firetruck sounds.... it either meant, Ethel is on fire, or Santa Claus is on that truck driving thru neighborhoods, tossing out candy!

  • @tarajernigan2353
    @tarajernigan2353 11 месяцев назад +7

    Wait for it... that last line was the best!

  • @Scavenger82
    @Scavenger82 11 месяцев назад +2

    "They spent at least two business meetings arguing about the cost of the new carpet in the sanctuary."
    😂 This is very, very accurate. Much love from Tennessee! ❤

    • @jimtaylor1045
      @jimtaylor1045 11 месяцев назад

      We had a full church vote about whether to buy the house adjacent to our church. Never mind the fact that the house was landlocked - that it the church owned ALL the land surrounding the house.

  • @sj4iy
    @sj4iy 11 месяцев назад +1

    Thank you so much for mentioning boiled custard! I’m from TN and that’s what I grew up on.

    • @Denise-ob8dk
      @Denise-ob8dk 10 месяцев назад

      What part of Tennessee for you? I'm from West Tennessee now I live in middle Tennessee.

    • @sj4iy
      @sj4iy 10 месяцев назад +1

      @@Denise-ob8dk middle Tennessee. I don’t live there anymore, but everytime I go back for the holidays, I go out looking for it.

  • @Wolverines77
    @Wolverines77 11 месяцев назад +1

    Oranges, apples, and nuts are traditional gifts given to friends and companies you do business with. I spent 13 years living in Germany during the 70's and 80's. My last Christmas in Germany, I was a 21 year old working as an Asst. F&B Manager at an American Armed Forces Recreation Resort about 50 miles southeast of Munich. During the week leading up to Christmas, we ceived at least 40 crates of oranges and a few dozen apples and nuts as gifts from all of our civilian delivery companies. We gave every employee a full paper grocery bag full of those. It was craziness because we had our normal order of those fruits for our guests and employee's delivered during that week...

  • @angelag669
    @angelag669 11 месяцев назад +1

    I live in Mobile, AL but I went to school in Tuscaloosa, AL (Roll Tide!). The drive between the two was mostly 2 lane highway and went through a dozen or so small towns. It never failed, no matter what day I came home for Christmas, I was stopped in the little town of Linden, AL for the Christmas parade. I just got out of the car and went up to the parade to watch Santa come down the street in a fire truck. When the parade was over, went back to car and on my way again. Good times.

  • @ForeverAlone3
    @ForeverAlone3 11 месяцев назад +11

    My god, this is so incredibly accurate. Especially the Christmas parade.

  • @jordanalmond3458
    @jordanalmond3458 11 месяцев назад +1

    Aw I love that you mentioned Dahlonega! My parents live close to that town and they really do go all out for Christmas. And my husband and I would always find ourselves at Waffle House on Christmas morning for breakfast. We live in Chicago now and are ready to come back to Gods country!

  • @eaglescout1984
    @eaglescout1984 11 месяцев назад +26

    The Santa on a firetruck thing isn't just a southern thing. I was visiting in-laws in northern New Jersey of all places and Santa just casually strolls into the neighborhood riding a firetruck.
    And that first item is the biggest difference between a "southern" Christmas and an "Appalachian" Christmas. Snow is always a possibility, and the chances of a White Christmas goes from like 1% in the foothills to 100% at the top of Mount Mitchell.

    • @donjackson5522
      @donjackson5522 11 месяцев назад +5

      Santa on a fire truck in NJ goes around saying “yo-yo-yo”.
      On Paulie, on Petey, on Tony and Stevie. On Nunzio, on Louie, on Vinny and Scungili.

    • @sharonsmith583
      @sharonsmith583 11 месяцев назад

      Santa cruising around random neighborhoods in small northern Jersey towns is such a thing. Don't remember that growing up in Middle Georgia but there was ALWAYS Santa on the firetruck for the parade.

    • @wendyduncan9084
      @wendyduncan9084 11 месяцев назад

      I fairness Mount Mitchell is freezing even in August. Don’t they close it from October to April?

  • @gladser7401
    @gladser7401 11 месяцев назад +5

    Matt, that ending was priceless! Thank you.

  • @John_Locke_108
    @John_Locke_108 11 месяцев назад +1

    My town up in Connecticut does Santa On A Truck. They did it yesterday. The firetruck drives down all the streets and Santa tosses you popcorn balls.

  • @TenohHikari
    @TenohHikari 11 месяцев назад +8

    As someone who has lived a majority of their life in the south. These videos are facts 😆

  • @gavinstrawn6833
    @gavinstrawn6833 11 месяцев назад +13

    Still haven't made it to a full on Southern Christmas, but I have had a birthday party at a Waffle House.

  • @asdisskagen6487
    @asdisskagen6487 11 месяцев назад +4

    Our neighborhood houses the extended family of the mayor. Every year, "Santa on a Firetruck" makes a housecall to our street so we don't even have to leave our porch. Our kids get a kick out of Santa throwing cheap candy. 😂😂😂

  • @04straw
    @04straw 11 месяцев назад +10

    Another home run, Matt! Thank you! 👍

  • @JimNedCreek
    @JimNedCreek 11 месяцев назад +9

    We Celebrate and Rejoice in The Birth of OUR Lord and Savior Jesus.
    Christ Is King
    ✝️☦️🇺🇸☦️✝️
    Merry Christmas and
    God Save The South !

    • @cindy844
      @cindy844 11 месяцев назад

      God save the world ❤

  • @corneliusdansbyjr6165
    @corneliusdansbyjr6165 11 месяцев назад +6

    Even in the midwestern states of Kansas and Missouri these are facts 😂

  • @_Devil
    @_Devil 11 месяцев назад +5

    If any of you missed Santa on the firetruck, while Ace is a good place to start looking, I recommend going to Cracker Barrel. You're guaranteed to find him there ordering the baked potato and Mac and cheese

  • @ritasmith9553
    @ritasmith9553 11 месяцев назад +4

    Merry Christmas, Matt! Matt and FAMILY! Love you!

  • @msnostil
    @msnostil 11 месяцев назад +2

    We love u matt....merry Christmas to you & ur kin...roll tide😊

  • @masonpyle5929
    @masonpyle5929 11 месяцев назад +3

    I live in a small Florida county and I recently got a flash flood and the Christmas parades are exact like you said.

  • @michelledenise5096
    @michelledenise5096 11 месяцев назад +3

    In Pennsylvania Santa still comes the second Saturday morning before Christmas on the fire truck, sirens screaming, through all the streets and courts in the township!

  • @Mg0936
    @Mg0936 11 месяцев назад +2

    I can confirm here in Arkansas it’s supposed to rain all day with a high of 65 on Christmas 😅

  • @greggsplaylist
    @greggsplaylist 11 месяцев назад +2

    The oranges reminds me of when I was kid. We would go to my grandmas church and watch the Christmas program and they would give the kids a brown paper bag filled a quarter full with peanuts and an apple on top. This was in Nebraska so not peak orange season.

  • @justforfunny7674
    @justforfunny7674 11 месяцев назад +2

    Literally just went to the small town parade and saw santa on the fire truck on saturday and then had a flashflood festivus on Sunday! 😅
    My closest neighbor gets my trash can for Christmas because it floated over there from my yard. Enjoy that new can Virginia🤣

    • @asdisskagen6487
      @asdisskagen6487 11 месяцев назад +1

      Hey, those county sanitation trashcans aren't cheap! You are indeed a generous neighbor! 😂

    • @justforfunny7674
      @justforfunny7674 11 месяцев назад

      @@asdisskagen6487 😂You’re right! I need to get the rain boots on and go retrieve it! Also, the fact that you knew what kind of can it was tells me you also live in the country 🤣

  • @Giles29
    @Giles29 11 месяцев назад +1

    I think they used to have tamales at Christmas time here in Northeast Louisiana, but at least where I live no one seems to really make them any more.

  • @light-master
    @light-master 11 месяцев назад +6

    For towns that light up for Christmas, you should have mentioned Macon, GA. Huge Christmas light event with 10s of thousands of people walking around downtown each night to enjoy it.

  • @OTatime
    @OTatime 11 месяцев назад +1

    You will see at least one neighbor’s yard decorated with a nativity scene - including guest appearances by Santa and Frosty the Snowman. Maybe the Grinch lurking behind the manger.

    • @indigobunting5041
      @indigobunting5041 11 месяцев назад

      My parents house always has a nativity scene. This year my dad was considering getting a Grinch to put out as well. I'm not sure if he will go through with it, but he loves the Grinch.

  • @jenniferbates2811
    @jenniferbates2811 11 месяцев назад +8

    How cool! I'm in Rhode Island, so we usually have a white Christmas, but not always. Our mall Santa's have been posted up for a while now. Petsmart and Petco also have Santa there, too, for the pet pictures.
    We have Santa on a fire truck up here, too. Sometimes, there will be a grinch in another fire truck as well! I've never seen or tried ambrosia, but I do love the little Debbie Christmas tree snacks too!

    • @debgordon6542
      @debgordon6542 11 месяцев назад +2

      Ambrosia is delicious. Just don't add the mayo :-)

    • @jenniferbates2811
      @jenniferbates2811 11 месяцев назад +1

      @@debgordon6542 Wait....he wasn't joking about the Mayo?? I thought he was.

    • @vivilynnheath5107
      @vivilynnheath5107 11 месяцев назад +1

      The ambrosia that I grew up with was made with coconut, maraschino cherries, canned Mandarin oranges, pecans and sprinkled with a spoon or two of sugar. No mayo, salad dressing or whipped cream

    • @jenniferbates2811
      @jenniferbates2811 11 месяцев назад

      @vivilynnheath5107 Oh wow. So it's changed a bit with different generations.

  • @cade_hawkins55
    @cade_hawkins55 11 месяцев назад +7

    The one about Santa on fire trucks, Police, politicians, Church plays in Alabama all are so accurate

    • @jimtaylor1045
      @jimtaylor1045 11 месяцев назад

      Alcoa, TN puts their football team in a truck for the parade. Now like 9 state championships in a row.

  • @crappieflopadventures
    @crappieflopadventures 11 месяцев назад +1

    Small town Arkansas here, and I literally saw Santa in our local Edwards food giant 2 days ago lol, when he said that I lost it!

  • @jonathanheiser2618
    @jonathanheiser2618 11 месяцев назад +1

    Santa use to come through out neighborhood riding on a trailer... pulled by the fire truck pickup. Firetrucks were there too. Santa gave out candy canes.

  • @t0ad462
    @t0ad462 11 месяцев назад +4

    How timely! Santa rolled through the neighborhood just last night ... Yep, on a fire truck.

  • @samuellawrencesbookclub8250
    @samuellawrencesbookclub8250 11 месяцев назад +26

    The Christmas parade reminds me of what we do in my hometown here in the UK, just swap the emergency service vehicles for an endless stream of tractors, decorated with lights, beeping their horns to the tune of Christmas carols. Seriously, this year I saw fifty tractors, with police escort, cruising past my church after the carol service. You think Santa on a firetruck is weird, try Santa, two dozen elves, two dozen reindeer, and one guy who forgot to dress-up driving tractors through the middle of town. The whole thing took about half an hour to pass, and I swear it held up traffic for another two.
    I am fairly this is just something that happens in my hometown, I've never seen anything like it elsewhere, and I imagine other British people in the comments have no idea what I'm talking about.

    • @donjackson5522
      @donjackson5522 11 месяцев назад +8

      In Scotland that’s just Saturday night.

    • @tankman7711
      @tankman7711 11 месяцев назад +4

      ​@@donjackson5522 LMAO!!!

    • @kmarch6630
      @kmarch6630 11 месяцев назад +3

      Sounds fun!

    • @vickieleggett386
      @vickieleggett386 11 месяцев назад +3

      Wow!! Now that’s different, but I like it!!😂

    • @AlphaMR77
      @AlphaMR77 11 месяцев назад +1

      My farming home town in Cali did the same thing

  • @Jpear197
    @Jpear197 11 месяцев назад +1

    Here in northern New Jersey, Santa still comes by on a firetruck, sirens wailing.

  • @Robin-no8cu
    @Robin-no8cu 11 месяцев назад +3

    Same here, but in Aiken, SC, it’s with horses.

    • @amymahoney3513
      @amymahoney3513 11 месяцев назад

      York, South Carolina here ❤

  • @timmholl9238
    @timmholl9238 11 месяцев назад +1

    THAT explains why my wife and mother-in-law gift apples and oranges in stockings!

  • @erikthep6308
    @erikthep6308 11 месяцев назад +5

    I worked at Waffle House for a number of years, and I can confirm that Christmas morning is the busiest shift of the year. So many full extended families in their matching Christmas pajamas lining up out the door to squeeze 6 or 7 people into a 4 person booth to order their bacon and eggs Christmas breakfast.

  • @coffeyallday
    @coffeyallday 11 месяцев назад +3

    A year or two ago Kentucky had a white Christmas. And then the next day it was like 70

  • @robtooley4002
    @robtooley4002 11 месяцев назад

    We had Santa on a firetruck this year just driving through our neighborhood! There was a jeep following with costumed gingerbread men who tossed bags of candycanes and chocolates to the crowd. It's awesome.

  • @karensandberg6226
    @karensandberg6226 11 месяцев назад

    I live in Eastern Panhandle of WV and Santa comes through neighborhoods on a fire truck. I’m 62 and I still get excited. 🎄

  • @donovanlong648
    @donovanlong648 11 месяцев назад

    Can still remember the smell of my stockings at Christmas, oranges, apples, and candy canes!! Merry Christmas everyone!! God Bless.

  • @Will_Morand
    @Will_Morand 11 месяцев назад +3

    My hometown is so close to our next town over that they do one joint parade the first Saturday in December. And it includes just all the middle and high school marching bands and a large number of local Boy Scout troops just perched on a trailer pulled by one of the leader’s old Dodge’s. As someone who was both on one of those trailers for several years and watched them for several other years, it’s always a Dodge despite most leaders driving F-150s. That or they Jerry rigged the trailer to the church van and used that for the parade.

  • @Sylknmyst-s9s
    @Sylknmyst-s9s 11 месяцев назад

    Omg, “the light up reindeers look like they have mange” has me in tears!

  • @IdratherbeinHobbiton
    @IdratherbeinHobbiton 11 месяцев назад +9

    "But we shoot the deer" 😂

  • @anonymity1003
    @anonymity1003 11 месяцев назад +2

    This channel gives me all the JOY!