Locals Share Their Holiday Traditions

Earlier this month, local residents attended the annual hoilday festival, with Santa visits, hayrides and holiday music. Since many folks have attended the event for years, we set out to see what other kinds of traditions they might keep.                                             

"For 19 years we have been having a toy drive for kids at Christmas," said retired Johnston resident Chris Giardina. "Approximately 1,500 toys are collected, then we have a wrapping party at the Johnston Senior Center and the toys are given to needy families that send us  letters."

Another  Johnston resident has holiday presents on her mind -- and she keeps track of who is naughty or nice.

"Right  after Thanksgiving I put an elf up and he reports back to Santa who is good or bad," explains Tarin Abbruzzi.

The holidays can be so stressful, with so many things to do, but the Georgio family has the perfect remedy.

"For one day we stay in our pajamas all day and watch Christmas movies," said Julie Georgio. "It's a nice break from shopping and wrapping, (and) last year it worked out great because it was during a snow storm."

While some people enjoy the winter season festivities, we found one resident who longs for her hometown's weather.

Danielle Catterson, formerly of Orange County, California and now a Johnston resident, said that during the holidays she and her family go to the beach with a fake palm tree.

Catterson wasn't the only one longing for warmer weather, as Johnston resident Gary Rianna and his son Zachary explained that they play baseball all year with the Rhode Island Reds.                                                                                                              

Visiting family and friends out of state figures into the planning of Tiffany Boyd, who travels to Frorida, and Christine Rei, who goes to New York City for the holiday.

As different as these traditions may be, they all have one thing in common: They all revolve around family and friends. And while some plans seem more involved that others, sometimes it's the simple traditions that work best.

"We go to Grandma's to eat and watch Christmas movies," said 10-year-old Tristian Bettencourt.