TACOMA, Wash — At Tacoma's Visitation Grade School Madeline Butterfield's kindergartners are getting in the spirit of the season, with colorful paper, scissors and glue.
“They've been so excited about coming all together and doing a fun holiday project,” Butterfield says.
It is fun and not just for the under seven set. The poster the kids are making is about to become one of 24 window decorations scattered around Tacoma's North End as part of a new program called Holiday Windows.
Organizer Brad Stave says think of the neighborhood as a giant advent calendar.
“Between December 1st and 24th--every single day-- a new window is revealed across Tacoma's North End,” says Stave, who got the idea in the UK where neighborhoods have been doing advent windows for years. “I thought to myself it would be great to see something like this in the Puget Sound.”
Stave recruited neighbors like Jacob Fisher to join in. Fisher painted a candle on his front window, with the help of some masking tape.
“I like the idea of light,” he says. “I think light is very important right now so a candle seemed like a natural fit.”
Ryan McDonald used colored tissue paper and a dry erase marker for his nativity scene on Union Street.
“I do like the fact that you can see it well from the street and the colors are pretty vibrant,” he says.
McDonald says the Holiday Windows program is turning the North End into a treasure hunt. There is a map on the Holiday Windows website.
“I think it encourages people to get out and go for a walk in the evening and look at these windows,” he says. “ At this time of the year, it gets dark and dreary so it's kind of fun to find something.”
There are windows offering peace and others offering joy. Sean Sullivan painted a Calvin and Hobbes Christmas image on his front window.
And now there's a new window decorated by those little hands in Miss Butterfield's class.
“It was important for me to add a little bit of happiness to our otherwise gloomy year,” she says. “Especially during the holidays.”
As 2020 comes to a close, Tacoma’s North End is offering some light at the end of the year.
“I hope they do it every year from here on out,” says McDonald. “I think it's a great tradition.”
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