Around gilbert & summit

Some of the members of the Gilbert-Summit Senior Center shared their favorite Christmas memories with us. We enjoyed spending time with them and hearing their stories. We hope you enjoy their Christmas memories.

Martha Jones said she loved to spend Christmas with her great grandmother, Lilly Maroney. “Grandmother Maroney was my mom’s mother,” she said. “We would go there on Christmas day and spend the day with her.”

Jones said she loved her grandmother’s homemade biscuits. She said she had five brothers and two sisters and they all looked forward to putting honey or syrup on the warm biscuits.

“Grandmother Maroney was a good cook and we always enjoyed her Christmas dinner and opening our presents at her home.”

Margaret Frick said she always cooked dinner for the family on Christmas day. Her favorite memories are when her children were young and she enjoyed watching them open their presents. She remembers one Christmas it snowed and her children were so excited to play in the snow. Frick said she still hangs the five Christmas ornaments on her tree each year that her children gave to her.

Evelyn Gant said each Christmas she enjoys going to her niece’s home on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. “I eat dinner with them,” she said. She is thankful for their times together and has many good memories.

Jo Defloria  said her favorite memories are spending Christmas day with her children and grandchildren. “We would go to their homes when they were small and take them Christmas presents.” She said they are grown now, so those memories are special.

Sharon Boyce  tells us she is looks forward to Christmas each year because she goes to Florida. “I go there to spend time with my children and grandchildren. We have a big luncheon on Christmas day and I enjoy these times so much.”

 Beverly Swinson s  aid she had three brothers in service who were all stationed in Vietnam during the late 1960’s. She said her parents were not expecting any of them to be home on Christmas day. Just before Christmas her father received a surprise call to go to the airport and pick up her youngest brother. Her father was so happy to see him. Later that day, he received another surprise call to go and pick up his oldest son at the train station.

“That was two of my brother’s home for Christmas, but we were sad that my middle brother would not be there. Unknown to my parents, my middle brother had also been granted leave. Miraculously, my brother and a friend of his made it to our home at 1 am on Christmas morning. What a surprise it was to my parents and family. The impossible had happened and we were so happy they were home. It is my favorite Christmas memory” she said.

Jimmy Plemmons favorite memory was receiving a Lionel Train set for Christmas. He said he enjoyed hours of playing with it.

Mardon Collins tells us she enjoyed being at her grandmother’s home in Florida on Christmas day. “She made the best ambrosia I have ever had. My grandmother. Julia Ross, always put her ambrosia in a special crystal bowl. And she made delicious homemade dressing and corn bread. She was a role model for me growing up.”

Edna Keenan  says her favorite Christmas memory was when her first grandson was born on December 23, 2004. She and her husband moved to South Carolina to be with him when he was a baby.

Jane Goodwin  recalls getting a green bicycle and a cowgirl outfit on Christmas day. She said that was a good Christmas for her and she still remembers riding her bike.