A Shop 'Til You Drop 2012 Holiday Season

Early Thanksgiving means more shopping time.

While you may just be putting the Halloween decorations away, retailers are already getting out the Christmas trees, Hanukkah menorahs and Kwanzaa candleholders, prepping for the longest holiday shopping season possible. For decades, now, Black Friday has heralded the start to the month-long holiday shopping season. Thanksgiving, celebrated the fourth Thursday in November since 1941 when Congress passed a law, falls on Nov. 22 this year, which means that there are a whopping 32 days of shopping, assuming you are not the type who buys gifts of lottery tickets and beef jerky from the convenience store on the way to your Christmas celebration. In that case, you have 32 days during which to procrastinate. According to the National Retail …

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SPEAK OUT: Do You Plan to Spend More Money this Holiday Season?

How will your finances affect your holiday spending?

Two-thirds of respondents to a recent poll by the NPD Group said they “plan to spend about the same” as last year, while 10 percent planned to “spend more.” With the economy and job situation still in flux for many families, we want to know what families in Montgomery County and Prince George’s County plan to do for Christmas, Hanukah, or Kwanzaa gifts in 2012. Will you be more creative with your gifting? Use sites like Groupon, Living Social, etc? Brave Black Friday sales? Cook or bake for familty and friends?

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Jenni Pompi

2:33 pm on Monday, November 19, 2012

We are budgeting for slightly more than last year, but not much.   more ›

A Shop 'Til You Drop 2012 Holiday Season

Early Thanksgiving means more shopping time.

While you may just be putting the Halloween decorations away, retailers are already getting out the Christmas trees, Hanukkah menorahs and Kwanzaa candleholders, prepping for the longest holiday shopping season possible. For decades, now, Black Friday has heralded the start to the month-long holiday shopping season. Thanksgiving, celebrated the fourth Thursday in November since 1941 when Congress passed a law, falls on Nov. 22 this year, which means that there are a whopping 32 days of shopping, assuming you are not the type who buys gifts of lottery tickets and beef jerky from the convenience store on the way to your Christmas celebration. In that case, you have 32 days during which to procrastinate. According to the National Retail …

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Mom On The Run

My Kwanzaa Wish

I expected to have to explain a lot of things to my kids about race in America. It never once occurred to me that I was going to have to explain Kwanzaa.

When my oldest son was five or so, he came home from pre-K wanting to know when we would be getting our kinara out to celebrate Kwanzaa. "Son," I said, "we don't celebrate Kwanzaa." "Why not?" he asked. I expected to have to explain a lot of things to my kids about race in America - white privilege, slavery, discrimination. It never once occurred to me that I was going to have to explain Kwanzaa. "Okay, so you know how we don't have a menorah at Christmas time?" I asked him. "Uh, Mom, what's a menorah?" "It looks like a kinara, it's got candles in it." Great, I thought, now he's going to think Kwanzaa is a religious holiday. "My point is that Kwanzaa is a special holiday for Black people to celebrate their African heritage." "So it's an …

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Marylanders Celebrate Kwanzaa

Across the state, local gatherings are being held in honor of the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa, a weeklong celebration that begins Dec. 26.

At various venues across the state and in the midst of the post-Christmas shopping rush, Marylanders are in the midst of recognizing the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration that takes place each year from Dec. 26 - Jan. 1. It is a distinctly American holiday begun in 1966 as a means of forging a sense of community among African-Americans. The holiday is replete with symbolism drawn from various African cultures. The word Kwanzaa is derived from a Swahili phrase that means “first fruits.” In Maryland, Kwanzaa is being celebrated in ways large and small, including at Baltimore’s Maryland African American History & Culture museum from Dec. 28-30, and at the Baltimore Museum of Art, which on Wednesday held a …

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Things to Know: Kwanzaa, Patch Mobile

Get your day started with Savage-Guilford Patch!

So you got a new smartphone for the holidays, but you don't know which app to download first? Patch is on the iPhone and Patch Places is available on Android. Download them for free. Weather: Weather.com is calling for a windy day with a high of 40 and a low of 26. Events: Children ages 3 and up can make a craft and listen to a holiday story in honor of Kwanzaa at 10:30 a.m. in the Howard County Library's Central Branch in Columbia. Do you know of events around the Savage area? You can post them to the community calendar all on your own! Reader Shout Out:  Patch reader Buck Harmon thinks things in Congress could use a change, "The Constitution is as strong today as the day it was written... it's the people that have never been educated …

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Marylanders Celebrate Kwanzaa

Across the state, local gatherings are being held in honor of the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa, a week-long celebration that began Dec. 26.

At various venues across the state and in the midst of the post-Christmas shopping rush, Marylanders are in the midst of recognizing the African-American holiday of Kwanzaa. Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration that takes place each year from Dec. 26 - Jan. 1. It is a distinctly American holiday begun in 1966 as a means of forging a sense of community among African-Americans. The holiday is replete with symbolism drawn from various African cultures. The word Kwanzaa is derived from a Swahili phrase that means “first fruits.” In Maryland, Kwanzaa is being celebrated in ways large and small, including at Baltimore’s Maryland African American History & Culture museum from Dec. 28-30, and at the Baltimore Museum of Art, which on Wednesday held a …

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Holiday Traditions New and Old, Real and Fake

Take a look at some of the most popular winter holidays, and some of the newer traditions they have spawned.

Christmas With a name literally meaning "Christ's Mass," the biggest Christian holiday has become the biggest commercial event in the world. In what may be a surprise to many, a Christmas-like holiday was actually celebrated by the Norse in Scandinavia hundreds of years prior to Jesus' birth. People feasted over burning Yule logs in observance of the winter solstice, according to the History Channel. Now, kids roll into bed the night of Christmas Eve in anticipation of the magical Santa Claus, whose legend of generosity traces back to third-century Turkey. Hanukkah Jewish scripture suggests the origins of Hanukkah, also known as the "festival of lights," date back to around 200 B.C., when a group of Jews in Israel worked to cleanse and …

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