Are Montanans Slow To Celebrate This Favorite Holiday Tradition?

One of the biggest parts of the holiday season is putting up decorations. It's no secret that I'm a big softy when it comes to the holidays, so we put up decorations on the first day of November.

Some folks scoff at such an idea. In fact, a whole lot of Montanans believe that Christmas decorations shouldn't even be discussed until after all the Thanksgiving leftovers are long gone.

While I refuse to subscribe to such a theory, I can understand why some people feel this way, especially if you plan to have a live Christmas tree. However, I was brainwashed as a kid by my parents to believe that if we had a real tree, it would burn down the house, so artificial it is. For us, putting up a tree too soon isn't a concern.

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One of my favorite parts of working in downtown Bozeman is that I get to drive down Main Street and check out all of the storefronts and window displays. On my way in this morning, I decided to take the long route and check to see if there were many Christmas displays up.

While I'm not sure downtown Bozeman is "beginning to look a lot like Christmas", there certainly is a trace of it. Of course, the "official" kickoff is the annual Christmas Stroll in downtown Bozeman, which is on December 3rd this year. This means in the next few days, there will be a whole lot of holiday cheer moving into downtown Bozeman and frankly, I can't wait.

So, where do you stand on the whole Christmas decoration thing? Are you an early decorator, or are you like most of the Montanans we talked to, and like to wait until after Thanksgiving?

The main argument from those that wait until after Thanksgiving is that we should celebrate that holiday before we jump ahead. One of my favorite comments that I read was, "Christmas is a season, Thanksgiving is a day."

So, for those of you that are debating on putting up the tree a little early, think about that for a minute. Whether you are more traditional, or an early decorator like me, remember the holiday season is all about making memories with those you love.