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'Festivus' Gains Standing Across Country
WLTX-TV NEWS ^ | 12-21-2005

Posted on 12/21/2005 11:36:24 AM PST by Cagey

ALTERNATIVE CELEBRATIONS: Pole for the holidays

Celebrating the holidays with a diverse group of friends can get tricky. That's where Festivus, the "holiday for the rest of us," comes in.

Invented in 1966 by a Reader's Digest editor but made popular through a 1997 "Seinfeld" episode, the fictional celebration has been brought to life by fervent supporters across the country - including Clarkston native Blake Coe.

According to the "Seinfeld" episode, Festivus is celebrated on Dec. 23 and is marked by a tinsel-free aluminum pole, feats of strength - like wrestling - and the airing of grievances, during which followers tell loved ones how they have disappointed them during the year.

Though Coe, 24, also celebrates Christmas, he said Festivus is a welcome break from the holidays.

"With all of the things that now make the Christmas season about political correctness, over-commercialization and greed, it is refreshing that Festivus separates itself from that," said Coe, who has been celebrating the fictional holiday for five years.

Coe recently moved to Chicago, but he'll be home in Clarkston for Festivus. On Saturday, Coe's parents, Sally and Ken, put up the pole. Grandma was there, too.

Coe said he bought the aluminum pole - a centerpiece of Festivus celebrations - a few years ago at Home Depot for $5. However, merchants are now selling them online for almost $40. "I wish we had thought of that at the time," Blake Coe said, laughing.

The term "Festivus" yields more than 20,000 Web sites in monthly Google searches, said Allen Salkin, who tracked the figures for his new book, "Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us," which was released in October by Warner Books.

"Nobody else is writing about it, but it is out there - a very deep and widespread subculture," Salkin said. "I think it has to do with a need for tolerance and a holiday where you don't exclude anybody."

Coe and his friends observe the feats of strength by holding annual billiards and video game tournaments. As for the airing of grievances - "we pretty much go around and talk about each other's less finer moments," said Pat Heber, a Clarkston resident who recently graduated from Michigan State University.

Typically, the feats of strength, or aggression-absorbing activities, are held immediately after the airing of grievances, but there are no hard and fast rules, Salkin said.

That flexibility makes it easy for everyone to celebrate Festivus, he added.

But not everyone will. Elizabeth Zill of Frankenmuth, who is featured in Salkin's book, said one Festivus celebration was enough for her family. A few years ago, Zill strung lights around a metal coat rack and presented it to her teenage daughter as an alternative to the Christmas tree the family never bought.

"Oh, my daughter was ticked at me," Zill said, laughing. "George didn't find it too amusing either," she added, referring to "Seinfeld" character George Costanza (Jason Alexander), who was less than thrilled about his father's idea. "I have a George."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; US: South Carolina
KEYWORDS: festivus; kwaanza; seinfeld; waronchristmas
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To: wireman

Hey. I "is" Christian. I'm secure in my faith but I find satire funny. Sorry:')


201 posted on 12/21/2005 1:21:53 PM PST by CindyDawg (No festivus in the spell check. That settles that!)
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To: Cagey
Did you ever take her here:


202 posted on 12/21/2005 1:22:54 PM PST by MotleyGirl70
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To: Central Scrutiniser

Oh, come on, CS, like you wouldn’t get tire of the Buddhist New Year, Visakah Puja, Magha Puja Day, Asalha Puja Day, Uposatha Pavarana Day, the Kathina Ceremony, Anapanasati Day, Abhidhamma Day, Loy Krathong, the Ploughing Festival, the Elephant Festival, the Festival of the Tooth, Ulambana, Avalokitesvara’s birthday, and Bodhi Day. :-)


203 posted on 12/21/2005 1:25:19 PM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: Central Scrutiniser
God gave most of us a sense of humor, evidently you were too busy showing off how devout you were.

Now THAT is funny!

Lighten the hell up.

Thanks for the unsolicited advice. I'll think about why you think I have a "heavy" attitude. Oh never mind, why the heck would I care what you think?

Some of us don't really care for the Christmas season, and this is a good fun thing that makes the holidays a bit more bearable.

Who's stopping you? I haven't even criticized the "celebration". Are we on the same thread?

I'm disapointed in you, and I am certain that I could pin you in a wrestling match.

Your disappointment crushes me. But I fear you couldn't pin me, I never wrestle.

204 posted on 12/21/2005 1:29:31 PM PST by Protagoras (Many people teach their children that Jesus is story character but Santa Claus is real.)
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To: MotleyGirl70

Only once.


205 posted on 12/21/2005 1:29:53 PM PST by Cagey (Some men are Baptists, others Catholics, my father was an Oldsmobile man.)
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To: orionblamblam
Since your "knowledge" is so clearly backwards, there's no point in my attempting to educate you.

Before you can teach, you need to have some knowledge. You flunk.

206 posted on 12/21/2005 1:30:33 PM PST by Protagoras (Many people teach their children that Jesus is story character but Santa Claus is real.)
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To: MotleyGirl70
I have to agree, so out of fairness I'll post this. I might be somewhere in this pic.
207 posted on 12/21/2005 1:30:43 PM PST by Sam's Army ("Terrorism is a matter for the police" MurryMom 11/28/05)
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To: discostu

You know those angels with blowing horns that light up? Well, I put one in each front window. Several people have made a remark about no lights up and one remarked that the angels must have really took me a long time to just stick them in the window. I just shrugged and said I hadn't got around to putting the lights up yet. I then asked if they wanted to hang them for me. No takers. No more comments.:') You might try it. Of course if you bluff you might get decorations but I doubt it.


208 posted on 12/21/2005 1:31:05 PM PST by CindyDawg (No festivus in the spell check. That settles that!)
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To: Cagey
What's that creepy looking thing called. Tilly or Tully.

Freaky looking.

209 posted on 12/21/2005 1:32:25 PM PST by MotleyGirl70
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To: orionblamblam
Actually, you are incorrect.

So what is it? Do you believe in God or not? Aren't you proud of your theology? LOL

210 posted on 12/21/2005 1:33:09 PM PST by Protagoras (Many people teach their children that Jesus is story character but Santa Claus is real.)
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To: Sam's Army

Are you the one giving or receiving that brutal blow.


211 posted on 12/21/2005 1:33:20 PM PST by MotleyGirl70
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To: MotleyGirl70

I'm not sure on the Statute of Limitations for Canadian law, so I'll just stick with that I might be in that pic.


212 posted on 12/21/2005 1:36:29 PM PST by Sam's Army ("Terrorism is a matter for the police" MurryMom 11/28/05)
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To: Cagey

I'm not hip enough to celebrate Festivus. Plus, I can't come up with some touchy, feely, ego-satisfyingly smug rationale, like Blake Coe.


213 posted on 12/21/2005 1:36:53 PM PST by CaptRon (Pedecaris alive or Raisuli dead)
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To: Cagey
Scary. Hahahahahaha!

Lol... I really meant that he would recognize all the lines posted here from the episodes. I don't remember them all. Now, if he could quote the shows line by line, that would be... scary. :-0

214 posted on 12/21/2005 1:37:09 PM PST by Tired of Taxes
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To: Protagoras
But it's not really Christ Mass, for they do not believe. They just feel empty if they don't. I understand, it must be an empty feeling to be of no belief. And it's no fun to be left out.

Gee, I'm not a "believer" as far as Christianity goes. And I don't feel empty at all. My big holiday happens in the fall, and most of it is spent in a synangogue.

Why do so many Christians feel the need to project emptiness on non Christians? It might be hard for you to understand, but some of us do not feel empty without your religion at all.

215 posted on 12/21/2005 1:37:10 PM PST by Bella_Bru
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To: wireman
What it is isn't determined by those who have no stake in it.

You can call Sweetest day a religious holiday, but that won't make it true.

True Christians celebrate Christmas as the birth of the savior.

Others who want to make it Mickey Mouse day can pretend it is, but it ain't.

The poor slobs who try to pervert something they have no control over, delude only themselves. No matter how many time the liberals try to hijack things, they can never succeed in the hearts of the believers. And that is the ONLY place that matters.

So have a ball and do what you will, it has nothing whatsoever to do with me and I couldn't possibly care less.

It's sad to be so empty that you have to tag along to find meaning in life.

216 posted on 12/21/2005 1:40:55 PM PST by Protagoras (Many people teach their children that Jesus is story character but Santa Claus is real.)
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To: Tired of Taxes; MotleyGirl70
Now, if he could quote the shows line by line, that would be... scary. :-0

Motleygirl can.

217 posted on 12/21/2005 1:42:36 PM PST by Cagey (Some men are Baptists, others Catholics, my father was an Oldsmobile man.)
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To: Cagey
feats of strength - like wrestling - and the airing of grievances

Its airing of grievances followed by feats of strength.
218 posted on 12/21/2005 1:46:01 PM PST by festus (The constitution may be flawed but its a whole lot better than what we have now.)
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To: CindyDawg

I can handle decorations outside (though the modern age of prefabbed blowup crap is pretty obnoxious), don't generally do it but if the wife wants to that's OK, inside is forbidden though. I don't want to bluff them, I want to make them unhappy.


219 posted on 12/21/2005 1:46:52 PM PST by discostu (a time when families gather together, don't talk, and watch football... good times)
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To: Cagey; Tired of Taxes
Motleygirl can.

You bet I can ;)

220 posted on 12/21/2005 1:47:16 PM PST by MotleyGirl70
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