Gnu Stories Podcast | Episode 9: Winter Holiday Traditions at SSFS

 

Come and celebrate the winter break with us as our community shares some of our favorite winter holiday traditions! First, listen to our play How the Grinch Stole the Holidays, a rendition of the Dr. Seuss classic, How The Grinch Stole Christmas. This play is an annual tradition at SSFS during our winter assembly in which our faculty and staff perform for our preschool-12th grade students. Then, hear from TORCH members – our upper school student body government – as they share some of their favorite traditions during the winter holidays and what they are excited about for the 2020 holiday season.

TRANSCRIPT

How the Grinch Stole the Holidays

Announcer  
How the Grinch stole the holidays and SSFS adaptation from the Dr. Seuss classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas performed by Sandy Spring FriendsSchool faculty and staff.

Narrator 1  
Every Who down in Whoville like the holidays a lot. But the Grinch, who lived just north of Whoville, did not. The Grinch hated the holidays, the whole winter holiday season. Now please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason. It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right. It could be perhaps that his mask was too tight. It could be that COVID had messed up his head. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small. But whatever the reason, his heart or his mask, he spent the whole season hating the Who's staring out from his Zoom with a sour grinchy frown at the warm lighted windows below in their town, for he knew many Who's down in Whoville beneath were busy lighting candles or hanging a wreath.

Grinch  
They're keeping their distance. And they're preparing their feast.

Narrator 1  
He snarled with the sneer.

Grinch  
They're washing their hands,  and they're wearing the mask. The holidays are coming. They'll be here real soon.

Narrator 1  
Then he growl with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming.

Grinch  
I must stop the holidays from coming!

Narrator 1  
Then he got an idea, an awful idea. The Grinch got a wonderful, awful idea. 

Grinch  
I know just what I'll do!

Narrator 1  
The Grinch laughed in his throat. And he made a quick Santa Claus hat and a coat, and he chuckled and clucked.

Grinch  
What a great Grinchy trick. Who needs a mask anyway? With this coat and this hat, I'll look just like St. Nick. All I need now is a reindeer

Narrator 2  
The  Grinch looked around, but since reindeer are scarce, there were none to be found. Did that stop the old Grinch? No! The Grinch simply said,

Grinch  
If I  can't find a reindeer,  I'll just have to make one myself.

Narrator 2  
So he called his dog Max,

Grinch  
Maaaaax... here boy! Com'ere Max!

Narrator 2  
And he took some red thread and he tied a big horn on the top of his head. 

Now we know that the Grinch went down to Whoville to steal the whose menorahs, and canaras, and decorations, and more. And don't forget the hand sanitizer, the Clorox wipes, and their holiday meals galore! And he stuffed all the goodies up the chimney with glee, and the Grinch grabbed the tree and he started to shove, when you heard this small sound like a coo of a dove. 

He turned around fast. And he saw a small little Cindy Lou, who is not more than two. She stared at the Grinch and said 

Cindy Lou  
Santi Claus, why? You're not wearing a mask. You're awfully close. And why are you taking our Christmas tree? Why?

Grinch  
Why my sweet little tot

Narrator 2  
Fake Santa Claus lied

Grinch  
There's a light on this tree that's not lighting this side. And they're notvery socially distant, so I'm gonna take it back to my home and my workshop, my dear. And I'll fix it there and bring it back here.

Narrator 3  
And his fib fooled the child, and he patted her head. And he got her a drink and sent her to bed. And when Cindy Lou Who went to bed with her cup, he went to the chimney and stuffed the tree up.

It was a quarter passed dawn. All the Who's still in bed. All the Who's still a snooz when he packed up his sled. Packed it up with their presents, their dreidels, the wrappings, the pinatas, the perishables, the trappings-- the toilet paper!  

3000 feet up up the side of Mount Crumpit. He rode up with his load to the tip top to dump it, "Poohoo to the Who's," he was Grinchingly humming, "they're finding out now that no holidays are coming. They're just waking up. I know what I'll do. The mouse will open a minute or two."

Grinch  
And then all the Who's in Whoville will all cry "Boohoo" Now that's the noise I simply must hear!

Narrator 3  
So he paused, and the Grinch put his hand to his ear. And he did hear a sound rising off the snow. It started in low, then it started to grow. But the sound wasn't sad. Why the sound sounded merry. It couldn't be so, but it was merry. Very!

Every Who down in Whoville, the tall and the small, was seen from their porches and roof tops without any presents at all. He hadn't stopped the holidays from coming. They came. Somehow or other they came just the same. And he puzzled and puzzled,  till his puzzler was sore. And a Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

Grinch  
Maybe the holiday, it seems, doesn't come from a store. Maybe the holidays means so much more.

Narrator 3  
And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day. And the minute his heart didn't feel quite so tight. He then washed his hands and put on a mask. He whizzed with his sled with a bright morning light, and brought that the toys and the food for the feat. And he, he himself, he ordered online a wonderful meal that would be so divine. And when it arrived from Uber Eats, the Grinch shared a long Zoom meal with his friend Wildebeest.

Holidays at Home

Announcer  
As a way to kick off winter break, members of TORCH-- our Upper School student body government--shared some of their favorite traditions during the winter holidays and what they're excited about for the 2020 holiday season. Listen to their stories in this piece called "Holidays at Home."

Meghan  
Hi, everyone. My name is Meghan. I'm a Junior. One of my holiday traditions is taking molds with my cat's paw prints and turning them into ornaments. And another holiday tradition I have is making boiled custard with my dad. It was his mom's recipe. So it's been in our family for a long time. And it's really good. It has real vanilla bean in it. Happy Holidays everyone.

Shirley  
Hi everyone. I'm Shirley and I'm currently in the United States but I'm originally from China. And for Chinese people, we don't really have a lot of Christmas traditions. But for me, personally, I always like to bake or cook something Chinese. And I reminds me of my home town.

Njandee  
Hi there--I'm Njandee.  I'm a sophomore class of '23. And my second year at Sandy Spring. So this holiday I am especially looking forward to Christmas--we celebrate Christmas in my house--and usually we keep it pretty small, [just my] parents and my sisters. But, this year my dad actually went home to Namibia. So he won't be here with us in person but, bright side, we get to call in with my grandmother. She usually doesn't have internet. She lives in a very rural area, and I haven't seen her in years, and we haven't celebrated Christmas together in about a decade. So I am so so excited to celebrate and of course I'm excited for the New Year.. I hope you guys all enjoy your break, and I hop you guys sleep in too because we deserve a break. 

Paula  
Hi, everyone. I'm Paula. I'm from Brazil. And during the holidays, I like to spend some time with my family and especially during New Year's Eve, I like to wear white. Because it's a tradition here in Brazil, people wear different colors to attract different types of luck for the upcoming year. So for example, if you were white, it means you're wishing for keys, if you were yellow, you wishing for wealth, if you were green, you're wishing for hope and health, and etc. So definitely white is the most one color every single year. So yeah, thank you, everyone. Happy Holidays.

Gus  
My name is Gus. I know for me personally, some traditions I always enjoy doing this time of the year is decorating the tree with my sister, preparing stockings for my family's pets and siblings. And of course, opening presents on Christmas morning with my extended family. Alas this year that might look a little bit differently. I know for me, I'll be doing it virtually this year. So I'm looking forward to that. Another thing I always look forward to the winter solstice because I know that every day after the sun stays out just a little bit longer. Regardless of what you're doing, I hope that you stay true to some of your traditions and if not, maybe create a new tradition this year. Happy Holidays, everybody.

Announcer  
Thank you for listening to the Gnu stories podcast. We'll be taking a bit of a break and returning in January.