Solutions for the season: How community, creativity and commerce are shaping the holidays
Merry Christmas from all of us at Straight Arrow News! 
We’re so glad you’re here. As the year winds down and the holidays invite us to slow our pace, we welcome you to this special Christmas edition of our Unbiased Updates — filled with thoughtful reads, meaningful moments and a few comforts along the way.
Whether catching up or taking a quiet moment, we hope this collection brings warmth, clarity and joy to your holiday season.
Can giving kids bikes help them learn to read? In this city, it works
Lizbeth Miranda loves to read. But that hasn’t always been the case. For the first seven years of her life, she found reading difficult. There were so many words that felt like roadblocks on the pages of the books in front of her.
Earlier this year, something changed — something big, blue and shiny. Lizbeth, 8, began associating reading with joy when she learned she could earn a bicycle by meeting her reading goals.
That was 100 books ago. Read the full story>
Americans want to give back this holiday season. What’s stopping them?
The holiday season often surrounds Americans with calls to give back. From Salvation Army bell ringers on busy street corners to social media clips of local donation drives, opportunities to volunteer or donate are hard to miss.
Humans are inherently generous, and the holiday season naturally stirs those feelings to the surface — a mix of tradition, emotion and the hope of doing something good.
“One of the ways we feel like we matter is by making a difference in the world — by contributing to the welfare of other people,” said Emiliana Simon-Thomas, UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center science director. “There’s this core motivation to do things that matter, to fuel a sense of meaning and purpose — and that’s really the driver of generosity.”
Yet despite the abundance of donation and volunteering options, many well-intentioned people find themselves stuck. Read the full story>
Holiday shopping rises despite economic headwinds
With just days left before Christmas, the holiday shopping rush is in full swing — and this year, Americans are spending more than many expected. Preliminary data from Visa shows retail spending this holiday season is up 4.2% compared to last year, despite ongoing concerns about inflation and affordability.
Visa analyzed spending over seven weeks beginning Nov. 1, excluding gasoline, automotive expenses and dining. The data shows that in-store shopping still dominates, accounting for 73% of purchases. Sales at general merchandise stores rose nearly 4%.
Online purchases made up the remaining 27% of spending. While smaller in share, e-commerce was the main driver of growth, with online sales climbing 7.8% year over year. Visa attributes that jump largely to early-season promotions and convenience. Read the full story>
What the holiday crafting market says about the US economy
This year, a handmade holiday comes with quite a backstory: From Grandma-made stuffed toys to costumes for iconic performances, makers have had to overcome a lot to get the goods they need to make gifts or products.
The corset market explains it all.
“It’s Nutcracker season,” said Rogie Sussman Faber, co-owner of the Chicago-based fabric and sewing supply retailer, Vogue Fabrics. The family-run business has invested heavily in its corset specialty, collaborating on workshops for cosplay enthusiasts and supplying theaters nationwide with corset-related supplies. Read the full story >
Trump signs order to make Christmas Eve, Dec. 26 federal holidays
President Donald Trump signed an executive order this week declaring Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas federal holidays. This still isn’t official; to enact a federal holiday, Congress must pass a law and secure the president’s signature.
Still, per Trump’s order, “all executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government shall be closed and their employees excused from duty” on Dec. 24 and Dec. 26. Heads of executive departments or agencies, Trump said, can determine that certain offices must remain open “for reasons of national security, defense, or other public need.” Read the full story>
Why more Americans have two or more Christmas trees in their home this year
Bridget McGregor Harris loves the soft glow of a Christmas tree.
“There’s this whimsical sense of magic with it that adds such a warm, happy feeling to my heart,” she told Straight Arrow News.
In recent years, she has opted for even more magic, pushing beyond her longstanding tradition of decorating one Christmas tree in her family’s Mississippi home. Now, she has three full-sized trees on display and another four mini-trees scattered among her children’s rooms and her entryway.
Sound strange? It isn’t. A growing number of Americans are displaying multiple trees.
“The average household has about 1.5 to 1.7 trees in the house,” said Chris Butler, CEO of National Tree Company, one of the nation’s largest artificial Christmas tree producers.
This new tradition has its — pardon the pun — roots in the proliferation of increasingly affordable artificial trees as real trees become ever harder to come by. And it’s being sped along by everything from social media trends to a shift in how much space Americans take up in their homes. Read the full story>
A special holiday message from Straight Arrow News’ Craig Nigrelli:
I keep hearing Andy Williams and his classic song “It’s the most wonderful time of the year” on my car radio. I love that song. Each time I hear it, I try to reflect on the positive things that have happened in my life over the past year.
Sometimes it’s my health and still being able to play pick-up ice hockey. Other times, it’s the cozy home my wife and I share that backs up to woods and wildlife here in the Midwest.
The bottom line is: no matter where you are, I hope you have things, big or small, that you are grateful for, and that you have time to enjoy them this holiday. The season goes by so quickly.
Merry Christmas!
More from Straight Arrow News:
Why more millennials skipped this year’s holiday trip home
For Simone Harvin, the holidays no longer come with a plane ticket or a packed car. Although she loves her family, her annual trip home simply isn’t happening this year.
“Travel of any kind is exhausting, but the expectation of being the one to endure long road trips and holiday traffic gets old after a while,” Harvin told Straight Arrow News.
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson, the world’s busiest airport expects more than 5 million travelers this holiday season. Another 109.5 million Americans will travel by car for their year-end trips, a 2% increase from last year, according to AAA. Harvin has no interest in joining the crowd this year.
“A part of me is in silent protest. Not an angry one, just one that says, ‘Hey, it would be nice if the effort we make year after year was matched at least once,’“ she said. Full story available on SAN.com.
The post Solutions for the season: How community, creativity and commerce are shaping the holidays appeared first on Straight Arrow News.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
