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Tuesday December 12, 2017 Edition
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Keeping The Christmas Spirit Year Round

Sam and Fran Allo loved the holidays, but for Fran it was a year round passion that impacted all who knew her as
photo by provided
Sam and Fran Allo loved the holidays, but for Fran it was a year round passion that impacted all who knew her as " the Christmas Lady"
Dedication to decorating the perfect tree was one of Fran Allo's holiday joys!
photo by provided
Dedication to decorating the perfect tree was one of Fran Allo's holiday joys!

Tuesday December 12, 2017

By Cookie Steponaitis

At the conclusion of the Christmas classic A Christmas Carol, Ebenezer Scrooge not only finds his Christmas joy, but vows to the visiting spirits to keep it all year long. While Dickens had his Scrooge, if we are lucky, we know someone who keeps the love of people and the holidays all year long and burning bright enough to squash even the most avid “bah-humbug” people among us. For the Vergennes community and in particular for almost twenty-five years of students at VUHS the Christmas lady was Fran Allo.
    In charge of the study hall, which in her time was between 65-130 students placed in the auditorium during a free block or an over flow from lunch, Fran Allo ran a tight ship, but one seeped in holiday tradition year-round. Singing every day and all day, Mrs. Allo was famed for her Sleigh Bells Ring rendition even in June, just before graduation. She would decorate the auditorium and would at random pass out candy canes and small gifts the year round. Honing in on a student having a bad day or week, Allo would link arms with them, break into a rendition of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and travel the length of the school halls singing with her new-found holiday song convert. Children who needed coats seemed to believe in Santa’s elves, because they would magically appear. Girls with no dress for the prom often found a carefully giftwrapped package in their locker and the list goes on. With keys that accessed most of the building no one was out of Fran Allo’s reach and no one went without if she knew about it.
    Central to her celebration rituals was the baking of Christmas cookies all year long. While the first snowflake would really trigger her baking and sharing of recipes, Allo was ready with a plate of goodies and even if she was scolding you over your grades or ducking a detention, what followed was a mouthful of delicious and a verse or two of Jingle Bells. Growing up in a household where Christmas never went out of season was always fun and echoes for her children and grandchildren today. “My mom grew up in a modest family,” explained daughter Laurie Allo Steadman. “While the house was modest, the decorations were over the top. She always spent weeks decorating the house and would display the lighted village houses that ended up taking over an entire room. She had so many with little trees and figures. My boys were so excited to see it all and of course we would make Christmas cookies every year.”
    Armed with a simple but delicious recipe and more different cookie cutters than is reasonable to own, Allo would turn the process of making cookies into art. They would be simple, complex and unique to each child, family member or student who ended up in her decorating classes.  Then it was time to Walk Church Street with her family and look at lights wherever in the valley they were. The Weeks School would bring the Allo family out every year and if there was a reason or no reason to go caroling, Fran Allo would be wearing her scarf, armed with hot chocolate and leading the pack. Unlike many carolers, Allo did not need a song book, for her singing repertoire included all the classics and more modern renditions of carols.
    “My mom loved Christmas more than any other holiday and she kept it alive all year by simply singing Christmas songs,” reminisced Laurie Allo Steadman. “After she passed away, I got permission from the city of Vergennes to plant a memory tree. Each year, my family used to plug in the lights in the park. While the tree is still lit, it huge now and is there for all to enjoy. I know my mom loves that.”
    With any luck, your family has their own Fran Allo, who serves to keep the spirit of the holidays alive all year. It is not about what is bought, but what is freely given. Whether it is the joy of song, a mug of hot chocolate, a kiss on the cheek, a hug when needed, or a strategically placed foot in the behind to push you into a new phase of your life, this person is there and without fail provides the missing link to keep you heart full and your attitude of gratitude handy.
    As the Dickens classic is famed for- as the childlike voice of Tiny Tim recounts, “God bless us everyone,” may you and yours be blessed with the spirit of the season, not just now, but for all times. Stop by the Christmas Tree in the park in Vergennes and if you listen you may catch a faint echo of Sleigh Bells Ring, sung from above by one of Christmas’s most devoted fans, Mrs. Fran Allo. For Allo and all that know her, the arrival of a radio station that plays Christmas music 24 hours a day from now until December 25th is not a “bah-humbug”, but just another excuse to Deck the Halls, string the garland, and find out way across the field to Grandma’s House. Here we go!


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