LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CHRISTMAS, RESCHEDULED: WHY OUR CLUB IS CELEBRATING IN JANUARY—AND LOVING IT
By the time December rolls around, most calendars resemble a losing game of Tetris. There are end-of-year deadlines, family commitments, work parties and school Exhaustingly so. Which is why our club made quite a radical decision: we moved our Christmas lunch to January. At first glance, it sounds like heresy. Christmas, after all, is famously fixed. The carols insist upon it. The supermarkets begin preparing for it sometime in August not concerts, in short, December is busy.
to mention infamous Black Friday causing an atmosphere more frantic than festive—so we decided to ask a simple question: what if we didn’t? The answer, it turns out, was surprisingly joyful. January, traditionally, is not known for its warmth—meteorological or emotional. The decorations are down, the credit card bills are up, and the weather is doing that damp, grey thing that suggests the sun may have retired permanently. Social diaries empty out. Spirits dip. And yet, nestled right there in the cold and wet weeks after New Enter the January Christmas lunch. There is something deeply comforting about stepping out of a soggy afternoon and into a room full of familiar faces, good food, and the Year, sits a perfect opportunity: something to look forward to.
serve that purpose, not sabotage it. By shifting the celebration, we’ve reclaimed it. Attendance has improved. Conversations linger. Laughter feels less rushed. The lunch becomes a marker—not of obligation fulfilled, but of community maintained. So this January, as the rain tapped on the windows and the year stretched out uncertainly ahead, our club gathered together. We ate, we raised a glass and we enjoyed the luxury of not being in a hurry.
collective agreement that yes, we are absolutely still celebrating. The turkey doesn’t mind coming out again. The crackers still crack. The jokes remain terrible. If anything, the extra distance from December’s frenzy makes the gathering feel more like what a club lunch should be: unhurried, convivial, and actually attended. But the benefits go beyond logistics. Moving Christmas into January reframes the month itself. Instead of a bleak stretch to be endured, January becomes a runway. There’s anticipation again. A date in the diary that isn’t a dentist appointment. A reason to iron a shirt, leave the house, and engage in the radical act of enjoying other people’s company. Our club, after all, exists to bring people together. The calendar should
Jackie Hikal Secretary Stony Stratford Croquet Club
www.croquetengland.org.uk | 11
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