... was Christmas 1994 in Elan. Chrysta and Emily were there and will remember it.
In December 1994, two well-meaning kids named Mark Seiler and Robert Page-Auger created a petition for no encounter groups on Concept Christmas. Many individuals, including me, agreed with and signed the petition. Just before we began opening gifts during a holiday thus far adequately supplied with Christmas spirit (considering where we were), they actually had the nerve to stand us all up and yell at us for signing the petition because "this is not a democracy." Then because they were really in a giving Christmas mood, they shot Mark and Rob down. But more than anything, they zapped the happiness and spirit out of Christmas. Even then, I truly felt the staff behaved like a pack of Scrooges. I still do today.
It was never the same. No longer, as in past years (like '93, when I was there) did they deal with the book in front of the house at Christmas and keep yelling out of concept. No longer did we stay up till midnight on New Year's Eve and watch the ball drop on TV (we weren't even allowed to say Happy New Year at midnight). It was at that point that Elan started to become less like a place of growth and more like an institution. And although Elan helped me a great deal, I always thought they handled the holidays miserably and I always felt institutionalized on Christmas. Fortunately, the following year, I went home. After '93, there really was no Christmas in Elan. Concept Christmas wasn't on the actual day, yet on the actual day, the Christmas traditions never took place. To be honest, it was deeply depressing.
To this day, I treasure my freedom at Christmas, which is tied with Election Day for my favorite holiday.
Pete