Don't Let Fire Ruin Your Christmas Celebration: See How Electric Lights Can Spark a Blaze

One-third of home Christmas tree fires are caused by electrical problems.

Don't Let Fire Ruin Your Christmas Celebration: See How Electric Lights Can Spark a Blaze

One-third of home Christmas tree fires are caused by electrical problems.

Candles and twinkling lights are beautiful at Christmas, but they have the potential to ruin holiday celebrations. Christmas trees and a heat source too close to the tree are blamed for one in every five of roughly 260 structure fires each year, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Most fire departments have already set out their large green wreath that are decked with red bulbs and a red bow. The decorations are pretty, but they're poignant too. The red wreaths are a reminder to be safe when decorating this holiday season. The wreaths are part of the” Keep the Wreath Red” fire safety campaign, a statewide program that reminds you to practice fire safety during the holiday season. The wreaths feature decorative red lights…

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Langlois Insurance Agency

6:19 pm on Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Great tips! Thank you for sharing! Matt Langlois Langlois Insurance Agency www.langloisinsurance.com   more ›

Have You Gotten Your Christmas Tree Yet?

Fresh cut firs ranging in size from 6-foot to 12-foot are plentiful at Spencer Road Christmas Trees.

Have you gotten your Christmas tree yet? Spencer Road Christmas Trees is open until Christmas Eve. The lot is full of Douglas-firs, one of the most common of the evergreen variety. Take a walk through the rows of fresh-cut trees. The lot, located at Spencer Road and E. Route 30, is just east of Chicago Dough Company Restaurant. Due to the Route 30 construction project, it's a bit tricky to enter the lot. The driveway comes up fast just past Spencer Road. Look for the Christmas tree sign on the south side of E. Route 30. The trees range in size from 6-12 feet tall. Prices begin at $50. The trees come strictly from Illinois, said lot manager John Miller. These trees flourish in the northern temperate zone, and their fresh pine smell works to…

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The Christmas Tree Debate: Keep it Real, or Go Fake?

Readers can share their Christmas tree memories, share photos and discuss which style of tree they prefer in their home this season.

A funny thing begins to happen around town the first weekend after Thanksgiving. Suddenly, tightly wrapped trees are being strapped to the roofs of family cars with bungy cords and driven home. Soon, these will be set up in the living room, wrapped in lights (once untangled of course), and decked with colored balls, pre-school-era ornaments, tinsel, or just about anything else these days. Tell us what you decorate your tree with in comments below. But not every family goes through the motions of picking up their tree at a nearby lot, or heading out to the farm to cut one down. Instead, they simply head up to the attic to dust off the same one they used last year. To go real, or fake: that's the question. Personally, I love a real tree. The…

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Matthew Hendrickson

6:56 pm on Thursday, November 29, 2012

Thanks for your comments, readers!   more ›

Christmas Tree Pick-Up Today

Today and next Tuesday are the days to leave your trees out for pick-up.

Happy Holidays From Mokena Patch

Mokena Patch's Holiday Photo Giveaway

This is the season for giving. From now until Jan. 6, Mokena Patch is giving prizes to readers who send us holiday photos.

When I lived in Germany, there was a house in my town known as "das Amerikanische Haus," or "the American house." It wasn't because Americans lived there or because the architecture or floorplan or even building materials were somehow uniquely American. It was because of the way the owners decorated for Christmas. You see, Germans don't really get the whole "decorating outside" thing.  The house was featured on the front page of the local newspaper every year. The Germans couldn't get over the strands of bright lights, the illuminated reindeer, the garlands. I still recall my host mother showing me the newspaper photo and asking with genuine curiosity "do the houses really look like that?" I've spent a lot of time driving around Mokena at …

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Prime Pastimes

Adventures in Christmas Tree-Chopping

My family has a tradition of chopping down our own Christmas tree every year. Here's why we do it--and why you should take up the tradition.

I'd be lying if I said that chopping down a real Christmas tree each year is all fun and games and a cinch. It's not. In years past, my family and I have driven home with the windows open in freezing temperatures just so that we could hold onto the ends of the rope that kept our tree from tumbling into the middle of the expressway. In other years, we've tied a rope around the trunk of our tree and tied the other side to a wall nook to prevent the tree from toppling over in our living room. Even so, I wouldn't trade these annual memories for anything. When I see artificial Christmas trees pop into the windows of my neighbor's houses in a matter of minutes, I never envy how simple and quick it is for them to display this all-important …

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Happy Holidays From Mokena Patch

VIDEO: Christmas Fest Rouses Revelers

From arts and crafts at Mokena Elementary School to pictures with Santa, the holiday season was welcomed in every which way during Saturday's community-wide event.

It's hard to get in the holiday spirit when the weather is still mild, the decorations are still sparse and the Thanksgiving turkey hasn't even thawed yet. But Mokena got a head start in heralding the season on Saturday at the Chamber of Commerce's 16th Annual Christmas Fest.  The day-long event included a makeshift workshop at Mokena Elementary School, an open house among Mokena's downtown shops, musicians and carolers from Grace Fellowship Church and, of course, a traditional parade and tree-lighting ceremony.

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