No matter what the background or faith, Squamish residents come together over the holidays.
Tejinder and Paramjit Bhullar are the owners of August Jack Hotel and have lived in Squamish for almost two decades.
As members of the Sikh faith, Tejinder acknowledges Christmas may not have the same religious significance but that doesn’t matter because their family has the same traditions.
“When you make a home, you want to make all the efforts to be happy,” she explains, noting when they came to Canada in the 70s, they adopted it as their home. “Our kids were born here and for them, this is what they know.”
And they’ve always loved Christmas, she continues.
She goes all out decorating. Every year they adorn their home and tree with an abundance of lights and decorations.
“If we only had our religious festival, we would feel isolated,” she says. “And we love being part of the community.”
Despite her four children being scattered across the province, they always come together at her home, along with the grandchildren, for Christmas dinner. They feast on turkey, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts and a spread of sides. This is by far her favourite part of the season, she says.
“No matter where they are in the world, they know dinner is at our house,” she explains.
The Sikh Temple also hosts a Christmas dinner, Tejinder says.
“We like to get involved with everything in the community,” she adds. That’s why every year for the Santa Parade, the Bhullar’s serve free hot Indian-style tea and snacks at her downtown hotel.
Richard and Ruth MacKellar are two Squamish residents who also cultivate community.
They’ve sponsored a Syrian refugee family since last winter and this will be the newcomers first Christmas.
The Syrian parents, Jihan Rizk and Saad Sadoun, fled the war-torn country with their three children — Deljeen, Delfeen and Ahmed who are seven, five and two-years-old respectively.
“There was so much snow,” Deljeen says of arriving in Squamish just after Christmas last year.
They didn’t speak a word of English. Now, they’re making plans for the holiday season. Delfeen hopes to get a Finding Nemo or Dory toy from Santa while Deljeen’s focus is on her parents.
“Mummy and daddy need a toy too,” she explains.
All Ahmed wants to do for Christmas is go skiing or skate on Alice Lake.
“I walked on it last year,” Delfeen says, agreeing with Ahmed. “But now I want to skate on it.”
Upcoming plans are for a traditional Christmas dinner with all the fixings and Ahmed can’t wait to decorate the house with “lights, lights, lights.”
Maggie Georgy-Embree and her husband have two little ones who can’t wait for the holiday season either.
Georgy-Embree, who is Christian, loves this time of year. “It’s special to see how it affects everyone,” she explains. “They’re reaching out to others, they’re helping, they’re asking how to make hampers.”
Though she grew up with her Christmas customs, now that they have children, she is “rediscovering what we want our traditions to be.”
There are always photos with Santa, the parade with hot chocolate after and going up to the gondola, she says. They start carolling at nighttime in early December and also head into the community to sing.
Church happens on Christmas Eve, then they share appetizers while the children open one present. Georgy-Embree grew up snowshoeing on Christmas day, but now that she has to prepare dinner it’s changed things.
“I can’t be out for five hours now and come home to turkey dinner,” she says with a laugh.
Since they’re not near immediate family, Georgy-Embree has a big dinner with all of her friends who are also without family in Squamish.
Ivan and Yuli Marinov also celebrate with friends during the holiday season. They got married in Taiwan when Ivan was teaching English and eventually opened the Squamish Oasis Hostel that didn’t get started “for real” until Ivan retired in 2012.
Their dinner is vegetarian, however, though they do make turkey once in awhile for their guests. As for gifts, they turn to the Chinese custom of red envelopes holding money.
The family is Zen Buddhist. From Monday to Friday, they extend an open invitation from 8 to 9 p.m. to “do a lot of sitting.”
“It’s not a practice based on faith but on meditation, curbing useless thinking, speech, and action,” Ivan says.
It’s what we do in life that counts, says Ivan. “Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ, of love, of forgiveness, so let’s eat and be happy with our friends and family.”
Geraldine Guilfoyle is the head of the Squamish Multifaith Association and of the Bahais faith.
Much like Ivan and Yuli, there are no Baha’i traditions at Christmas however they do believe in being respectful and inclusive.
“We interact with each other in a spirit of fellowship and friendship,” she says.
The Bahais host feasts throughout the month of December and subscribe to the holiday philosophy of coming together.
“Many of us have family members who are Christian and may join with them in a spirit of unity in their celebrations.”
Coun. Susan Chapelle says it’s in this spirit of unity that the community thrives.
Raised Jewish, she says it wasn’t until recently there were more people of her faith in Squamish and attributes this to the growth of Quest University.
Though Judaism calls for seven presents over Hanukkah, she gives her daughters one.
Since the Jewish faith doesn’t have the same traditions for children, she admits at times “it’s hard to keep up the excitement of your own faith.”
But this year, there will be a Hanukkah celebration at Brennan Park on Dec. 10.
“We’ll have dinner and sing songs then light the menorah,” she explains, followed by traditional food like latkes.
“In a day and age when there are so many different belief systems, Squamish is an amazing place for that diversity in our community,” she says.
“Spending time with your community in the darkest and dreariest parts of winter is a fantastic opportunity to get to know each other better. And get other faiths together,” she says. “We’re definitely all better together.”
