{"id":5209,"date":"2014-11-29T21:42:43","date_gmt":"2014-11-30T02:42:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/?p=5209"},"modified":"2014-11-29T22:01:35","modified_gmt":"2014-11-30T03:01:35","slug":"little-christmas-miracle-foxboro-jaycees-decorate-foxboro-common","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/?p=5209","title":{"rendered":"A little Christmas miracle as the Foxboro Jaycees decorate Foxboro Common"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Let<\/a>
Let there be light — Jaycee David Fisler, left reacts as the power is restored to the common at the exact moment Paul Lanza places the angel on the Foxboro Common bandstand. Photo by Robert Gillis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

by Robert Gillis<\/em>
\nPublished in the Foxboro Reporter 12\/2014<\/em><\/p>\n

This story begins with a very nice affirmation. Christmas miracles \u2013 they still happen.<\/p>\n

And it should be noted before I go further I swear this is true; and there are witness and photographs!<\/p>\n

It all begins this past frosty Saturday after Thanksgiving. As is our tradition for over four decades, the Foxboro Jaycees were up early, shoveling out the storage area for the Nativity Set and holiday lights, loading up the trucks with the (very) heavy plaster figurines, and heading to Foxboro Common to begin our holiday decorating.<\/p>\n

Earlier that same morning, some sections of the town lost power for a moment or two, but one section of town had no power \u2013 and as we unloaded the decorations and carefully lifted the Nativity statues onto the bandstand, we realized that Foxboro Common also had no power.<\/p>\n

Now, LIGHT wasn\u2019t the issue; being 9am and all, there was plenty of available sunlight for us to see what we were doing. But when you\u2019re stringing dozens of sets of lights onto five or six bushes around the bandstand, you want to be sure they actually WORK and LIGHT UP while you\u2019re arranging them \u2013 this ensures no surprises in the evening.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d heard power should be restored before 9:30 so we began other tasks \u2013 and then the small Christmas miracle happened.<\/p>\n

I swear this is true. Jaycee Paul Lanza stepped up to the bandstand with the angel. I got him in focus for the picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhich side does it go on?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jaycee Dave Fisler looked up from our handy reference image (we always bring a few from last year for guidance).<\/p>\n

\u201cLeft,\u201d Dave replied.<\/p>\n

So Paul carefully affixed the angel to the left of the new \u201cBowdich Bandstand\u201d plaque\u2026<\/p>\n

And {wait for it} at the PRECISE moment:<\/p>\n

The bandstand lights came on. Power was restored.<\/p>\n

Not a moment before, not a moment after. Paul put up the angel, the lights came on.<\/p>\n

And then each of us said some variation of, \u201cDid you see that?\u201d and \u201cThe angel went up and the lights came back on!\u201d<\/p>\n

Christmas miracle!<\/p>\n

So, with that amazingly perfect moment, we began our work in earnest. Paul\u2019s boom box now had power to blast the Christmas tunes. Nativity chairman Kathy Brady \u2013 who even the day before was touching up the paint on the figures, began working with other Jaycees to carefully lift and position each (again, very heavy!) figure into place, then went to get two bales of hay.<\/p>\n

Decorating Chairman Lynn Freerksen was busily separating sets of lights, ribbons and bows, while over a dozen others worked briskly across the common.<\/p>\n

We had a LOT of people helping that morning and the friendship and good spirits quickly won over the below-freezing temperature.<\/p>\n

All 24 lamp posts on the common were wrapped in green garland and got a bow. The bushes at the foot of the common were encircled with numerous sets of color lights, and at the top of the common, white lights went up on all the bushes surrounding the bandstand.<\/p>\n

Another group was at the iconic Foxboro sign, putting up the large wreath and garland. A new bow was needed this year and quickly attached. Lynn had an idea for bells on each side of the sign \u2013 it looks great!<\/p>\n

Others put up lights. With practiced experience, the Nativity set is placed into correct positions. We good-naturedly joke as we move the (very heavy) figurines that we have to watch our language around the holy family! While some of those figures weight over 400 pounds and take five guys to lift, we have to keep our mumblings to ourselves!<\/p>\n

And suddenly it\u2019s ready. The hay is spread. And with ingenuity, the Jaycees came up with a new way to put the fence\/barrier around the set so that it doesn\u2019t damage the recently refurbished bandstand.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re laughing, telling bad jokes, catching up on news and each other\u2019s lives and making plans for the busy month ahead. So much activity\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, the banners are already up!\u201d someone says. We\u2019re grateful to the highway department for getting our \u201chappy holiday\u201d banners up so soon! They look really nice, a new Jaycee tradition since 2011.<\/p>\n

Above, the sky is beautiful bright blue, belying the frozen temperatures. But we don\u2019t care. Well, that\u2019s not true, we\u2019re shivering, but as we get caught in the moment we tend not to notice too much.<\/p>\n

And by noon, we\u2019re wrapping it up, empty crates and ladders are being loaded into trucks, people are off to the rest of their day, but most will be back for the lighting that evening — the Jaycees are collaborating with the town and Recreation department for a new tradition, a holiday tree lighting on the Common \u2013 awesome.<\/p>\n

And I as I drove home, finally realizing how very cold I was, I was also feeling pretty happy. That Nativity set is cherished by so many people who will visit it this season. Uncountable others will appreciate and admire the lights. We know that it makes a difference to so many people. And if feels good to continue the tradition.<\/p>\n

See, sometime in 1953 or so, a beautiful Nativity set arrived in Foxboro. Local groups first set it up on the Common, and then in the 1960s the Foxboro Jaycees took over the responsibility for not only setting up the scene each December, but storing, repainting and refurbishing the set as needed. 60 years later, we continue the tradition each year. It means a lot to place the set on the bandstand the Jaycees built in 1972, recently re-dedicated this summer.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a responsibility and tradition we absolutely cherish.<\/p>\n

I love being part of this (and so many other) special events each year. Seeing friends who have become like family over 21 years. Making a difference in the community. It\u2019s awesome.<\/p>\n

I love being a Jaycee. And while most of us will tell you we would love to do this in August, there is a little bit of the magic and holiday spirit in the air on these frozen winter mornings as we make the Common beautiful for the season. And a small chance of hypothermia, but I digress.<\/p>\n

See, this morning, in one little magic moment at precisely the right time, we got a little affirmation, a little miracle, to start the day off perfectly. A moment that made us all kind of stop in wonder and think about miracles big and small. Well, I thought it was pretty amazing, anyway!<\/p>\n

Coincidence? Something more? You decide.<\/p>\n

But friends, take some time to drive over to the common and see the Nativity set and lights and share in a little of this season\u2019s magic \u2013 you\u2019ll be glad you did. And remember \u2013 it\u2019s absolutely true that this year\u2019s decorations actually started with an angel, and \u201cLet there be light!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Foxboro<\/a>
Foxboro Jaycees and friends at the annual Common decorating, 11\/29\/2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Robert Gillis Published in the Foxboro Reporter 12\/2014 This story begins with a very nice affirmation. Christmas miracles \u2013 they still happen. And it should be noted before I go further I swear this is true; and there are witness and photographs! It all begins this past frosty Saturday after Thanksgiving. As is our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,13,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas","category-foxboro","category-foxboro-jaycees"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}