Boys Town Nebraska/Iowa Rings in Holiday Spirit

Boys Town Nebraska/Iowa kicked off the holiday season December 4 as more than 800 people gathered with festive cheer to bring Christmas to Boys Town with the annual tree lighting activities. 

Following the high school’s production of The Gift of the Magi, the community joined in caroling before an unidentified flying object from the North Pole landed at the Boys Town football field. As the crowd walked to the main circle up drove the Boys Town Fire Truck with Santa Claus to start the countdown. When everyone reached zero, all of the campus Christmas lights turned on to everyone’s delight. The crowd then moved to the Great Hall for cookies and hot chocolate where the young children sat on Santa’s lap, telling him what they wished for this Christmas and getting their picture taken. 

The lighting of the Christmas lights has been a tradition since the mid-1980s and is something that helps Boys Town youth experience Christmas traditions they can pass on to their future families. 

Youth at the Intervention and Assessment shelter in Grand Island, Neb., have started their own Christmas tradition. For the second year in a row, the youth won first place for best decorated tree by youth ages 18 and younger in the annual Fantasy of Trees Exhibit hosted by the Stuhr Museum. 

“Father Flanagan felt Christmas was one of the most important holidays for the children of Boys Town,” said Thomas Lynch, Boys Town Nebraska/Iowa’s Director of Community Programs at the Hall of History. “Each year Father would invite the public to visit the village to celebrate the holiday with the residents. We carry on that tradition.” 

Christmas at Boys Town Nebraska/Iowa wouldn’t be complete without the annual Father Flanagan House Museum Irish Christmas open house. This year saw the ten-year anniversary of the unique celebration, which features the homemade tradition of a true Irish Christmas with historic Christmas quilts, old-fashioned ornaments from the 1920s to 40s and antique toys from the 1920s. The house is filled with personal items which belonged to Father Flanagan such as furnishings, books and paintings. 

The Father Flanagan House Museum will remain decorated until February 1. It is open on Saturdays and Sundays, but closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.