Season's greetings come from Holiday Card Lane

By Karen A. Iwamoto, Hawaii Army Weekly, U.S. Army Garrison, HawaiiDecember 31, 2014

Seasons greetings come from Holiday Card Lane
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Seasons greetings come from Holiday Card Lane
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Army community spreads holiday cheer

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii -- Sir Henry Cole is often credited with starting the Christmas card tradition, in 19th century England, when he commissioned artist John Callcott Horsley to illustrate a card depicting a family raising a toast to the card's recipient.

Since then, Christmas cards have become firmly rooted in American culture by spreading the joy of the holiday season to loved ones who are far away.

Traditions are especially important for the Army community because they provide stability and a sense of community.

U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii has put its own spin on the Christmas card tradition with its annual Holiday Card Lane. Instead of regular postage-sized cards, Holiday Card Lane cards are made of 4-foot by 8-foot plywood sheets that are on display on the grass median across from the U.S. Post Office on Schofield Barracks and on the grass median across from the Fort Shafter Library on Fort Shafter until Jan. 5.

"I think it does pull together the community and promote a feeling of camaraderie and fellowship," said Shawna Hall, president of Hui O Na Wahine, the Schofield spouses' club. "I notice that people do stop to look at the cards, and it does look nice on post.

"It's especially good to have something like this to celebrate the holidays because it's so warm in Hawaii," she added.

Hui O Na Wahine's Holiday Card Lane card features photos of the club's members participating in various community events.

All of the cards submitted were entered into a contest for Best Holiday Card. This year's winning card for Schofield Barracks, created by the 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, was on display at the Schofield Barracks Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony.

The Farrington High School Junior ROTC program created the winning card for Fort Shafter.

"We are very pleased to win," said Sgt. Maj. Mark Eckstrom of the 1-14th Inf. Regt. "We really just wanted to participate, but are glad we were able to win."

The 1-14th Inf. Regt.'s card prominently featured the 1-14th's "Golden Dragons" insignia, as well as the logos of its various companies and units alongside an image of Santa. Eckstrom said the card was the same one the 1-14th Inf. Regt. had placed on last year's Holiday Card Lane, but it did not win at that time.

"We did tweak it a little bit this year, because we have a new company assigned to us, so we added their plaque to the card," he said. "So, maybe it was the 'Grizzlies' that gave us the edge."

The 1-14th's G Company is known as the Grizzlies. The Golden Dragons moniker is a historical reference to the Boxer Rebellion in China, because it was said that the 1-14th fought like golden dragons, Eckstrom said.

"Farrington is the most diverse school in Hawaii," said Ret. Lt. Col. David A. Carlson, the senior Army instructor at the school. "We have more immigrant students here than any other school (in the state)."

Carlson, who served in the 25th ID from 1986-1992, said he remembers entering Schofield Barracks and seeing dozens of cards decorating Holiday Card Lane.

"Every Christmas we would pull in and there would be 20 cards that all of the units had made and everyone loved it," he recalled. "Not as many of the units do it anymore and I wish they would. We need more units to take the time to make a card and spread the spirit of the season from Thanksgiving to the new year."

When he returned to Hawaii to teach at Farrington in 2004, he said, it was on his mind to have the school's JROTC create a card for the Holiday Card Lane. He credits Farrington JROTC's operations officer, Yva Currimao with conceptualizing and planning the winning card.

Other Holiday Card Lane participants chose to go a more humorous route.

The 3rd Bn., 7th Field Artillery Regt., 3rd Inf. BCT, 25th ID's card shows Santa launching Rudolph out of a cannon. Field artilleries support armies in the field through the use of mobile weapons, such as cannons.

"We just wanted to wish the community happy holidays," said Sgt. Christopher Shaw of the 3-7th FA.

There were fewer cards on display this year than in years past, according to Deanna Lein, event coordinator for Holiday Card Lane, but even though the Holiday Card competition is over, units and organizations that need more time to finish their cards still have until Jan. 5, 2015, to display their cards.

-- Winners

The winners of the 2014 Holiday Card Lane are the 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division (Schofield Barracks), and the Farrington High School Junior ROTC program (Fort Shafter).

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U.S. Army Garrison, Hawaii