DOTHAN, Ala. — Throughout the country people celebrate the holidays in their own special ways, it’s no different in the Wiregrass. Here’s a look at the way Wiregrass family’s celebrate.
First up is a Christmas game many play at parties and family gatherings; the saran wrap ball game.
Shute Pecan Company Owner Sandi Hodge explained her family plays this game every Christmas, and things get pretty competitive.
“We get in a big circle around the table and of course you’re rolling as fast as you can,” She said. “That’s where it gets loud and it gets. We start throwing the ball. But it is a ton of fun, especially if you have competitive people in your family and we do.”
Many say cooking and baking is a huge part of their traditions and it usually leads up to getting together with their loved ones for a family meal.
“My favorite holiday tradition now for years has been with my wife’s entire family on Christmas eve,” CEO of Wiregrass United Way Walter Hill said. “We gather at her brother’s barn and doing a hayride and have a fabulous meal with way more food than people can eat.”
Hill explained that although their traditions have changed for this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he looks forward to making new memories.
Finally, one tradition that might only be seen in the Wiregrass, fireball throwing.
The fireball is made out of fabric and twine and is soaked in kerosene from Halloween to Christmas.
It is then lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas night by the Batchelor family.
“So that was the only toy my mother and her siblings had was the fireball,” Grandmother Judi Kelley said. “And they’d get an apple and orange they said and then they’d play with the fireball.”
“So when my mother had children she just always made fireballs for us and every Christmas Eve or Christmas night, whenever we could all get together, we threw the fireball.”
